What is the Dirty Scouts Jamboree?
The Dirty Scouts Jamboree is the tongue-and-cheek name we've given to the annual meetup of misfit travelers from the online community Squat the Planet. This is going to be a rare opportunity to hang out and get to know a lot of the people from the StP website in real life and possibly find others to travel with after the event.
What happens at the Jamboree depends largely on what you put into it; last year was filled with countless bottles of sake, fencing matches and shooting guns in the desert, so who knows how wild shit will get this year. Expect some urban exploring around the Salton Sea, playing music around the campfire, watching a few travel films at night, having a 'best travel story' contest (with prizes), and generally partying our asses off. There's also rumors of a demolition derby, but... uh... you didn't hear that from me...
This year's event will take place October 21st through the 23rd, in Slab City, California. Feel free to copy the flyer below and distribute far and wide!
About Slab City
If you've never heard of Slab City before, it's an area of southern California that was formerly a military base, but now exists as a popular snowbird retreat. It has as few as 100 residents in the summer and as high as 1100+ during the winter. Portions of the military base still exist as concrete foundations that give the Slabs it's name. It's located next to the Chocolate Mountains Aerial Gunnery Range, which often puts on quite a show at night (and sometimes during the day) as the military performs practice maneuvers and drops various kinds of ordinance throughout the fenced off area. You can often see (and feel) the bombs going off between the Slabs and the Chocolate Mountains in the distance.
There's a lot of things to do and places to explore throughout Slab City, including "The Range" run by Builder Bill, who puts on a life open mic night every Saturday. This is often the best opportunity to mingle and meet other folks in the Slabs all in one place. In addition to local bands, it's not unusual for bands from as far as Los Angeles and San Diego to occasionally show up and perform.
Slab City is also home to the infamous Salvation Mountain, a huge mural painted around "The Tanks", it's own hot springs, and a decent sized piece of desert to explore around it. Within driving range is the Glamis sand dunes, the mud pots, and all kinds of exploration opportunities around the Salton Sea.
About the Library
Cornelius, curator of the Slab City library has been kind enough to host us once again at the beautiful Lizard Tree Library located right next to the canal (so it'll be easy to beat the heat)!
As a thank you, we're asking that anyone attending the event this year bring at least one quality book to donate to the library. Think of it as paying the price of admission; although we won't be turning anyone away, the library could really use your donations to expand it's current collection of materials.
For those that don't know, the Lizard Tree Library in Slab City was a place where folks could leave books and take books for the whole Slab community. Unfortunately after the original owner passed away, it went neglected for quite a long time, until Cornelius and friends came along, and they've been hard at work rebuilding it, so if you can help out in some way while you're there, please do!
The above video is by @Cornelius Vango (subscribe to her channel!) and is mainly about the people in Slab City, but there's some really good video of the library as well. Definitely worth watching if you've never been to the slabs before and would like to know what to expect.
Awesome! I'm sold! How do I get there!?!
The closest town to Slab City is Niland, which is on the 111 highway, approximately 36 miles north of El Centro, California. Niland is a three mile walk from the Slabs. It's not difficult, and 90% of the time if a slabber sees you walking along the road and they have room, you'll get picked up.
By Car: If you're coming via San Diego or from the East, you should take the I-8 freeway to El Centro, then head north on the 111 highway. If you're coming from Los Angeles, you should take the I-10 freeway east to the 111 south. Northeast, you should come via highway 78.
By Bus: The closest you can get to Slab City via Greyhound is El Centro, California.
By Train: A north/south bound UP train actually goes right through Niland, but almost 90% of the time it doesn't stop there or anywhere near it, it just goes right through. Best bet would be to make your way to Indio, hop off there and hitch the remaining distance to Niland. If someone can provide more detail on this, please let us know.
Important! El Centro actually has a daily metro bus that goes to Niland for the amazing price of one dollar! So if you're hitchhiking or arriving via Greyhound, we highly recommend taking this bus to cover the last 36 miles to Niland. Unfortunately it only leaves once every few hours between 5:45am and 8:45pm (and does not run on sundays). You can find more information at http://www.ivtransit.com.
How to get from Niland to the Lizard Tree Library:
In case there's any confusion about where to go, this map shows how to walk from the main drag of Niland to the Lizard Tree Library in the Slabs!
What do I need to bring?
Absolutely! We need people to bring food, booze, vehicles, money, or their own two hands to help set up and clean up after the event.
What else should I know?
I'm not sure! Since we're announcing this so early we're still working everything out. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions, post them here and we'll address them the best we can. Now go tell your friends!
https://squattheplanet.com/fest/
If you're attending, please RSVP with a comment below so we can get an idea of how many people to expect!
The Dirty Scouts Jamboree is the tongue-and-cheek name we've given to the annual meetup of misfit travelers from the online community Squat the Planet. This is going to be a rare opportunity to hang out and get to know a lot of the people from the StP website in real life and possibly find others to travel with after the event.
