908 February 24, 2023 Salton Sea
This morning, I walked to town. The goal was to get to the farmer’s market and call Tim to join me. On my way, I saw two coyotes cross the road into town. They were headed toward the grocery store. When I got to the circle there were no tents, no vendors. The weather forecast must have shut things down. We are expecting wind and rain and the surrounding mountains are more snow covered.
I was walking around the circle when I was stopped by an older gentleman. He told me that he had noticed that I walked every day. He also walks every day. He told me that he had lost his wife, his family, and his house. He told me that he had been in a coma for 95 days and when he woke up, he decided that he wanted to live. He says that walking makes him feel better…his whole body, his heart, and his head. He told me not to give up…not to stop…don’t quit. He was a nice man and spoke English well and we spoke a little Spanish too. I felt inspired by him and have been thinking of him…don’t quit!!!
The crews have been busy trying to right things around town. They have been working on the big tree.
Tim had an idea for a day trip. We packed our lunch and set out to see the Salton Sea.
We saw lots of evidence of storm damage as we left town. Trees on houses and carports, roof tiles in the streets, tarps on roofs.
We passed through the desert at Ocotillo Wells…large open spaces.
As we turned out onto the main road, we saw a group of 5 military jets doing really cool maneuvers. We found a place to pull over and watch.
Lots of farmland with some cauliflower, romaine, and alfalfa fields.
We stopped at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. The Salton Sea sits at 228 feet below sea level. It is one of the lowest points in the United States. In 1905, an engineering mistake caused the Salton Sea to fill with water. In reality, this area had been filled with water on and off for millennia and this is just the most recent form of Lake Cahuilla. Over hundreds of years, this lake was filled with floodwaters from the Colorado River. This flooding brought rich silt to the Imperial Valley, making it excellent place for growing things. The Salton Sea is increasing in salinity and has decreasing water levels. Agricultural fertilizers and other toxins have leached into the water. Scientists have also found that the Salton Sea has one of the largest lithium deposits in the world.
Sonny Bono, in his role as a politician, worked hard to protect this land and the birds and wildlife here. Tim ate his breakfast here.
We saw some cottontail rabbits and a few quails.
We left and continued to use backroads to travel as close to the shore as we could. We stopped at the Red Hill Area.
There are geothermal wells here.
There are lots of CalEnergy Plants here.
Old fire trucks.
Desert art.
Trains.
We stopped at the Wister Road Area. Here we found a fishing pond. We stopped for a snack and some pictures.
We took a trail to see some mud pots. This is geothermal activity. The water appears to be boiling but in actuality, it is carbon dioxide being vented from the earth.
We stopped at the Niland Marina. The water has a chemical, organic odor and it is not safe to swim here, but it was nice to see water.
We had been traveling for 4 hours. I did the driving back to Borrego Springs. We saw a pair of coyotes crossing the highway.
We saw a long stretch of electric poles snapped off at the base, the wires lying on the ground. Crews were busy working. The town of Salton City has been without power since Tuesday’s wind storm.
We really enjoyed this day of learning and exploring.
We watched the evening news and it was all about the coming snowstorm. We shall see what weather craziness comes to Southern California tomorrow!
