http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_SeaA while back, around this time of year actually, I decided to visit the Salton Sea. (I wanted to check off Imperial County) For those who don't know, it's actually California's largest lake, bigger than Lake Tahoe. It was accidentally created in 1905 because of a canal overrun by the Colorado River. In the 1960s several resort communities were built and it was advertised as a "inland beach paradise." But.... because the Salton Sea is in a depression and has no outlet, the water became saltier than the ocean. So the towns are mostly abandoned, like a post-nuclear wasteland. Most of the fish die there, the water is too corrosive for boats, and probably too toxic to swim in. The beach has sand, but a lot of it is made from the bones of dead fish. The Salton Sea is just.... there.
I'd love for them to build a canal from the Gulf of California to the Salton Sea, rise the sea level a bit (most of that area is lame anyway). They could have a port and harbor there, and people could finally use it as a recreation area. But I took these pictures to show what I saw:
Part 1 of 3:
