We drove to the Salton Sea.
I know it's a parking lot but you will notice the table, tree
and view. We even plan to return here for January. Why you ask, because it's
desert and it's warmer here then elsewhere in California. We could go back
to Arizona but didn't find anyplace that appealed to us.
You wouldn't know it from looking at the largest inland surface
body in California but it was created by accident. In 1900, businessmen began
developing a series of irrigation canals to divert water from the Colorado
River to the Salton Basin. Then the Colorado River floodwaters overflowed
its banks and smashed through the diversion channels. It took 16 months and
several failed attempts to restore the Colorado to its previous channel in
the meantime a 45 mile long 20 mile wide inland sea filled the Salton Basin.
The red ridge in the picture is an above ground manifestation
of the San Andreas fault. We passed it when we went for a drive on a dirt
road leading to a back country hike. We didn't complete the hike because we
don't do ladders.
We were planning to go to Joshua Tree National Park for
the weekend before going to San Diego for our visit with Susan (flying out)
and our Thanksgiving Holiday but when we called the park we were given misinformation
about programs and camping. As a result we stayed at Salton Sea and drove
over for the day.
In the meantime we had an interesting day trip to this unique
high desert location. Maybe we will camp
there when we leave the Salton Sea in February.