Route 78 out of Julian, in Anza-Borrego State Park
The End of the World: Julian to the Salton Sea and Back, California, US - 1st March 2008
Continuing our drive around the desert of South-west California, we drive through the cool misty mountain-town of Julian and cross the mountains in to the Anza-Borrego State Park. As soon as the mountains are cleared, the skies clear and temperature notches up by 10°C. The roof of the Mustang convertible is duly lowered and we blast around the desert roads, heading up to Borrego Springs, for a picnic on possibly California's only roundabout, then up to the Henderson Canyon to see the desert in bloom. From there, it's through the Anza-Borrego badlands to the Salton Sea - one of the strangest places in the world. If you ever want to see what happens to society after the destruction of humanity, then it gives a clue: what must have once been a thriving waterside community is now crumbling in to the ground, but here-and-there a few residents put on a brave face and tend their gardens. It's like the aftermath of some nuclear destruction, but without the nuclear winter and fall-out, and the whole thing freaks us out a bit. We soon head off back down to rejoin Route 78, drive back through the badlands, and on into the pretty town of Julian.
next album: Rosarito and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico - 2nd March 2008
previous album: San Diego 8: The Beaches of Torrey Pines, and Ramona, California, USA - 29th February 2008
Isobel ponders life by the road-side
Isobel hangs over the convertible
A couple of desert flowers
Isobel inspects some prickly-pear cacti
The car waits for us in a lay-by
Isobel roams among the cacti
Isobel in the hills
Spiky cacti
Purple flowers
A bit of gorse
Isobel's off again
A white desert flower, surrounded by purple
A view of the Anza-Borrego badlands
Isobel waves her hands on state road S3
The Wells Fargo bank at Borrego Springs
Christmas Circle even has toilets on it
The V-8 Mustang parked by the roundabout
We picnic on the roundabout
A rare cyclist on Christmas Circle
30 miles to the Salton Sea
A roadside hut by Christmas Circle
Our first sighting of the desert in bloom
Pretty flowers in the desert
More flowers
Pink/purple desert flowers
Sightseers roam around in the flowers
Purple flowers under blue skies
Carpets of flowers cover the canyon floor
More flowers
Isobel walks around amongst the purple flowers
A box marked 'telephone' isn't ringing
The desert flowers prove popular
Photographing the flowers
I Poke Badgers with Spoons
Off-road in Henderson Canyon
In the derelict town of Desert Shores, Salton Sea
Derelict lock-ups
Some sort of gate post stands around
Isobel roams around the post-apocalyptic town
Everywhere, buildings are falling apart
Salt-encrusted sticks in the Salton Sea
More derelict buildings
The nuclear blast-wave has not left much behind
A derelict caravan
Wind-swept dirt road
A dead bush
A stool sits alone, with no-one to sit on it
A caravan with no sidewalls
A more-intact green caravan
The remains of an airstream-like caravan
Derelict homes
More post-nuclear wasteland
Beauty Barber - anachronistic sign in a wasteland
Smashed windows
More dereliction and decay
Telegraph poles lead the way out of town
Ironic graffiti - smile, God loves ya
A big pile of rubbish
Isobel's back in the Mustang
An abandoned semi trailer and shop sign
The bow of a speedboat lurches out of the ground
Motorboat stuck in the ground
A sign hopes to tempt passers-by to the facilities
Optimistic plots of land are for sale
On Route 78 heading toward Ocotillo Wells
A dust storm cross the road
A derelict petrol station near Ocotillo Wells
A derelict petrol pump at Burro Bend
The old petrol station forecourt
Another abandoned pump
'Welcome to Burro Bend, California'
A tyre barricade
Concrete writing from 1989 shows a poignant hope
Derelict petrol-station shop
