Southern California is a place of unbelievable environments that seemingly appear out of nowhere. Driving down the highway and there appears towering and endless sand dunes. Drive another direction and the desert gives way to a vast expanse of electric blue water surround by haunted white sand. See this, and you are looking at the Salton Sea. Saltier than the ocean, mysterious, and graveyards for beaches, the Salton Sea holds as much to view as it does to think about. Look closely at the beach photos below. The sand is made from infinite fish skeletons. There was a mile long line of these poor fish lying bleached in the sun. They get ground up and added to the granules of sand.
Entering California from the southern route along I-8 out of nowhere appears Imperial Sand Dunes. I was awestruck by this true desert landscape of sand and dunes. I did not know the U.S. had a desert like this with golden sand one could confuse for being out in the Sahara. It was pure coincidence that upon leaving California to return to New Mexico the dunes were passed by at sunset time. I flew my Mavic Pro drone for some cinematic drone video and aerial photos, with still some time to tote my Nikon up a dune for some HDR and long exposure still photos from the ground. What a landscape this was!
