This document appears to be a collection of photos from a trip to the Salton Sea area with descriptions. It includes photos from signs, landmarks, and locations around the Salton Sea like the visitor center, boat ramps, beaches, and small towns. The photos show the group interacting with areas heavily impacted by water pollution and a declining ecosystem. The commentary provides context and humor about interactions at different sites and observations about the environmental degradation in the region.

1. Salton Sea Project
Philip Stilwell

2. 2a. At the blue sign
This was one of our first stops on our trip. The sign looks crooked,
but it is actually straight. It looks like that because the ground
underneath it is uneven. This marked the beginning of my gorilla
adventures.

3. 2b. At the visitor center
This is me striking a pose at the visitor center. Kaitlin and Malerey
were inside looking for the ranger while Max and I took this picture. I
consider this a favor to the camera because of my stunning face.

4. 2c. With a creature
This is me with birds. This was the only time during the trip that we saw
a large group of flying creatures so we quickly took turns getting a picture with them.
Apparently, birds don’t like living in the middle of nowhere
in heavily polluted water. I never would have guessed.

5. 2d. Shaking hands with ranger
The ranger was a very nice lady. She shook all of our hands, and then
got back to work after we were done interrupting her. I heard that
the ranger talked about me to other groups of students, so I’m glad
that my mask made an impression on her. I plan on taking over the
world with the mask some day.

6. 2e. At the boat ramp
This is the boat ramp where we found all the dead fish.You can see
them to my right (the picture’s left) if you look closely. The ramp
smelt like salt water times one billion.

7. 2f. With the fisherman
The fisherman seemed very confused when an individual in a gorilla
mask came up to him and took his fishing pole. I reassured to him
that I was human by removing my mask.

8. 2g. Holding up a fish
This was one of the many dead fish that we saw on the edge of the
water at this particular boat dock. It smelled terrible. Confirmed
dead. It wasn’t just lack of deodorant.

9. 2h. Air quality station
I don’t know if I got the two air quality stations mixed up, so I put
this one here just in case. Insert same paragraph for the last air
quality station here.

10. 2i. On the beach looking at sand
This is me crying because Kaitlin is abusive. Also, the sand is made out of dead fish.
Thanks for the heads up Mr Wehler. This happens to the fish because
the water’s salt content is extremely high, effectively
killing the fish and turning them into fish dust.

11. 3. Mecca Beach Sign
This is the sign for Mecca Beach.
As you can see, it is labeled as a state recreation area.
This is not true. It is basically just a desert with dead animals and dirt.
Maybe it was a recreation area fifty years ago, but not anymore.

12. 4. Corvina Beach
This is the Corvina Beach sign. As you can see, it is another
failed recreation area. There is nothing but dirt and polluted
water at this one. Definitely fun for the whole family.

13. 5a. Bombay Beach Sign
This is the Bombay Beach Sign. It is most likely named as a derivative of ‘bomb’,
since the idea of having a beach here ‘bombed’ after the water became a salty
mess that nobody wanted to get within one hundred miles of.

14. 5b. At the air quality test station
This is a picture of us at the air quality testing station.
According to the person we asked, it’s no longer in use,
probably because they gave up testing the terrible air
at the Salton Sea. I don’t blame them. I also noticed that
the fence was perfect for honing my gorilla-wall-climbing-skills.

15. 5c. Pirate’s Alley
In all honesty, I don’t remember what Pirate’s Alley was.You can just
go ahead and mark me down for this slide.

16. 5d. At the ski inn.
The ski inn was an interesting place.
The people inside were already drunk
and it wasn’t even noon. It is quite the
lifestyle that they have embraced.
They were funny though, so I will give
them credit for that.

17. 5e. In the Ski Inn
The name is misleading. It isn’t actually an inn, and as soon as you’re
inside, you want to get out. We hung around just long enough to take
a picture, and then we ran back out to the car.

18. 5f. The prettiest house
This house won by a lot. All the other houses consisted
of broken windows, missing doors, and dirt. It wasn’t even a
contest choosing this one.

19. 5g. At the old marina
This is me walking back from the end of the marina. The smell was
horrible. It would be torture to make someone stand out there for
more than twenty seconds without an air freshener stapled to their
face. Standing out there was the equivalent of locking yourself in a
refrigerator full of ten year old rotten milk.

20. 6. Spa Sign
This is us outside the entrance of the resort. Malerey isn’t actually
holding me on her hand. It is an illusion. I will tell you the secret on
how it was done if I can have an A.

21. 6a. At the market
I stopped to take a nap at the market while everyone else went
inside. The pavement was hot, and it burnt my arms, but that is a very
small price to pay for a few minutes of sleep.

22. 6b. In front of Gilly’s
It wasn’t called Gilly’s anymore, so I hope this counts.
We got a lot of confused faces when we kept asking where Gilly’s
was. Eventually we found a person who had lived there for a while,
and they knew about Gilly’s. It took a lot longer than
expected though.

23. 6c. Prettiest house
We weren’t allowed to go very far, so this was the prettiest house we
could find within our limits. It’s not great, but it worked well enough
for what we needed to do. Notice my expertly executed fish face.

