Salton Sea, California

I have always been curious about this place. Even after visiting, it leaves you with a lot to wonder about. It's WEIRD here. But fascinating.  It's the largest lake in California. It used to be a vacation paradise playground, but today its a salty, stinky, abandoned place where, for the most part, only tilapia survive. Strange art and off-grid culture thrive in this place most Californians seem to have forgotten all about. 

The Salton Sea formed in 1905, a high water year when the Colorado River flooded its banks. As the flood receded, the Salton Sea got cut off, leaving stranded water in a low spot that absorbed years of agricultural runoff and salt from the earth that continues to concentrate as the sea slowly evaporates.

From afar, the sea and its beaches are beautiful, until you get close enough to smell the water and look closely at sand largely made up of salty earth and tiny fragments of fish skeletons.

The Salton Sea is 35 miles long and 15 miles wide, so there are a lot of interesting stops along its shores. Here are the ones we visited.

Bombay Beach

Celebrities used to vacation here. Now it is so quiet that it feels eerie. Modern-day ruins are covered in graffiti. The houses that still look lived in have a funky, artistic vibe. On the beach, it's like Burning Man just ended, and they left all the art installations and a few tired partygoers behind.

There is one lively place in town, an old bar called the Ski Inn. The decor was giant fake fish and dollar bills on the wall. We had a great talk with the bartender who shared a lot of Bombay Beach stories with us.

Slab city

While it was interesting as hell, this place made me nervous. It's 100% off-grid living with no water, electricity, or anything else at all. Most residents live in trailers or structures they built themselves. While it offers a certain kind of freedom, it felt like a cluttered Thunderdome where I imagine survival can be tough.

East Jesus

This was like the art museum version of Slab City, which somehow made me even more nervous. It was like being inside a haunted dollhouse where junk becomes art and strange ideas are built out larger than life. This is clutter gone wild. It was beautifully disturbing, or distubingly beautiful. My jaw was on the floor the whole time we were there. While I was fascinated, I also felt relieved to hustle back to the car and drive away.

Apparently, Kesha used this backdrop in one of her music videos

Salvation Mountain

This place was created because of one man's passion to share God's love. Leonard Knight's car broke down in the desert, and he felt called to stay, spending the rest of his life building this 50-foot high, rainbow-colored, folk art statement out of straw, earth, and paint.

Sonny Bono Wildlife Preserve 

This is an island of nature surrounded by oil refineries straight from scenes in an episode of Land Man. It made me wonder about the guilt, legislation, and desire to leave a legacy that went into preserving this otherwise industrial space. Either way, the birds seemed to appreciate it, and we could hear their song throughout our walk.

I love these puffball flowers

All in all, our day exploring the Salton Sea made me feel like an anthropology student. I was left with a sense of wonder, curiosity, and questions. It was one of the most interesting days of our trip so far.