The big OOPS – that didn’t work out right

11/19 & 20/2018  Elevation -246

So here we are, well below sea level on the shores of the Salton Sea, the largest inland body of water in California. Apparently the sea never completely disappears but grows and shrinks every 4-5 hundred years. And it should be in a shrinking stage or at least it was until, with the help of man of course, it grew before its time, all thanks to a water leaches trying to suck water out of the Colorado River to irrigate the Salton Sea Valley back in 1905. The Valley is pretty fertile but arid. Someone, back in 1905, got the bright idea to build a cannel and then as they say the rest is history.

History lesson is over, see below for more info.

11/19/2918

Dang it sure is rather warm here, I think we might need to turn on the AC.

Well, you remember in my last post about the 10 mile hill we had to climb? It seams that we needed to backtrack to get to our spot here, yup 10 miles of downhill grade, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.

We arrived a little while ago, noonish, and now I’m watching someone learning to take off and land a paraglider, pretty interesting. Paragliding must be popular here besides the ones next door a couple of them buzzed us while we were walking.

It’s a sad depressing thought now because at one time apparently this area was a thriving metropolis with several Marina’s and hotels. Now you look at a map and you see all of the roads yet looking out you see nothing, with many of the roads covered in sand. Where we walked yesterday was along the breaker walls, only now the water is down 60-70 yards from where we were.

It’s not smelly today, but along the waterline, we understand at times, you see all these dead fish and bones from the dead fish, we didn’t walk to the water and probably won’t. I understand at times the water can be somewhat toxic. It’s a natural basin with no outlet for water and now the only water comes from in frequent rains and runoff of the many farms in the area, now it’s building up with agricultural run off.

A 15 x 35 miles of nothing, no boats zipping around, nobody out fishing, no boat ramps.

11/20/2018

We didn’t turn on the AC yesterday after all, but when we arrived I thought we might need to. Sorry about mentioning that, I know your freezing up in the frozen north, but I just couldn’t resist.

Along the north end of the Sea we passed several large greenhouses, then several miles of desert, nothing.

We’re about midways down on the western side of the sea, 5-10 miles further west is a badlands area, that is a heaven for off-roaders. No wait this entire area is a heaven for off road. We took a drive over that way, looked a lot like Badlands National Park, except for the campers and off road vehicles.

While we were out we drove to the southern end, down there it was not acres and acres but miles and miles of laser leveled fields with irrigation cannel’s and pipes.

Crispy on all 4 sides

We also went to a walking trail, it was about a mille each way to the top of a small hill that at one time looked out on the sea, now you can almost see the water. We also noticed the water leaches digging canals in that was not to many years ago the sea floor. Soon the water leaches will be growing stuff there.

The walk had us walking with left, right, front and rear exposed to the bright sunshine about the same length of time on each side, I thought I might get sunburned on all sides.

And yes, while not overpowering it did smell whether from the Sea, the fields or some kind of near by power plant I don’t know.

While it may not sound like it, I don’t really begrudge the growers the water they suck from the rivers, streams and the ground. Now, Las Vegas and people who live in the desert and have green grass, that includes golf courses, that’s criminal in my book.

Copied from here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

The most recent inflow of water from the now heavily controlled Colorado River was accidentally created by the engineers of the California Development Company in 1905. In an effort to increase water flow into the area for farming, irrigation canals were dug from the Colorado River into the valley. The canals suffered silt buildup, so a cut was made in the bank of the Colorado River to further increase the water flow. The resulting outflow overwhelmed the engineered canal, and the river flowed into the Salton Basin for two years, filling the historic dry lake bed and creating the modern sea, before repairs were completed.^[2]