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So in spirit of my Summer Is For Adventure series, I decided to take a spontaneous trip to the Salton sea. I first saw photos of this place on Instagram and it then sat on my To Explore list, waiting to be checked off. I recruited a friend to accompany me on the journey a couple of weeks ago and we first stopped in Palm Springs. I have to say, I thought I did enough research to plan the day but boy was I wrong. If you ever visit you should definitely try to spend a few days because my less than 24 hour trip did not satisfy my Salton craving.
A little after 3:30PM we left Palm Springs and it was supposed to take us close to 2 hours to get to our first destination, Red Hill Marina. But let me tell you: sandstorms don’t really care for people’s planned itineraries. I admit that I’m chicken shit, so when the brown, creeping hurricane suddenly pounced upon us, I thought I was going to die.. or at the very least piddle my pants. But after 30 - 40 minutes we made it through the storm with nothing but a fine layer of dirt on Shia (my trusty Honda Civic, for those of you who don’t know). By 530PM we had finally made it to Red Hill Marina, where obstacle #2 awaited us. Apparently there had been some thunderstorms and I even received flash flood warning texts, so it then made sense when I stepped onto the ground and my feet sunk into inches of goopy mud. You can imagine how unpleased I was since I had planned on wearing my very new and very white Nike Roshe Runs. The next 15 minutes involved unpleasant squishing sounds, muddy recyclable bags, and dirty socks. So let me just skip the rest of the dirty details and say that I put a LOT of effort behind this first shoot. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Despite the unexpected situation, it didn’t take away from the beauty of the place. You couldn’t hear a thing except the whispering wind and the occasional bird crying out to another. The air was warm but the clouds were cool from the storm; it was the perfect gloomy solitude setting (minus my feet mixing with fish skeletons in the mud), and if I could have stayed longer, I most definitely would have.
A little after 6 we had to head to the next destination, Salvation Mountain. I’m not a religious person but with the way the golden hour rays shone on the mountain I could have been. The colors were a fusion of caramel, berries, and cream.. I even caught a glimpse of a rainbow over the words “Love is universal.” I had no idea but Salvation Mountain Inc. is a non-profit charity and donations go towards the upkeep of the monument, as well as feeding/caring for the Salvation Mountain cats. Kind of random to me, but still a majestical place to witness with your own eyes.
Alas, obstacle three had the most devastating outcome. I definitely lost track of time at Salvation Mountain and freaked out a little when I realized it was already 7, the sunset slowly trickling away. So naturally, I got stopped at border control and questioned about where I had been visiting…but I guess Instagram photo walks don’t interest border patrol because they shooed me away after less than a minute. I don’t understand why everyone else in front of me took so long to pass through because it ended with me missing the sunset at Bombay Beach. Rude.
Bombay Beach. Sigh. This was the one destination I had been most looking forward to. I saved it for last so I could spend the most time there and enjoy the warm colors of the summer sunset, but sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to and that’s just life. I still stopped, desperately hoping for any ray of light, but found nothing but darkening clouds and a windy beach. I’ll be back for you, Bombay Beach sunset..
All in all, it was an incredible trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat. There’s nothing quite like the rush of exploring new territories and embracing the unexpected. I was very grateful for my company, the...unique experiences, and the amazing views. Normally I’m not one for spontaneity and hate when things don’t go according to my itinerary, so I hope this at least somewhat inspires you to embark on a summer adventure too :)
xoxo,
el