Salton Sea 0007

Salton Sea 0007, originally uploaded by Alastair Bird.

This was on the Beach of the Salton Sea - well, I use the term 'beach' advisedly. The shore is covered in barnacle shells, with a few fish bones here and there.

It's a strange place, the Salton Sea - I had an idea in my mind that it was going to be some sort of a series of ruins in a most romantic mid-20th century sort of a way. Full of old motels and tumble-down places... It is - in order to get to the beach in Salton City we had to meander down a number of roads, all of which obviously were laid out for the coming real estate boom that never happened... Beach Vista Road; Beach View Road; Beach View Crescent - you get the idea.

...but it's not entirely deserted. There are some newer houses there, some old ones, too. Many of the houses, new and old are deserted, with foreclosure notices in the front windows, and George, who was traveling with us pointed out that most of the people who live around here probably have a gun for protection. It was much more a statement of fact than a commentary on the area - we were a LONG way from any sort of police station or any help whatsoever.

Beautiful place in its decay, but much more sobering and real than I had envisioned...