Exploring the Unconventional: A Journey through Slab City, California

A New Type of Adventure

Slab City, often deemed “The Last Free Place in America,” stands as a beacon of unregulated freedom in the Southern Californian desert. Our journey into this off-the-grid enclave was driven by a quest to understand the residents’ unique way of life, unburdened by societal norms, and to uncover the stories woven through the sunbaked slabs. Our mission: pretend to be podcasters who are reporting on life in the slabs; our firsthand audio accounts are included later in the post.

Setting the Scene

Nestled deep in the Sonoran Desert, Slab City, California, unfurls over 640 acres, a stone’s throw away from the Salton Sea and 3 hours east of San Diego. A former Marine Corps base, the slabs now serve as foundations for eclectic abodes of those seeking solace from conventionality. The raw, untamed energy is palpable, resonating in the vibrant murals, the makeshift homes, and the unbridled freedom that dances in the air.

Lay of the Land

Heading due north from Centro, California, we drove through a few smaller towns on our way into the slabs; most importantly, Calipatria and Niland.

In Calipatria, we stopped at a local market to pick up slab city supplies. We had read online that when approaching the slabbers for interviews, we should offer gifts of snacks and beer which would make them more amenable to conversations. We bought cosmic brownies, moon pies, Mexican Jell-O cups, and Modelos, hoping those would be enticing options for the slabbers.

Legend Has It…

Conveniently, there was a police station next door so we tried to talk to an officer about his experiences in Slab City. Unfortunately, he informed us that the local police department does not patrol the Slab. Now, that doesn’t mean that there is no law enforcement in that area because apparently the county sheriffs will perform occasional patrols through the Slab to ensure there are no crimes being egregiously broken, but it did not sound like much enforcement was occurring. The officer recommended we head up to Niland, a small neighboring town to Slab City and speak with the fire house there because the firemen are called in for arson and medical reasons regularly.

In Niland, we found the local firehouse and interviewed some firemen about the Slab. They declined to be recorded for the interview without getting approval from their captain first. However, they were helpful in providing a firsthand account of life in the Slab. The officers are regularly called out there to respond to medical calls for when fights break out between inhabitants of Slab City and occasionally when tourists wander in there and accidentally aggravate the locals. We learned that there is no formal judicial system there, but there is a loose code of ethics that are followed by the locals; something akin to live and let live. This means that while you’re at full liberty to try to meet your neighbor, there is no guarantee that you won’t be violently shouted off the property (or worse).

Additionally, there is a concept of ‘Slab Justice’ which is essentially an understanding that transgressions will be resolved with retribution, typically in the form of physical violence. The firemen recommended we talk to the ‘mayor of the slab’ who resides near Salvation mountain to get his blessing before entering Slab City.

Meeting the Locals

The denizens of Slab City are a potpourri of seasoned wanderers, artists, and individuals seeking a life unbound by societal norms. Their homes are a rich tapestry of RVs, tents, and makeshift shelters, each uniquely built with the residue of ingenuity and resilience, forming an eclectic mosaic against the desert landscape.

Living Off the Grid

The lifestyle choices of Slab City’s residents reverberate with a philosophy of self-sufficiency and freedom. The residents, or “Slabbers,” have embraced an existence untethered to public utilities or governmental oversight. The desert, both relentless and giving, shapes their daily life, necessitating resourcefulness in sourcing water, generating power, and procuring food. During the summers, the temperatures reach up to 130F with winds whipping up to 100 MPH and not relenting for days on end. The town of Niland, just a couple of miles away, is the closest refuge for those who do not have proper accommodations to weather the Hellish conditions. There, the slabbers have access to a cooling room that is adjacent to the fire department which is kept at a relatively chilly 65 degrees and provides free water, Pedialyte, and snacks.

As you can imagine, for someone trying to move into the Slab, it’s not as easy as just picking a plot of land. Choosing where you live and who you live by is crucial to your safety. The inhabitants are a mixture of people who are just looking to get off the grid, people running from the law, and drug addicts, so their demeanor ranges from highly sociable to dangerous depending on who you interact with. The firemen explained that if you were to set up your abode near someone who didn’t want neighbors, one of the common methods for expelling neighbors is to set their house on fire, colloquially referred to as a ‘Burn Out’.

One of the common ways that people make enemies is through waste disposal. There is no sewage system in Slab City, so the residents will often defecate into buckets for a few weeks until it’s full. Rather than leaving town to dispose of it, they’ll dig a hole, fill it with the excrement and gasoline, and light it on fire. This area has consistent winds blowing through it, so if you’re the down wind neighbor you’ll find your house filling with noxious (and poisonous) fumes. A Burn Out doesn’t seem so severe anymore does it?

As you can tell, it is crucial to make friends with neighbors before setting up a permanent residence and to maintain that friendship or mutual agreement throughout one’s time in slab.

The Community

The seemingly rugged individualism converges into a palpable sense of community. The air vibrates with the shared rhythms of communal music sessions, art collaborations, and barter exchanges. A collective responsibility permeates Slab City, with residents providing a network of support and shared wisdom, reinforcing the bonds of this unconventional family.

While the accommodations are eye-opening by themselves, our sights were set on developing a better understanding of the culture that permeates Slab City, and for that we needed to learn from the locals.

Interviews

Slabber #1: ‘Jimmy James’

From Wisconsin? Sells trinkets that are made in the slabs. He’s very personable and helps less sociable slabber sell their art.

