Salvation Mountain

The first weekend in December I took a trip to Salvation Mountain. It was created by Leonard Knight and is 50 foot in height and 150 foot breadth made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint.

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. Salvation Mountain is Leonard's tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." Unfortunately, Leonard passed away in 2014, so now the site is maintained by many volunteers , but we will get to them later.

There is no denying Salvation Mountains magic and beauty however, it reminded me a little bit of modern day Religion. Beautiful in theory but at the core some weird stuff may or may not be going on. *cough cough* the volunteers.

The bright colors were inviting, the positive messages like love is universal were also pleasent to be around, and seeing so many different people laugh and frolic around the mountain was peaceful. But after spectators finished taking thier selfies and exploring, they depart and I wonder if the message still sticks or was is it just for show. 

Also the “volunteers” who manage the site are some hills have eyes-hippy-UFO believing type people. Nothing wrong with that, but I didn’t get the vibe that they were there to carry out Leonard’s intended message for the site. This is what I mean by Salvation mountain reminds me of modern day religion.

Don’t get it confused I am a bible reading believer however, a few years back I decided to focus more on my relationship with the Creator vs my attachment to Religion. In my  opinion the original intent of religion has some how been lost and tainted. I don’t believe every religious institution is wacky, but I’ve come across some sketchy things. Like the appearance of one thing and at the core it is really something else, like salvation mountain. I won’t spend much time on my theories on spirituality and religion though because I have a whole podcast on it. So go ahead and listen to that once your finished reading this. 

Well, back to my overview of Salvation Mountain.... I would def suggest you taking a day trip out that way or maybe stop through while you are in Palm Springs. It is gorgeous to look at and meditate on depending on the crowd. My only heartache is the “volunteers” as mentioned above. My friends and I were hackled by one a few times and he was just to aggressive for my liking. All in all though, I enjoyed myself and I’m grateful I got a chance to see Leonard’s work, check out the rest of my trip via photos below.