My Aunt Renee and Uncle Paul have become very fond of taking day trips around Southern California on the weekends. Sort of a retirement prequel. Often they invite me ride along, which is awesome because I am always looking for ways to get into a little trouble!
This past weekend we went to explore the wonders of the Salton Sea. None of us had ever been there so we had no idea what to expect. *Spoiler Alert* - Here is what you can expect if you go to the Salton Sea: dead fish, graffiti, trailer parks, and a hauntingly beautiful shadow of what could have been.
In the 1920's the Salton Sea was a vacation destination for movie stars and social elite. Beautiful resort towns were built to impress such folks, but by the 1970's serious flooding and rising salt levels turned this vacation destination into a series of zombie towns surrounding a body of water that constantly belched up dead fish (the fish die off from the ever increasing salt levels in the water).
For the curious, "Zombie towns" is a term I just made up. It desribes a virtual ghost town that still houses a small population of people who call the ghost town home.
All of it's shortcoming's considered, I must confess that the Salton Sea has gotten in me somehow. I find it's story enthralling and I can't help but join with the thousands of people who invested in this place to mourn what could have been. The lost potential is astounding, and the desolation and destruction are eerily beautiful.
Salvation Mountain
Leonard, creator of Salvation Mountain. He has been living out of his car for 25 years working on Salvation Mountain and proclaiming his message, "God loves you first! Keep it simple!"
Davis Schrimpf Seep Field, where bubbling mud from the San Andreas Fault meets a duck hunting field.
Uncle Paul likes to wander.
Inspired by the fabulous Max Wagner.
Bombay Beach, CA- a town that was half buried during flooding.
Leave me a comment and tell me if you see anything in the clouds like I do!
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Nicoracle Photography
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Nice...my sister loves the Salton Sea, I'll tell her to check this out.
Whoa! These are great! I love the color temperatures (?) in the ones of the water. I don't know if "temperature" is what I mean to say. I need to learn some photography vocab so I can communicate with you more effectively :) They're stunning. You really captured something.
Nice job!
I see a mermaid :)