Slab City

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Exhale@Last

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Hello All, I am going check out Slab City (head out 9/18). Wanted to know if anyone out there us interested in heading out with me to check it out?
 
I last visited March, would love to go with you but I still got a month left on this job commitment. Right now the winter folks and tourists are probably still holding off, but the desert rats are coming back to life. The weather's pretty close to perfect out there now for us heat-lovers, warm and dry during the day (perfect for wading in the irrigation canals and just hanging out in the shade), but cool enough to sleep comfortably at night without A/C.
 
Stretch said:
 Yeah, PSA to all who might not know - stay out of irrigation canals.  :s http://swdh.org/PDF/Canal-Hazards.pdf

Pretty much all of that applies to any river, there are hazards, pollution in the water, etc...This document is put out by the same people who stress putting on sunscreen any time you step outside in daylight hours, even on cloudy days.

The canal you cross just before entering Slab City is about 3 feet deep, firm sandy bottom, clear, cool, moderate flow. This is a safe and clean place to cool off in. I'm not talking about swimming in the Coachella Canal, which is the fenced off, concrete-channeled monstrosity behind the town.
 
TMG51 said:
"...it is possible to ingest feces, pesticides, insecticides, and other toxins..."

Sounds like my average Friday night. I don't see the problem.

Also sounds like a strong possibility/probability if/when you decide to eat food from a fast food/chain restaurant ...
 
83* in Scottsdale at the moment. Temps are dropping.
 
TMG51 said:
"...it is possible to ingest feces, pesticides, insecticides, and other toxins..."

Sounds like my average Friday night. I don't see the problem.

I don't know. It is POSSIBLE, but I don't think I would suggest it.  

It's possible to jump out of an airplane without a parachute, but the landing is a bitch!

Pat
 
When I worked for the IID, one of the nastier jobs was plucking the bodies out of the larger canals. :(  Most people didn't realize have fast the under current was until too late. Worse still, was when the bodies got jammed against the intake screens at the hydro electric drops such as the ones on the all American canal. Recently, while visiting old friends back there, I noticed they have installed some small ladders in the canal to help people get back out.
On another note, I used to have to journey out to slab city quite often to replace batteries stolen out of our equipment.  :mad:
 
Don't go to the Slabs alone. Get some buddies so you can have someone at camp at all times, while most slabbers are decent, there are plenty of meth heads out there and they will steal from you, especially solar. Or make friends with some of the nicer people camped out there, be parked close enough so they can watch your camp.  Solo people out there are easy marks for the druggies.
 
I go solo all the time. Never had a problem.
 
TMG51 said:
I go solo all the time. Never had a problem.

The demographics of the slabs has been changing over time. Nowadays there are a lot more meth heads and true homeless, rather than a community of free spirits choosing to live out there like it once was. Some areas of Slab City are ok, some are not. Just because you haven't been victimized there doesn't mean that it won't happen. Slab City is one of the few places a boondocker really has to worry about the possibility of violence or crime in the southwest, other than the major cities; most of this directly coming from meth heads.

I am not saying avoid the place, just be smart where you camp there.
 
Is Slab City actually the name of a place or is it a nickname? Where is it and what's the appeal? I never heard of it before seeing mention of it now and then on this forum.

Sorry for being lazy - I'm on my phone and can't google right now.
 
CityWoman said:
Is Slab City actually the name of a place or is it a nickname?  Where is it and what's the appeal?  I never heard of it before seeing mention of it now and then on this forum.

Sorry for being lazy - I'm on my phone and can't google right now.

videos made by '[font='YouTube Noto', Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Cornelius Vango' will show what real  time, real residents lives are like.[/font]
[font='YouTube Noto', Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Not very glamorous but you get a truthful idea of what 'it' is. [/font]

[font='YouTube Noto', Roboto, arial, sans-serif][/font]

(these are full timers for Slab City, not so much as Vandwellers traveling through, but there are videos of them as well)
 
JustACarSoFar said:
videos made by . . .

I generally don't click on links to videos. Instead, could you give brief answers my questions? Thanks!
 
JustACarSoFar said:
videos made by '[font='YouTube Noto', Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Cornelius Vango' will show what real  time, real residents lives are like.[/font]
[font='YouTube Noto', Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Not very glamorous but you get a truthful idea of what 'it' is. [/font]

[font='YouTube Noto', Roboto, arial, sans-serif][/font]

(these are full timers for Slab City, not so much as Vandwellers traveling through, but there are videos of them as well)


she was also thrown in jail for trying to defend her self from meathead. one guy told the story about him and a friend being in the library with her with a guy starts threatening them with a knife. so his friend punched the guy. His friend was tied up and beaten and left at the entrance to the slabs tied to the chair. most "slabbers" agreed with it because the guy claimed the friend had brass knuckles.



 
CityWoman said:
Is Slab City actually the name of a place or is it a nickname?  Where is it and what's the appeal?  I never heard of it before seeing mention of it now and then on this forum.

Sorry for being lazy - I'm on my phone and can't google right now.

It's an abandoned military base that has been serving as a community for squatters and artists for decades.
 
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