Feb 3/15 Hot day up to 84 We continued our ride along the Salton Sea till we came to a small town of Niland. Looking from the main highway you can see in the distance a brightly painted mountain ???
Drive up and take a walk around, it is free and donations are gratefully used to preserve a dream by Leonard Knight. He spent 14 years sculpting and painting Salvation Mountain - that was after he thought he would stay a week or two dry camping in what is known as Slab City (next blog posting). The mountain is about as
tall as a three-story building and as wide as a football field. Most of the structure comes from donations, or salvaged items and paint from others. It is
covered with adobe and layer after layer of bright colours of paint.
County supervisors once labeled it as a “toxic nightmare” and tried to bulldoze it down. But supporters of the site rallied by sending letters and petitions. Knight himself had a set of soil tests made proving that no dangerous levels of hazardous materials were to be found there, and the supervisors dropped their campaign to get rid of Salvation Mountain and its creator. Leonard was motivated to share the message that "God is Love". the National Folk Art of America has declared it a national folk art shrine.
His simple abode was in a converted old bus with no power or water facilities. Sadly Leonard passed away in 2014 at the age of 82, but not before he spent 3 decades sharing his message to all visitors who came to see the mountain.
County supervisors once labeled it as a “toxic nightmare” and tried to bulldoze it down. But supporters of the site rallied by sending letters and petitions. Knight himself had a set of soil tests made proving that no dangerous levels of hazardous materials were to be found there, and the supervisors dropped their campaign to get rid of Salvation Mountain and its creator. Leonard was motivated to share the message that "God is Love". the National Folk Art of America has declared it a national folk art shrine.
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