In California, a journey to the end of the road: the Salton Sea | Hacker News Reader

In California, a journey to the end of the road: the Salton Sea

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34 pointsparenthesis46 comments

Go have a beer in the VFW hall some time, the people who live out there aren't a different species to be thought of like zoo animals, they're just regular folks with some interesting stories.

When I lived in LA a friend inherited property out there, we had a memorable week checking things out and shooting shotguns at washing machines with some of the locals. One of them even brought out a propane fueled potato cannon! Good times.

People that shoot potato guns treat people that eat sushi and live in LA like a different species too. Humans are tribal and focus on what divides. There is a big divide between the culture of the Salton Sea and LA but your point is well intended.

I say all this as someone that grew up with family in both potato gun and sushi cultures.

Having both shot potato guns and eaten sushi in LA, I don't quite understand your choices for defining lines of division.

Most the assclowns shooting things in the desert near me are LA residents treating the desert as their personal wasteland on weekends.

The Salton Sea is such an interesting phenomena. An accidental diversion of the colorado river creates the largest lake in California (I think) and a community springs up around it. You have jet skiing, sun bathing, and other activities that local californians can partake in.

Agricultural runoff and a lack of an outlet slowly kills the artifical lake until its completely poisoned and millions of fish die and wash up on the shores spelling doom for the new community.

I've camped there several times and I recommend anyone near Socal to go check it out. It gives off very dystopian vibes but you can't help but awe and gawk while watching the locals like you're watching the last of humans in planet of the apes. It's wild.

I can't find the pic of missing kissing a fish bone but here a few pics I could scrounge up.

The jesus loves you mountain is outside the salton sea but I find it amazing.

https://imgur.com/a/39lJ047

Sort of like... Burning Man with all the good parts left out

> Sort of like... Burning Man with all the good parts left out

Considering there's no playa dust and plenty of Burners with more infrastructure, I think you've got that a bit inverted.

Salton sea area is very dusty, one of the worst on the continent.

The dust I encountered there was child's play compared to the playa @ BRC, at least the Bombay Beach region I spent some time in. It wasn't even worse than the average desert dust levels I deal with regularly in the high desert around JT, which are a far cry from BRC playa.

There's just more moisture/humidity in general around the Salton Sea, that goes a long way towards keeping dust clumpy and on the ground.

BRC is next level misery in this department. I attended once in 2012 and left with my first ever sinus infection, that took a month to clear, and for at least a year afterwards every time I got a cold or otherwise congested (which newly became common) my snot would taste of playa dust. It's fucking awful. I'm convinced the dust in BRC dust storms shorten life expectancy of those breathing it.

If you're lucky enough to attend BRC after a recent good rain, then it's a much better situation. But that's moot; the same is true for Salton Sea or any desert region. The Salton Sea enjoys the advantage of a persistent local moisture reservoir, for now. The nearby agriculture responsible for the effluent sustaining the Salton Sea also humidifies the air.

I've always wondered if it was truly accidental.

Largest lake in California likely goes to the now dried up lake that encompassed most of the San Joaquin Valley.

Tulare Lake.

There is also Slab City. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slab_City,_California

One of the first pics in the imgur album is the Slab City library.

All the photos he posted were from Slab City. I was just there around October, truly a strange place

Accidental diversion is putting it mildly. In 1905, a very wet winter, a very heavy snow melt in the Rockies vastly increased the flow of water down the Colorado. This is pre-dam, mind you. The result of this heavy flow is that levees along the river as it flows to the Gulf of California were quickly eroded and finally breeched. Water flowed out this breech for 18 months before the they could be repaired and the flow stopped. Think about that for a second. The full flow of the Colorado running through the levee for 18 months. The result, of course, was the Salton Sea.

https://archive.is/DULIv

you da real MVP

"Bombay Beach (2011)" is a documentary that depicts life in a once-bustling settlement by the Salton Sea, can recommend: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758576/

See also “Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea”: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438327/

I’ve watched it several times after becoming fascinated by the place upon watching this (much) shorter piece on Youtube: https://youtu.be/otIU6Py4K_A

Thanks OP for posting this article, I always eagerly enjoy new pieces about the area.

The Salton Sea area has its environmental problems, but it's less of a disaster than the author writes. There are picnic areas along the water that are nice. On the other hand, Slab City is more of a disaster than he writes. The residents seem to be of the mind to treat journalists nicely. Maybe they expect something good to happen in return. When I visited there Salvation Mountain had been taken over by acid casualties who put up threatening signs reading "keep out." When I stopped to take a picture they came towards me car and I feared I might be shot, expecting to hear the whiz of a bullet by my ear. Slab City is a disgusting homeless camp, full of mental illness and anger.

