The Other Side of California

Introduction

The Ruins of Bombay Beach (Natasha Petrosova)  

     A two-hour drive in any direction from the beautiful California coast, one

 will discover a mostly unseen, but rather peculiar side of the Golden State. Set

 apart from the trendy, sophisticated crowds, delightful weather, densely populated

 cities, and busy freeways, a half rural/half abandoned region of California offers an

 uncanny experience within its two great deserts, the Colorado and Mojave. The

 deserts are well known for their strenuous summers, old mining towns, deserted

 Salton Sea shores, abandoned military bases, and other offbeat attractions.

    What makes those desolated buildings, places, and towns in the middle of the 

desert so interesting to visit? Why do people travel countless miles to explore and 

photograph them? From an abandoned building to a deserted town, these places 

evoke feelings, and ignite the imagination to ponder the past and the future. They are

 full of history, and rich with memories; they hint at the journeys of early settlers, full

 of big dreams and bigger failures; they bring up tales of towns and communities

that, for one reason or another, didn’t make it; and they offer us a suggestive glimpse

 to a post-apocalyptic future… what happens when we are gone? 

    Most fascinating, almost none of these abandoned places are technically

 abandoned. Towns like Johannesburg, Keeler, and Bombay Beach, for instance, all

 claim full-time residents.  Abandoned Navy Base, Camp Dunlap was transformed 

into Slab City, with more than 12,000 winter residents. Abandoned buildings draw 

frequent visitors, tempted to explore what lies within their walls. Some of the 

buildings serve as a permanent residence for wildlife, and a temporary rest stop for

 passing drifters. 

         I visited these places, and this is what I found...