What happens at the Jamboree depends largely on what you put into it; last year was filled with countless bottles of sake, fencing matches and shooting guns in the desert, so who knows how wild shit will get this year. Expect some urban exploring around the Salton Sea, playing music around the campfire, watching a few travel films at night, having a 'best travel story' contest (with prizes), and generally partying our asses off. There's also rumors of a demolition derby, but... uh... you didn't hear that from me...
This year's event will take place October 21st through the 23rd, in Slab City, California. Feel free to copy the flyer below and distribute far and wide!
About Slab City
If you've never heard of Slab City before, it's an area of southern California that was formerly a military base, but now exists as a popular snowbird retreat. It has as few as 100 residents in the summer and as high as 1100+ during the winter. Portions of the military base still exist as concrete foundations that give the Slabs it's name. It's located next to the Chocolate Mountains Aerial Gunnery Range, which often puts on quite a show at night (and sometimes during the day) as the military performs practice maneuvers and drops various kinds of ordinance throughout the fenced off area. You can often see (and feel) the bombs going off between the Slabs and the Chocolate Mountains in the distance.
Slab City is also home to the infamous Salvation Mountain, a huge mural painted around "The Tanks", it's own hot springs, and a decent sized piece of desert to explore around it. Within driving range is the Glamis sand dunes, the mud pots, and all kinds of exploration opportunities around the Salton Sea.
About the Library
As a thank you, we're asking that anyone attending the event this year bring at least one quality book to donate to the library. Think of it as paying the price of admission; although we won't be turning anyone away, the library could really use your donations to expand it's current collection of materials.
For those that don't know, the Lizard Tree Library in Slab City was a place where folks could leave books and take books for the whole Slab community. Unfortunately after the original owner passed away, it went neglected for quite a long time, until Cornelius and friends came along, and they've been hard at work rebuilding it, so if you can help out in some way while you're there, please do!
The above video is by @Cornelius Vango (subscribe to her channel!) and is mainly about the people in Slab City, but there's some really good video of the library as well. Definitely worth watching if you've never been to the slabs before and would like to know what to expect.
Awesome! I'm sold! How do I get there!?!
The closest town to Slab City is Niland, which is on the 111 highway, approximately 36 miles north of El Centro, California. Niland is a three mile walk from the Slabs. It's not difficult, and 90% of the time if a slabber sees you walking along the road and they have room, you'll get picked up.
By Car: If you're coming via San Diego or from the East, you should take the I-8 freeway to El Centro, then head north on the 111 highway. If you're coming from Los Angeles, you should take the I-10 freeway east to the 111 south. Northeast, you should come via highway 78.
By Bus: The closest you can get to Slab City via Greyhound is El Centro, California.
By Train: A north/south bound UP train actually goes right through Niland, but almost 90% of the time it doesn't stop there or anywhere near it, it just goes right through. Best bet would be to make your way to Indio, hop off there and hitch the remaining distance to Niland. If someone can provide more detail on this, please let us know.
Important! El Centro actually has a daily metro bus that goes to Niland for the amazing price of one dollar! So if you're hitchhiking or arriving via Greyhound, we highly recommend taking this bus to cover the last 36 miles to Niland. Unfortunately it only leaves once every few hours between 5:45am and 8:45pm (and does not run on sundays). You can find more information at http://www.ivtransit.com.
How to get from Niland to the Lizard Tree Library:
In case there's any confusion about where to go, this map shows how to walk from the main drag of Niland to the Lizard Tree Library in the Slabs!
What do I need to bring?
- At least one book for the library (bring more if you can)!
- The usual travel gear, pack, sleeping bag, etc...
- A hammock/tent will probably be extremely useful.
- Water! Bring at least a gallon or two. You can refill water in Niland.
- Food! So you don't starve.
- The nearest grocery store is in Niland (a three mile walk from the slabs).
The only gas station in Niland has a spigot in the back you can use to refill water, although you should put some change in their donation jar if you can. I've been told this is no longer available, but you can also buy filtered water for $0.25/gal (bring a container) at the grocery store. Some folks have drank the canal water without problems, but do so at your own risk.
Absolutely! We need people to bring food, booze, vehicles, money, or their own two hands to help set up and clean up after the event.
- Check out the workshops thread if you're interested in sharing your knowledge with others!
- Make a post in this thread if you'd like to volunteer to help setup before the event or clean up afterwards.
- Do you play music or have a band that would like to come out? Check out this thread and let us know!
- You can make suggestions for movies to screen a the event here.
- The Library needs various supplies to sustain itself; here's their wishlist if you'd like to help out!
What else should I know?
I'm not sure! Since we're announcing this so early we're still working everything out. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions, post them here and we'll address them the best we can. Now go tell your friends!
https://squattheplanet.com/fest/
If you're attending, please RSVP with a comment below so we can get an idea of how many people to expect!
Last edited:
