El Centra to Yreka 19 



barrier across what was once a great intermountain valley. The 

 river, a few years ago, broke over the banks of its own delta 

 deposit and filled the basin. Since the river has been made to 

 deliver its waters again to the Gulf of California the Salton Sea 

 has fallen so that it is much smaller in size. The water is a 

 saturated brine. At the bottom is a bed of salt. Having no 

 outlet the waters become more and more saline by concentra- 



Photo by W. C. Mendenhall. Courtesy Journal of Geology 

 FIG. 7. Old water-line marking shore of Lake Cahuilla, west of Coachella. 



tion of inflowing waters. An ancient beach or shore-line may 

 be seen many feet above the present shore, marking the height 

 at which the lake once stood. Streams enter the lake from the 

 mountains from the east and west in flood times following heavy 

 rains, but these streams are intermittent, and their courses be- 

 come "dry washes" during much of the year. 



The journey up either side of the Salton Sea is charming 

 early in the season. (It is up northward toward San Gorgonio 

 Pass.) During the summer months it is desperately hot, 120 

 degrees being not uncommon. In the spring it is delightful. 

 The desert wild flowers can never be forgotten once they are 