Slabber #2: Dribbling Wolf of the Iroquois Tribe

Dribbling Wolf is a sagacious older gentleman who runs the famous Salvation Mountain section of town. He works 7 days a week and you can identify him because he wears a once-vibrant yellow vest, now smattered with years of stains and dust, that says “Docent” across the chest.

We introduced ourselves to him, expecting the standard pleasantries, but he then proceeded to tell us that is name was Dribbling Wolf of the Iroquois tribe which peaked our interests even further. He is an estranged member of the tribe who has sought refuge the lawless land of Slab City, although he never made it clear as to why he left the tribe.

In the interview we briefly cover restaurants, friendship, community, weather, and deaths in the Slab. There was a windstorm rolling in and Wolf is a bit of a softer speaker which is admittedly not a great combo for an interview, but we did our best (and the wind dies down throughout the interview).

Fun Fact: The colorful scenes in Kesha’s music video for “Prayer” were shot in Slab City. The typical artwork and of the Slab and Salvation Mountain can be seen in the music video below.

Slabber #3: ‘Craig’

As we ventured further into the Slab, we saw signs for a skate park and thought it might be a good place to meet people. The wind had started to pick up even more at this point so there was only one skater out in the park. When we explained that we were podcasters trying to learn more about the Slab, he agreed to be interviewed, but wanted to be anonymized and only provided the fake name (or ‘nic’) of Craig. Craig also really enjoyed death metal music and had his speaker blaring in the background, so there wasn’t much viable audio from the interview. To save your ears from strain and erratic volumes, I summarized the interview below.

Craig is a mid-twenties male who loves to skate. He moved out of his parents’ house on the east coast ~6 months ago and has been living out of a small van ever since.

In the Slabs you’ll often find that people have some sort of niche that they fill within the community. There’s a welder, a solar installer, a hostel owner, a librarian, restaurant owners, etc., just like in a regular suburban town. Craig wants to cement himself in the community as an electronics repair man because that’s what he used to do back on the east coast and plans to link up with slabber by the nic of ‘DNA’ who runs the local welding business.

We had heard from the firefighters that when you move into Slab City, you need to be careful on how to pick your neighbors, else you might risk getting ‘Burned Out’ by the locals. We asked Craig about how safe he felt in this community, having just moved in a few days before, and he said that he was able to find a small plot and wasn’t too concerned. In fact, he made a point that he had stayed in much more dangerous communities before, citing the Los Angeles and San Francisco downtowns. Amazing to think that someone could feel safer in this seemingly isolated and lawless community than in cities that have a police force and regular patrols. He specifically said that cities are more hostile than in the Slabs, but that if people are acting up it will often get resolved after a yelling match and doesn’t usually “come to blows.”

Craig prefers to live in these DIY, off-grid communities where he won’t be bothered by the din of the world. He gave off a sort of counter-culture vibe, evidenced through his lifestyle choices, but also by how he referred to city people as “normies” in a slightly derogatory manner. He is still trying to figure out if Slab City will be where he settles down for the near future, but for now his current plan is to clean up the skate park and shred.

Slabber #4: ‘Mojo’

Harm reduction facility. Airbnb $25/night. Starlink. Fuck safe, shoot clean. Only one that let us take her picture.

Slabber #5: ‘Aurora’

All of the slabbers we had talked to so far recommended checking out the Slab City library. We had pretty low expectations for it considering what we had see so far, but we headed that way to investigate.

The current owner of the Library is a non-binary person named Aurora who was extremely welcoming and sociable. They offered us free water and snacks, and we responded with free brownies and beer.

Out back of the library, there was an anger management zone where the locals could bring glass bottles for smashing. I guess I need to work on my aim because I ended up just putting a hole in the fence…

We were planning to leave Slab City after visiting the library, but Aurora said that we should visit “Dot” in the “East Jesus” section of town because she is a hilarious character and that we would definitely leave with a smile on our faces.

Slabber #5: ‘Dot’

You can easily discern the property lines by the walls of tires or rocks that line the perimeter.

Section Header: Discoveries and Reflections

Paragraph 7: Unveiling the Mysteries

Slab City unraveled its mysteries with every passing moment, unveiling the myriad ways its residents have tailored their lives around freedom and sustainability. The diversity among the “Slabbers” painted a multi-hued portrait of lives interwoven with the threads of defiance, survival, and innovation, each choosing this life for reasons as varied as the desert flora.

Paragraph 8: Reflecting on Freedom

The concept of freedom, as lived by Slab City’s residents, forced a contemplation of my own perceptions and the societal constructs around autonomy. The juxtaposition of the perceived anarchy of Slab City against the regimented structure of conventional life offered a mirror reflecting the myriad forms freedom can encapsulate and the sacrifices each entails.

Conclusion:

My journey through Slab City was an odyssey into the realms of unrestrained existence and radical freedom. The voices of its residents echoed with the harmonies of diverse stories, each a testament to the human spirit’s ability to adapt, create, and thrive in the face of stark adversity. Slab City, with its raw, untamed essence and its residents’ unvarnished truths, left an indelible mark, questioning the conventional definitions of civilization and freedom, and inviting reflections on the true essence of living.

Additional Sections (Optional):

• Photo Gallery:
  • A collection of striking images capturing the spirit of Slab City and the resilient vibrance of its residents.
• FAQs:
  • Addressing common curiosities about the life, culture, and practicalities of living in Slab City, based on in-depth interactions and observations.
• Visitor’s Guide:
  • Practical insights and tips for those intrigued by the allure of Slab City, offering a glimpse into the dos and don’ts while visiting this unregulated enclave.