After playing paparazzi in Vegas for the AVN convention and award show, I decided to take a little side trip to the Salton Sea in California. The Salton Sea is a lake that was created accidentally in the middle of the desert when the Colorado River flooded and basically sank the city of Salton. (Supposedly, there are actually buildings still under water there, but I forgot my Scuba equipment… and that water is filthy anyway.) Later, after the creation of the Hoover Dam controlled the water levels, the lake had some success as a resort area. But, throughout the ’80s and ’90s, as salinity and suspected pollution levels increased, the draw of the Salton Sea as a recreational attraction diminished.
Today, it is as close as you can get to feeling like you are wandering around in some post-apocalyptic movie. Very few people still live there and those that do are the stubborn elderly that refuse to leave. The entire area reeks of rotting fish and something else I couldn’t put my finger on, but my best guess is either pollution or some kind or sewage… or both. I did not see a single living person except for a couple of cops that rolled by to see what I was doing, out of what I can only assume is boredom.
To learn more than my blatant Wikipedia research, check out this great little video on youtube called “The Accidental Sea”.
Perhansa Skallerup
February 3, 2012
quite a few of these shots are amazing