The Salton Sea

The Salton Sea. Digital. — The Salton Sea.
Digital.

The 104 degree temperature heightened the smell—salty water and rotting fish with a breeze of wildfire forming a haze over the horizon. Even as we fought off constant swarms of flies and left footprints in the sludge ridden shore, this was somehow one of the most beautiful places I’d ever been. A scene so repulsive, yet so calm. A vista where gravel-like sands transition to black dirt before merging with serene, smooth-as-glass, putrid water as far as the eye could see.

There was a hint of violence in the air, one accentuated by an ominous warning plastered on a sign near the seemingly desolate neighborhood:

“Come in, you die. No hipsters allowed!”

Were the “hipsters” travelers/tourists such as Travis & I? Or were they the ones who had migrated here to erect the various art installations? Structures such as the drive-in of abandoned cars, the concrete star lined with razor wire, and the cult-like cross-adorned altar. Maybe all were seen as invaders to the locals: those who had grown accustomed to the smell, who knew this place as home, who wanted to be left alone in what was truly an edge of society. A place most had written off as lost.

Bombay Beach Drive-In. An art installation and working theatre. Digital. — Bombay Beach Drive-In. An art installation and working theatre.
*Digital.*

As a kid, movies and television led me to believe that quicksand was going to be a regular life problem. But I never encountered anything like it until I watched Travis’ leg plunge knee deep into the “sands” of Bombay Beach. After freeing himself, he made the wise decision to abandon his Nike’s as a sacrifice to the Salton Sea. I’d eventually discard my Puma’s a day later in Arizona.

I don’t remember seeing any other souls during our brief visit aside from a car in the distance and some silhouettes inside a neon-lit convenience store. Chasing a Union Pacific locomotive against the setting sun, we swerved jack rabbits on dark roads between rocky cliffs. Our day in the desert had ended, but we still had five hours of highway to go.

The Salton Sea is the largest body of water in California. Sitting atop an ancient lake bed, the modern lake was accidentally created in the early 20th century. As the Colorado River was irrigated to serve farming in the state’s Imperial Valley, a dam break resulted in two years of fresh water flowing into the formerly dry basin. By mid-century, the Salton Sea had become a popular destination rife with vacation homes and resorts. Excess irrigation runoff continuously supplied the artificial lake with water.

Known for water recreation and an abundance of wildlife, shoreside communities such as Bombay Beach and Salton City sprung up. By the 70s, however, ecological problems became readily apparent. Contamination from farming & irrigation continuously deposited toxins into the lake. With no outlet, the water was steadily polluted resulting in frequent, large-scale die-offs of birds and fish.

Tourism quickly faded away, but advancements in technology resulted in far less water errantly finding its way to the Salton Sea. A new problem arose, however. As the lake began to dry up once more—dust clouds carrying decades of deposited bacteria would sweep over surrounding communities, sometimes as far away as Los Angeles.

In short, the Salton Sea is a polluted, wretched mess of water with some sources claiming its salinity to be two times that of the Pacific Ocean. Simply letting the lake dry up and allowing toxic dust to run rampant, though, is not an option. Additionally, while only tilapia can somewhat survive the water, the sea has become an important wetland and stop over for multiple species of migratory birds. In January 2021, the Salton Sea Management Program undertook construction of an ambitious project in an attempt to mitigate the area’s environmental issues.

Today the Salton Sea area is still home to a few sparsely populated settlements. It has become a home and canvas to desert artists, as well as, generally reclusive residents. The “decades-old desert squatter community of Slab City” (as Curbed Los Angeles described it) sits just east of the sea.

And I can’t wait to go back.

More info about the Salton Sea:

A Sea Worth its Salt by 99% Invisible - Podcast episode covering the sea’s history and ecological issues.
Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea - Narrated by John Waters and produced by KQED, an excellent documentary about the area and its people.
Off-the-Grid Desert Squatter Town Considers Going Legit - Story by Bianca Barragan of Curbed Los Angeles about Slab City.

The above story is Part 6 (of 7) in a series from a trip out west.

Orlando

Late in Life Skateboarding and The Legend of Rock-A-Hoola