For those of you who are not familiar with Salvation Mountain here is a little glimpse. Some of you may have witnessed it's greatness in the film Into The Wild.
Salvation Mountain is located in the lower desert of Southern California in Imperial County just east of the Salton Sea and about a hour and a half from Palm Springs.
The Man Himself..
Leonard Knight was born on November 1, 1931 just outside of Burlington, Vermont.
Leonard's "house" of 20 years, is built on the back of an old 1939 White fire truck decorated as ornately as his mountain. He has no electricity, gas, running water, phone, heating, air conditioning, or any of the other things that so many of us take for granted.
The 1st Mountain
One day after about four years of work, with the instability of all of that sand undermining it's structure, the mountain fell down into a heap of rubble, sand, and weak cement. Instead of being discouraged, Leonard thanked the Lord for showing him that the mountain wasn't safe. He vowed to start once again and to "do it with more smarts."
Mountain 2
Leonard had been experimenting with the native adobe clay and had been using it on other parts of the mountain. Over the next several years, he rebuilt his mountain using adobe mixed with straw to hold it all together. It evolved into what it is today. As he fashions one part or another with clay, he coats it with paint. This keeps the wind and the rain from eroding it away. The more paint, the thicker the coat, the better and stronger it becomes. People come from all over with donations of paint. He uses it very liberally. Leonard estimates that he has put well over 100,000 gallons of paint on his mountain.
At one point The county petitioned the state of California for funds to tear down the mountain and haul it away to a toxic waste disposal dumpsite in Nevada.
Residents signed a petition and Leonard took samples of the surrounding soil and sent them off to a lab. The results were negative in terms of toxicity.
Currently
Leonard is now working on a "museum".
"I let my mountain do the talking" says Leonard. I am truly impressed by this man. I think anyone can get a sense of his determination by simply viewing his work.
Regardless of one's creed, I would think that his mountain would bring forth a sense of inspiration.
Even as a Christian woman I have had issue with certain ways that people express their faith. Whether it has to do with spirituality, politics or general sentiment...I have never understood why people display their views on bumper stickers, keychains, t-shirts, etc.
I personally do not feel it is constructive. I think my irritation lies in the motive behind these things. I think most people are hoping to persuade others to join in on their beliefs. A bumper sticker is not going to get you to believe what I believe. A t-shirt will not influence you to believe in God or to study feminist theory.
This however I feel is Leonard's way of simply sharing. If you want to come aboard do so, if not it was nice seein' ya! Despite the fact that his mountain is quite large...it is out of the way of anyone who does not wish to take a gander at the spectacle.
For more info visit salvationmountain.us
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