Salvation Mountain
Out in the Imperial Valley, below sea level, where it gets to 120 degrees in the summertime, is a completely improbable site called Salvation Mountain.
More than a decade ago, Leonard Knight started painting this dirt bluff with leftover donated paint. He built up the shape with bales of hay or straw and created a mountain to celebrate his faith in God.
Thousands of gallons of paint have been used to create this huge piece of folkloric art. The person inside the "bracket" might give a bit of scale to this amazing structure, but until you have arrived breathless after climbing to the top, you really don't get the true scale of the mountain.
The day I was there, some people were interviewing Leonard, which wasn't easy because he couldn't hear anything. A friend who lives in nearby Slab City who has known Leonard for a long time said he must have gotten swimmer's ear again from swimming in the nearby pond.
Leonard saw me with my camera and said, "The more pictures the better." Then he asked if I was by myself. When I said I was, he told me I could take four or five of his postcards as well as one of the 200-piece jigsaw puzzles when I left. He told me where they were and said, "Help yourself."
Where does this sort of drive and creativity come from?
Oh . . . did I mention this turned out to be a Virtual Cache I was able to log after I got back?
More than a decade ago, Leonard Knight started painting this dirt bluff with leftover donated paint. He built up the shape with bales of hay or straw and created a mountain to celebrate his faith in God.
Thousands of gallons of paint have been used to create this huge piece of folkloric art. The person inside the "bracket" might give a bit of scale to this amazing structure, but until you have arrived breathless after climbing to the top, you really don't get the true scale of the mountain.
The day I was there, some people were interviewing Leonard, which wasn't easy because he couldn't hear anything. A friend who lives in nearby Slab City who has known Leonard for a long time said he must have gotten swimmer's ear again from swimming in the nearby pond.
Leonard saw me with my camera and said, "The more pictures the better." Then he asked if I was by myself. When I said I was, he told me I could take four or five of his postcards as well as one of the 200-piece jigsaw puzzles when I left. He told me where they were and said, "Help yourself."
Where does this sort of drive and creativity come from?
Oh . . . did I mention this turned out to be a Virtual Cache I was able to log after I got back?
posted by Miragee at
9:22:00 PM
10-Day Forecast
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