A Beach of a Life

Feb 24-25, 2006
We veered off Highway 15 onto Box Canyon Road, which runs south to the Salton Sea. What a lovely surprise this fifteen mile stretch of road was. At first, the desert was vivid with blooms, yellow and red. The tall ocatillos had no leaves but flame-red plumes at the top of each stalk. I expected by the curves and switchbacks shown on the map that we would be climbing through a mountain pass but the road followed the bottom of a canyon, which would be impassable in the rain. It was very scenic in a lunar landscape sort of way. The high cliffs had eroded into brick red ‘Hoo-Doos’. Luckily there wasn’t much traffic and we meandered through it very slowly.

We pulled into a California State campground on the banks of the Salton Sea. It was called a ‘primitive’ site because it had no services, just a couple of Johnny-on-the-Spots and a few garbage cans. Well we don’t need any service; we’re totally self-contained and we had this Corvina Beach site to ourselves. We pulled in right beside the beach – only about 20 feet from the water and it was beautiful and only $5 a night (for seniors – that’s us). It was only about noon when we arrived and it was hot – so what else could we do, but get out our lounge chairs, pull out our awning, and pour a couple of mohitos. The water glistened and a myriad of birds flew and walked by. I love the desert but being by water is so soothing for the spirit.

The Salton Sea is over 200 feet below sea level and has a very high salinity – more salt than the ocean (even I should be able to swim in it). Millions of years ago, the Gulf of California extended right up this valley – hence the salt in the soil. It dried out and only a hundred years ago, after major flooding from the Colorado River was the Salton Sea formed. It’s a fairly big lake – 35 miles long by 15 miles wide but we didn’t see any motorboats on it just canoes gliding by. I suppose that’s because there are wildlife refuges and bird nesting grounds around the lake.

More later……………………