Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge

Partly cloudy with showers as we headed down the road to the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. It's only minutes from camp. Yes this is named for Sonny of Sonny & Cher fame. He promoted the environment and protection of animals. The refuge was first established in 1930 byPresident Hoover. Originally it consisted of about 37,600 acres. Now because of flooding by the Salton Sea, only about 2200 acres are still manageable. The refuge is located along the course of the Pacific Flyway in the Imperial Valley.

Down the Red Hill Trail first winding through shrubs where Desert Cottontails ran in front of us. The path took us along the coast line for about a mile. Thousands of gulls, American White Pelicans, Egrets, Mountain Plovers and others floated in the water and lounged on the sand bars. The sea is 25% saltier than the Pacific Ocean and this is affecting the fish which then affects the birds. The lovely aroma we are experiencing is a combination of hydrogen sulfied and dead fish - essence of the Sea! On the other side of the path were fields of green barley, oats, and wheat. the farmers grow this for the birds so they will stay in the refuge and away from other crops. One field was covered with white birds and we think they were Snow Geese, but the path was closed and we couldn't get close enought. We spotted a Great Blue Heron standing royally on top of a outcropping of rock on Rock Hill. At the end the trail leads up Rock Hill. We sat on the top just enjoying the quiet peacefulness and watching the birds catch the air streams.

Heading back down the trail we are a little heavier than when we started. The ground is full of thick red mucky clay that sticks to your shoes. It weighs your feet down and is really hard to get off. There were some spots we had to be careful where we stepped or we would have been ankle deep. As we reached the entrance we saw several Gambrel's Quail. They run everywhere. We learned alot and it was fun seeing new birds.

Now it was time to check out the town of Niland. Wow today was the 70th Annual Tomato Festival....more like a bad fea market! We saw only 1 basket of 6 Roma tomatoes in the whole place. The only other tomato item was the ketchup on the counters at the hamburger stands. Oh well you have to experience the local stuff - you never know what you'll find. Niland isn't very big and looks like it is going through tough times. A couple of dilapitated buildings, a taco restaurant and a market but the folks here are struggling to keep it going. The library was just closed and that was a real blow to everyone.

Rather than going back to camp we decided to take the loop around the Salton Sea so down State Rte 30 to Westmorland, CA and then up Rte 68N. The route wound along the west side of the sea. We stopped at Salton Sea Beach. Not quite what we expected. Busted buildings that have suffered through flooding of the sea over the years and fires. It is pretty much abandoned now. Further up the road we passed Palm Tree farms and fruit tree orchards. Turning onto Rte 111 S in Mecca. The Little Santa Rosa Mountains are on the right. The sun has broken through the clouds and the mountain are taking on a golden color. We are traveling through the Salton Sea Recreation Area now as we head back to camp. We have finally found the scenic route! Several beautiful campgrounds along the state beaches. If you are in the area I suggest staying at the Salton Sea Recreation Area Visitor Center. They have really nice sites with hookups. Several of the state beaches are closed due to the budget crunch here in California, but the ones that are open are very nice.

We made our way down a very mucky road back to camp. They had some rain while we were gone and it causes a real muddy mess. We are going to hang out for a while and then go catch a sunset on the other side of Red Hill.