The last stop in our roadtrip before coming back to the coast was the Salvation Moutain, located in the California desert, on the Salton Sea lake.
You might have heard of this place created 24 years ago through the book/movie Into The Wild. Indeed, this surreal place, which is litterally a testament to God, Jesus and the Bible, is part Christopher McCandless' adventure in the early 1990s.
This place in the middle of nowhere is an art installation and the home of its creator, Leonard Knight. I was hoping to meet Leonard who usually welcomes his numerous visitors - I was indeed surprised to see so many people coming to visit the site in the short time we were there - but he was actually sleeping on a couch next to the truck where he lives... Too bad because I feel you can learn a lot from someone who lives happily in the desert with "no electricity, gas, running water, phone, heating, air conditioning, or any of the other things that so many of us take for granted", as a friend of his says on the official website.
Apart the fact that the installation is incredible, what amazed me is that Knight, who is in his early 80s (!) is still keeping on creating and enriching the moutain by adding new spaces. He is actually building a "museum" inside the moutain and intends to build a version of Noah's ark in front the mountain.
For the ones interested, you can help Leonard in his work; if he doesn't accept money, he does accept donations of paint and actual labor...
For more information, I really advise you to visit the official Salvation Mountain website, which is filled with fascinating details on Leonard and his moutain.
A.C.
A.C.