24. 6d. At first tee
This was a very unusual golf course. At first we were looking for
something that actually had grass, but then we realized that it
probably wouldn’t have grass since it was in the middle of a desert.
After asking for a lot of directions, we found our way to the first tee.

25. 7a. Rattlesnake Sign
I hid from the camera in this picture. This is a sign telling us
to beware of rattlesnakes, however it was winter so I think
we were safe. I don’t think the rattlesnakes wanted to mess
with me anyway.

26. 7b. At the info kiosk
This is us at the info kiosk next to the rattlesnake sign.
I was looking in the yellow box for rattlesnakes, but I couldn’t even
find one. They are really good at hiding.

27. 8. Mud volcanoes
The volcanoes shot mud up
at our faces so we couldn’t
get too close to them. This is
me standing next to one. We
also had one of our only
human encounters here. It was
weird actually seeing someone.

28. 9. Niland Sign
I don’t really have much to say about Niland.
It was mostly deserted except for a few trailers, and we didn’t stay
there very long. I can comment on the sign, though. It has nice
colors, and is pleasing to look at.

29. 9a. Buckshot Diner
This is a picture of me sitting in front of the door at the Buckshot Diner.
The guy tried to get inside while I was having my picture taken, so we took the picture
really fast and then ran away to avoid being chased down by his posse.
We went inside momentarily, but we didn’t eat there because we were short on time.

30. 9b. Niland Fire Dpt.
This is us at the fire department. There was a tiny dog
running around while we were there. I got a few pictures of
it but I lost them. Apparently some other groups saw it too.

31. 10. SM Sign
This was the beginning of our journey into salvation
mountain. There were a lot of strange individuals there, but I
guess I’m not one to judge since I was invading their habitat.
They seemed to be enjoying their time at the mountain.

32. 10a. On the stairs
This is me standing on the stairs
at Salvation Mountain. It was a really
strange place and I couldn’t wait to
get out of there. It was cool, but it
creeped me out. The guy who built
it must have spent a long time on it.

33. 11. Slab City Sign
I ventured inside the box while everyone else stayed inside. It
had some weird writing and smelled like poop. Definitely a
multi-sensory experience. All ages recommended.

34. 11a. Shoe Tree
I tried to throw my shoe into the shoe tree. Luckily, it
didn’t stay. I would have lost my shoe forever! We went
here right after Salvation Mountain, since we saw it on the
side of the road.

35. 11b. Christian Center
This was the Slab City Christian Center. It said “all
welcome” but we didn’t dare to step inside. I’m sure it was
a nice place, though. We just didn’t feel like picking a lock
and sneaking in on that particular day.

36. 11c. At the range sign
This place was interesting. It seemed like a miniature
theater that people would perform at a long time ago.
There wasn’t anyone there, but I’m assuming that it used to
be a pretty cool place to hang out on the weekends.

37. 12. IID Wetlands Sign
This was the best sign ever. It worked as a perfect shade
from the sun, and explained how it planned to preserve the
ecosystem. It killed two birds with one stone. I wish I could
be as good as that sign.

38. 13. Desert Shores
This was Desert Shores. It was a nice place to end our day.
It had a better look to it than the rest of the desert, and it didn’t
smell bad either.

39. 13a.VFW
This was a cool site to see. It reminded me of my grandpa since he
served in World War 2. We hung around here
for a few minutes and looked around.

40. 13b. Church by the Sea
When we stopped at the church by the sea, I sat down and prayed
that I would get an A on this assignment.
We will see how that turns out.

41. 13c. DSFD
This was us at the Desert Shores Fire Department. We happened to
be there when the fire truck was parked inside. A lot of groups did
not get to see it, so we were fortunate.

42. 14. Salton Sea Beach
This was us at the Salton Sea Beach entrance. Max almost died here.
Kaitlin’s mom saved him from getting run over by a car. He needs to
look both ways before crossing the street.

43. 14b. At a picnic table
The picnic tables at the Salton Sea Beach were sunk half way into
the ground. This sand was also made out of dead fish. If you look
to the right, you can see Max rocking the Justin Bieber hair.

44. 15. Red Earth Casino
This is us at the casino. I was planning on going in and winning some
money, but apparently there is an age requirement when gambling.
We could have gone home millionaires.

45. 16. Salton City Welcome
This was the welcome sign for Salton City. It is kind of
ironic because we went here when we were leaving. The
sun was almost down, and we were on a mission to finish
up the last of our pictures.

46. 16b. West Shores RV
This was one of our last stops on the trip. We were all tired as you
can see by Max’s questionable actions. I’m not quite sure what he
was doing, but it was probably pointless.

47. 16d. High School
Something tells me that our high school might have a little bit higher
standards. I don’t know for sure, though. That’s just what it looks like
from the outside.

48. 18a. Food Mart
It took me so long to perfect this move that it would be
cruel to not give me extra credit for this slide. It was
harder than it looks, Mr Wehler.

49. 20. Geothermal Plant
This is me at the geothermal plant.
We weren’t allowed to get a full tour,
so we just stood there acting like
we belonged, and they didn’t get
mad at us.

50. 20a. (Semi) Tour of Plant
This was us in the geothermal plant. Max stepped over the yellow line before
this picture was taken, and panic was induced. They quickly told him to step
back over the line and to be more careful. I don’t think they liked us.

51. DOG

52. THE END