October 1942, in the 631 acres of desert land surrounding Niland, a tiny township in the Colorado Desert, Camp Dunlap is erected. The newest West Coast Marine Core training center. Sitting at the western foot of the Chocolate Mountains the training center would boast thirty buildings, including a water treatment and distribution system, eight miles of paved streets, a 76 x 165 swimming pool and concrete fuel tanks. March 1946, just four fickle years later and Tent City, as it was briefly known is abolished then demolished, only the Slab flooring is left intact. And the swimming pool.
Slab City, the last free place, indisputably has it’s own texture, a dusty antique boutique filled to the rafters with kindness and experience, wisdom and generosity. A panoramic horizon of Chocolate Mountains and orchestral bombings, silent ambitions and grand motivations.
Residents in the Slabs know something. They are surprised you do not. They have their eyes wide open, they have dueled with society and constraint and have neither slain nor been slain, simply preferring instead to lay their rapier down and concentrate on a more worthier opponent.
James Ranson
With a book already under their belt, they are out to explore Alaska and its iron spine that weaves through its icy core, seeking the land and the people.
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