I grew up within an easy drive of the Salton Sea and had the same reaction: it's a pretty sad and gross sea, and it's a tragedy for the people who live there, but it's not a Mad Max wasteland (seriously, Indio is a 20 minute drive away). I don't know much about Slab City though.

If you watch the multitude of videos on YouTube about Slab City, some by reputable media outlets, you might get the impression that its an artists colony with complete freedom of expression. "The Last Free Place On Earth" says the sign at the entry. It's actually where the dregs of society congregate because they've been run out of town everywhere else.

I think it’s good to have such places though where misfits can go.

You say "but" as if there was some contradiction.

I was just down there for the first time a couple weeks ago, in a shiny new Outback full of millennial Bay Area yuppies. We poked around and got lost in the neighborhood, but experienced only welcoming kindness, directing us to the library and the hot springs, and apologies for other diversions being closed due to Covid.

People we spoke with acknowledged that many residents are vets suffering PTSD, criminals on the lam, meth heads, and others that prefer to be left alone. But that some members of the community have built infrastructure for tourism, and it’s tolerated.

People considering visiting Slab City: just bring a warm heart and open mind, it’s really not scary or dangerous to go as a tourist. (Edit: also bring your street smarts of course, just like when visiting Union Square in SF)

> in a shiny new Outback full of millennial Bay Area yuppies > bring a warm heart and open mind

I'm not a negative person, but I have to rebut your comment that it's not dangerous. I've been homeless and lived among homeless. It's not unusual to send someone out to befriend people of your type while the rest figure out the best way to rip off everything you own.

Great point, I have updated my post.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/sea-worth-salt/

A good treatment of this some years ago on 99 Percent Invisible

The article doesn't say much about the infrastructure there. Does anyone know what it's like? I'm wondering about its suitability for remote work.

You may want to visit first.

Can't speak about internet, but water and power are available. But probably not with the same cost, reliability, quality, or quantity you'd like.

Groceries are also an issue. You'll have to drive up to a big box store in Indio to shop. All of the local options are little more than low-end convenience stores.

There have been a number of these articles and videos about the Salton Sea on the internet in the last few years. I can only think that most are based on what other people have posted on the internet without actually going there.

The reason I say this is because almost none mention the SMELL of the region. It's terrible, and I once lived in a small valley with a paper mill.

It's like living 24/7 with a kiddie pool full of dead fish in your yard. Because that's quite literally what it is. When you go to a "beach," it's not sand. It's billions and billions of not very ground up fish bones you're walking on. Just squat down and take a look.

Apparently how badly it smells can vary pretty widely. Last I was there it was moderate. I've read accounts online saying everything from it doesn't smell at all to saying it is absolutely terrible.

Neat place though, but not for everyone.

It varies with wind and heat, yes. Some days it's fine, others are god awful.

It depends on hydration of all the desiccated shores composed of dead sea life.

So if it rained recently, or after a foggy night, the pungent odor fills the air.

Check it out for yourself first. To me it s a pretty depressing place and f...ing hot in the summer.

For a good chunk of the year it's oppressively hot and smelly.

There's infrastructure near the sea leftover from the heydays.

Many of the locals don't want increased popularity and all the problems that tends to bring, so don't expect a red carpet.

Edit: oh and there are annoying flies that bite

The High Desert is way nicer, go to Joshua Tree instead.

there's 4G LTE in places, even in Slab City. but if you're seriously considering staying there, you better know how to deal with feral dogs and methheads.

Article is 100% paywalled, so no idea what this post is about, but I have a friend with property out there and I've spent some time there for the Bombay Beach Bienalle.

It could be a great place if the lake was rehabilitated, but nobody wants to spend the money (or water) to make it happen. The place is below sea level, and it might be possible to simple dig a canal to the ocean and fill it with seawater. It would instantly create some extremely valuable real estate if the lake wasn't so horrifically disgusting and toxic.

As a local, rehabilitating Salton Sea would be a tragedy. There are plenty of out-of-the-way resorts and Oasis towns to go to.

The Salton Sea, the dunes surrounding it, and Anza-Borrego itself are unique pieces of desert that don't really have any nearby analogues. I think that area is better off in its current, dessicated form, as do most of the people who reside there. Land is cheap, and it is really, really far away from civilization.

Fixing the Salton Sea isn't just about real estate values. It's going to be a huge health hazard if things keep going in their current direction.

> Imperial County already has the highest rate of asthma-related emergency room visits for children in California, and the problem is expected to get worse as tens of thousands of acres of lakebed are left high and dry around the lake over the next decade.

[1] https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2017/11/06/...

Why does HN allow paywalled articles?

Pay wall

It's about the Salton Sea.

https://www.watereducation.org/aquafornia-news/california-jo...

https://archive.is/DULIv

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