The inside of the derelict petrol station's shop
The exposed workings of a petrol pump
Round the back of the shop
Derelict petrol station at Burro Bend
Isobel waits in the Mustang
Isobel at Burro Bend
Ocotillo plants in the desert
Back in Julian, we find an ice machine
A pile of signs
The Old Julian Garage
We stop for Apple pie in Apple Pie Town
The apple-pie café
A Harley-Davidson on Main Street
The Rong Branch bar
Amusing sign advertising 'weed wacking'
A queue at 'Moms'
A horse-and-cart clops by on Julian's Main Street
Main Street and B
The Julian petrol station
Unusual combination: pistols and petticoats
A yellow Julian fire hydrant
A couple of wicker chairs outside a small house
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Route 78 out of Julian, in Anza-Borrego State Park
Route 78 out of Julian, in Anza-Borrego State Park
Isobel ponders life by the road-side
Isobel hangs over the convertible
A couple of desert flowers
Isobel inspects some prickly-pear cacti
The car waits for us in a lay-by
Isobel roams among the cacti
Isobel in the hills
Spiky cacti
Purple flowers
A bit of gorse
Isobel's off again
A white desert flower, surrounded by purple
A view of the Anza-Borrego badlands
Isobel waves her hands on state road S3
The Wells Fargo bank at Borrego Springs
Christmas Circle even has toilets on it
The V-8 Mustang parked by the roundabout
We picnic on the roundabout
A rare cyclist on Christmas Circle
30 miles to the Salton Sea
A roadside hut by Christmas Circle
Our first sighting of the desert in bloom
Pretty flowers in the desert
More flowers
Pink/purple desert flowers
Sightseers roam around in the flowers
Purple flowers under blue skies
Carpets of flowers cover the canyon floor
More flowers
Isobel walks around amongst the purple flowers
A box marked 'telephone' isn't ringing
The desert flowers prove popular
Photographing the flowers
I Poke Badgers with Spoons
Off-road in Henderson Canyon
In the derelict town of Desert Shores, Salton Sea
Derelict lock-ups
Some sort of gate post stands around
Isobel roams around the post-apocalyptic town
Everywhere, buildings are falling apart
Salt-encrusted sticks in the Salton Sea
More derelict buildings
The nuclear blast-wave has not left much behind
A derelict caravan
Wind-swept dirt road
A dead bush
A stool sits alone, with no-one to sit on it
A caravan with no sidewalls
A more-intact green caravan
The remains of an airstream-like caravan
Derelict homes
More post-nuclear wasteland
Beauty Barber - anachronistic sign in a wasteland
Smashed windows
More dereliction and decay
Telegraph poles lead the way out of town
Ironic graffiti - smile, God loves ya
A big pile of rubbish
Isobel's back in the Mustang
An abandoned semi trailer and shop sign
The bow of a speedboat lurches out of the ground
Motorboat stuck in the ground
A sign hopes to tempt passers-by to the facilities
Optimistic plots of land are for sale
On Route 78 heading toward Ocotillo Wells
A dust storm cross the road
A derelict petrol station near Ocotillo Wells
A derelict petrol pump at Burro Bend
The old petrol station forecourt
Another abandoned pump
'Welcome to Burro Bend, California'
A tyre barricade
Concrete writing from 1989 shows a poignant hope
Derelict petrol-station shop
The inside of the derelict petrol station's shop
The exposed workings of a petrol pump
Round the back of the shop
Derelict petrol station at Burro Bend
Isobel waits in the Mustang
Isobel at Burro Bend
Ocotillo plants in the desert
Back in Julian, we find an ice machine
A pile of signs
The Old Julian Garage
We stop for Apple pie in Apple Pie Town
The apple-pie café
A Harley-Davidson on Main Street
The Rong Branch bar
Amusing sign advertising 'weed wacking'
A queue at 'Moms'
A horse-and-cart clops by on Julian's Main Street
Main Street and B
The Julian petrol station
Unusual combination: pistols and petticoats
A yellow Julian fire hydrant
A couple of wicker chairs outside a small house