Welcome to my amazing visit to the Salton Sea! You're joining my first day in progress and you've missed quite a lot!
To catch up on the amazing sights around the Salton Sea area, click here to go to see a bunch of adorable Burrowing Owls and the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge, and here to visit some fascinating mud volcanoes and MORE Burrowing Owls, and here to visit artistic Salvation Mountain and Slab City.
And now, having checked out of my motel in Calipatria, I headed north on Highway 111 to visit the ruins of Bombay Beach, in what would turn out to be my last stop of the day. To be honest, I was expecting more. I may have been in the wrong place; I mean, I know I was at Bombay Beach, but I didn't really see televisions in the sand, etc.
Granted, I was hot. Very hot. So I drove down the main road until it came to an end, at which point I climbed some stairs to the beach and started walking. A long, hot walk.
The Salton Sea is located in the Coachella Valley in what was formerly known as the Salton Sink. Irrigation from the Colorado River flooded in the early 1900s and created this lake. It makes for a barren and bizarre, but strangely beautiful place surrounded by mountains.
The Salton Sea has become a valuable resource for hundreds of species of migrating birds, but it is rapidly shrinking due to the drought and the fact that it really doesn't have natural water sources to refill it.
I was lucky enough to see many American White Pelicans still here. They are mesmerizing to watch as they float above the water in an undulating line playing follow the leader.
Those bumps on their beaks signify that it's getting close to breeding time.
Another mesmerizing sight were the long freight trains rolling down the track that parallels Highway 111.
I walked along the shore expecting a very bad smell, but it really wasn't that bad. Yes, there were dried fish carcasses all over the place, but it didn't smell like decomposition. Even though it was hot.
They looked quite cool in a weird way.
There was more life around besides the pelicans. I saw quite a few Black-necked Stilts, some other small cute brown shorebirds, and of course Gulls. This Stilt was doing Hot Yoga.
I walked all the way over to where I could have actually driven too, had I followed any sort of directions. But then I would have missed all the fabulous sights! Downside is that maybe just a bit further would have been where there was furniture in the sand, but I was just. too. hot.
Besides, I think these photos that I got are for more interesting than trash left behind, right?
I mean, obviously I did find some ruins. Here you can see both "old Bombay Beach" and "New" Bombay Beach in the background.
There is this really cool line of pilings, I guess maybe what used to be a jetty of some sort. Anyway, it's about 100 feet or more from the water at this point but I did find a fish nearby to "pose" for a picture.
The next picture is not mind. I found it on a Google image search for Bombay Beach Salton Sea. But I thought it was really interesting as it shows the same structure, but with water lapping right up to it.
In my post about the mud volcanoes and Red Hill Marina, I have the same sort of photo comparison from Red Hill Marina. The before picture I found for that is from 2005, so basically 10 years ago before the drought really hit. So much of the lake has evaporated since then.
I walked back along the top of the levy to get to my car and I could look out over "new" Bombay Beach, which honestly doesn't look in much better shape than the ruins on the beach.
You can see the houses that still have people living in them, but it seems almost like the closer you get to the Sea, the more abandoned houses and ruins there are. Which is somewhat strange.
I like graffiti and abandoned places though, so it was all interesting to me. Just hot.
I'll leave you with this beautiful Desert Sunflower that I found near a really pretty area off the highway. I actually turned around to go to this magical oasis that was filled with green bushes and bright pink and red flowers, but after driving through sand and almost getting my car stuck, I was scared off by the no trespassing signs that were put about every 10 feet as you got close. *sigh*
Maybe next time. ;-)
Now, it really was time for me to head off on my long drive to Barstow. I had now been off-schedule so much that I knew the likelihood of me making the 4:30 BLM Insta-Meet up at Amboy Crater was pretty small.
But I've never let missing out stop me! =D
xoxo
