[oinksoft]

The Salton Sea is fascinating. Its bed is as low as Badwater Basin in Death Valley, and were it not inundated, it might be the hottest place in the US. A little while ago I submitted a fellow's account of hiking its perimeter during summer: http://dineshdesai.info/saltonwalk/

[the_watcher]

I grew up in La Quinta, just a bit west of the Salton Sea. Thermal, which is a city between La Quinta and the sea, is tied with Death Valley and the Libyan Sahara for the highest recorded temperature of all time (or at least was, while I was growing up). In the Coachella Valley, every summer includes about a month of 120+ highs, and anyone who has spent more than 3 summers there has seen 130+ temperatures before. It's just damn hot.