When I stepped onto the painted sand at the base of Salvation Mountain for the first time I couldn’t help but think of everything that I had been missing. I have lived in the Coachella Valley for almost 20 years, and I never once thought to go beyond Indio. I always thought to myself “What is past Indio? Strawberry fields and a toxic lake?” It turns out that nearly everything I had searched for, that I had traveled thousands of miles away for, was just an hour past Indio. All of the truth, beauty, and love that I have looked for was just an hour past Indio. I guess the saying is true, I really should have looked in my own backyard.
Salvation Mountain is a tribute to the dedication and ingenuity of the human spirit. It began over twenty years ago when Leonard Knight decided to display a message on the side of a mountain in the middle of the desert. The message was simple: “God is Love”. He mixed up a bag of cement, some sand, and water, then painted it up red and white. He only intended to spend a week there, and move on. Now, as a 78 year old man, he doesn’t like to be away from his mountain for more than an hour at a time. He is thrilled when people come to visit him and take an interest in his work. And though he might be suffering from old age, and the inhalation of thousands of gallons of paint fumes, he is more excited and dedicated than ever to his life’s mission.
When you pull up to the mountain you are greeted with a brightly colored sign and Leonard’s warm smile. I have never seen a man so happy to be alive, so happy to be working, or so full of love. He starts his well rehearsed tour by telling visitors about the Mountain’s entry into Congressional Record by Sen. Barbara Boxer in 2002. For a while the county was trying to declare Leonard’s work as a “toxic nightmare”, stating that there were dangerously high levels of lead in the ground from the layers of paint. But Leonard wouldn’t believe them, and fought to save his life’s work. Thanks to the donations of people who have been touched by the Mountain Leonard was able to dig samples from the same holes that the county had dug them out of and run independent tests in San Diego. The tests found nothing. The Mountain stands.
As he leads you down the dirt path to the “Museum” you start to feel the enormity of Leonard’s accomplishment. God is declared on the Mountain, but he lives in the Museum. The Museum is a large dome structure made of adobe, paint, and salvaged material like tires and telephone poles. The inside of the structure, and the general design, can best be described as a bird’s nest.
Above your head there are hundred of painted and plastered branches that Leonard pulled from the surrounding desert and covered in what he likes to call “flowers”. The flowers are large lumps of adobe that he has punched his fist through and covered in layers of paint. They make their way up the walls and the “trees”, which are the main support for the structure. The trees are tire stacks that he has filled with adobe and covered with paint. There is no architectural plan for the structure. There is no aesthetic plan either. All Leonard does is build, paint, and have fun. He says that he can make thousands of flowers a day so long as he has the supplies to do it with.
But flowers aren’t the only art on the walls. Much like the cathedrals of Europe, Leonard has placed old car windows and random salvaged pieces of glass into the walls of the Museum. The light streams through the glass and over the flowers and branches. It shines on hundreds of blue birds, hearts, stars, and words that have been painted and sculpted into the adobe. You can feel the desert breeze move through the structure, and with it the voice of God. As you feel the walls, you can feel the love and passion that was put into their making. Leonard has put every last drop of sweat, creativity, and ingenuity into the making of this monument. And the thousands of visitors that he has had from all over the world have found life, love, and passion in an otherwise harsh and desolate corner of the world.
You finish the tour with an invitation to walk up the “yellow brick road”, to stand on top of the Mountain and look out onto the surrounding area. As beautiful as the Mountain is, it is nothing in comparison to the beauty of the desert that holds it. The wave of paint that rolls from under your feet gives way to the golden desert
sand. The light from the setting sun resonates off of the placid silver surface of the Salten Sea. And the shadowed horizon is framed with towering purple mountains and a clouded red sky. It’s hard to believe that at the base of those mountains is where I have spent most of my life. All of the swimming pools and golf corses are forgotten, and the only thing left is the true spirit of the desert.
The message of the Mountain is not that God exists, or that He wants you to believe. It is that there is no force greater than Love. Love is what has built this Mountain, Love is what has saved it, and Love is what you feel when you are near it.
If you wish to visit this amazing place, and to meet the man who has made it I suggest you do it. You will be a better person for it. Leonard welcomes everyone with open arms and a loving heart. He asks that you bring nothing more than a camera and a smile. But, if you want to help in the preservation and creation of the Mountain he also accepts donations of high gloss house paint in every color, and 4″-5″ brushes.
