Salton Sea, looking Southwest (towards adventures?) In early December I rounded up a ragtag crew and struck out into the desert East of Los Angeles to see what I could find.
We soon passed Palm Springs and, after a short stop at Home Depot for some discount paint (it will make sense later) we headed south from the 10 and arrived at our first stop: The Salton Sea. I thought I knew what to expect here, but was completely blown away by the sight that awaited us.
The striking blue of the sky was obscured by all types of clouds that continued far out to the horizon and were reflected in the calm sea before us, blurring the lines between earth, sea and sky. It's easy to see what once attracted tourists here from Los Angeles
We soon passed Palm Springs and, after a short stop at Home Depot for some discount paint (it will make sense later) we headed south from the 10 and arrived at our first stop: The Salton Sea. I thought I knew what to expect here, but was completely blown away by the sight that awaited us.
The striking blue of the sky was obscured by all types of clouds that continued far out to the horizon and were reflected in the calm sea before us, blurring the lines between earth, sea and sky. It's easy to see what once attracted tourists here from Los Angeles
We broke off from this ethereal landscape and continued on, passing through some of the coastal communities that once served the thousands of tourists that flocked to the area.
After a couple of off-road excursions, we finally found our way to one of the desert's many oddities: Salvation Mountain. Leonard Knight, the man responsible for this massive work of art, is unfortunately no longer living on the site. We were able to chat with the young couple who have been helping to maintain it and they assured us that he was in good spirits and had come out during the Thanksgiving holiday to visit.
We moseyed on over to slab city next, and a little site called "East Jesus", where we caught a tour of the site and caught some great pictures as the sun was setting across the Sea . . .
The locals invited us to the Saturday night open mic with Builder Bill, but we had to high-tail it to our campsite for the night. The show starts every Saturday at sundown (or thereabouts). Here's the last photo of the night, form East Jesus:
We woke Sunday to some unnerving rumblings outside our tent . . . lucky for us this slithering sand dweller wasn't feeling very territorial, or hungry.
The next few photos are from Galleta Meadows, where sculptor Ricardo Breceda welds these often strange creations out of thin gauge sheets of steel.
The next few photos are from Galleta Meadows, where sculptor Ricardo Breceda welds these often strange creations out of thin gauge sheets of steel.
Our time was coming to an end, but the biggest surprise awaited us in the mountains. As we leveled off from a steep climb, splatters of rain starting to blur our vision through the windscreen, we caught a fleeting glimpse of what appeared to be the legendary Yeti of the Himalayas. We didn't stop to chat, but I'm guessing this large fellow was on his way to visit his cousin, Yucca Man, in Joshua Tree.
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