Salton Sea: Salvation Mountain

(Leonard Knight and our crew)

(about 200,000 gallons of paint Leonard estimates)

Salvation mountain is what happens when a man (Leonard Knight) has a vision to bring a message to the whole world. “God is Love” shouts this painted mountain outside of Niland,California. The hillside is covered by hay bails and plywood molded into shapes and letters, then painted over hundreds of times with acrylic paint by Leonard and the occasional volunteer.

Visiting Leonard and his mountain was an amazing experience for myself and our group. So much passion, so much purpose and an extreme amount of clarity when it comes to his relationship with God. Leonard constantly gave thanks to God for the ability to keep doing what he loves. He also expressed amazement with having salvation mountain in a few “Worldwide Movies” one includes “Into the Wild” (which is STILL on my to watch list)

Here are images from Leonard’s impromptu tour.

(Jonnie Russell inside the hay bale and paint igloo)

(Sarah and Allison in front of Salvation Mountain)

(Quyen Trinh climbing the mountain)

(Our crew, with Eric Trine in the lead)

(At the top)

(The view)

(Scott Henning; probably imagining himself doing backflips off the cliff)

(The crew with Leonard Knight at his mountain)

(Desiree got a puzzle from Leonard)

(Jonnie,Noel,Desiree,Dave and Heather getting ready to leave the mountain)

Next post: Camping

Tags: California, Dave Hill, Desiree Giatan, Eric Trine, Heather Trine, Jonathan Sklar, Jonnie Russell, Kevin Sheby, Leonard Knight, Niland, Noel Sumner, Quyen Trinh, Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain, Samuel Lippke, Scott Henning