We first discovered Salvation Mountain and Slab City by the Salton Sea in southern California when we were researching the RV lifestyle over 10 years ago. Salvation Mountain is an inspirational story of a man named Leonard Knight from Vermont. Leonard wandered about in life but ultimately ended up at Salvation Mountain near Niland, California about 35 years ago. Leonard died about 5 years ago, but during his 30 years there, he near about single-handedly created Salvation Mountain. It is a fascinating story, but also a very long one, so we won't try to retell that here. You can easily find reams of information and pictures on Leonard's Salvation Mountain with a simple Internet search. We knew that we wanted to visit Salvation Mountain the first time we discovered it, and this visit to Yuma turned out to include the day that we finally got to be there. It was a great day that we will remember for a very long time. Although Leonard lived into his 90s he maintained a childlike Faith in God and Jesus Christ. What an inspiration he was and still is to us and many other souls.
Salvation Mountain, the gateway to Slab City at Niland, California
We were there March 18, 2019!
Leonard had made a model of Salvation Mountain on what looked like a empty cable spool. Some of his empty paint cans outlined the model.
There were several decorated vehicles on the site.
The detail was amazing, the closer we looked, the more we saw!
Indeed, Steve agrees that Jesus is the only way!
The structure to the left is the mountain, and to the right is a museum area that Leonard was working on last.
Leonard even had a tractor, not just any tractor, but a very special tractor.
The wheels were adorned with Bluebirds and flowers; how about that?
The blue and white "rivers" can be seen very well from this angle.
Guess what? Yep, that's tight!
Follow the empty paint cans to the museum entrance. Leonard estimates that he applied over 100,000 gallons of paint to Salvation Mountain, much of which was donated paint.
A few photographic artifacts mounted in a small room in the museum.
Leonard left behind an abundance of uplifting artwork, although he had no formal training in art.
A lone trophy was mounted on a display shelf. Leonard was awarded this trophy in 1998 as the Sr. King of the Niland Tomato and Sportman's Festival.
Gari enters the museum area. Behind is one of Leonard's ladders. Working by himself one day as usual, a friend stopped by to tell him that was very dangerous working up on a ladder while alone. Leonard replied, "it's OK, He knows I'm here."
The museum has several rooms built around what looks like trees...
A photograph picture of Salvation Mountain is mounted among windows in this museum room.
An important message is found on a car door in this room.
Leonard worked on this site for 30 years. He first used cement, but that failed. This successful site used the ancient technique of adobe. When the paint was applied it remains sealed and holds up extremely well.
How did he get paint to all of these "branches"?
Something for everyone on the north part of the mountain.
Looking down the blue & white river from the mountain top.
Steve at the cross on top of the mountain.
The yellow path is used to climb the mountain and is playfully called the yellowbrick road.
Steve admires the art work in the museum.
An interesting angle looking out of the museum.
Steve ascending the mountain as Alan and Janice pass on their descending leg.
Gari snaps a picture as Steve pauses on the way up the mountain.
Although these pictures are out of sequence the yellowbrick road starts at God's mailbox.
I see Janice and Alan descending from the mountain top between the rivers of blue & white.
Gari captures Steve through a window in the museum.
Leonard used all the paint, but saved the "pretty colors" for the final coatings.
A view into the back of the museum from the mountain top.
An important message waits patiently behind this artful tree.
And just remember, Leonard Knight had no formal art training.
Time has grown short for us here in Yuma, and we now prepare for our Spring, Summer and Fall destinations. The map below takes us through the summer and has five major legs. The first leg takes us to Magnolia,Texas where we will visit with Beth and Chris in Waller; leg two takes us to Elkhart, Indiana the RV headquarters of the USA, where we will have some suspension and brake preventive maintenance work performed on our trailer's MorRyde IS axles; leg three takes us to Mt. Airy, North Carolina where will visit with Michele and Jim in Vilas, NC; leg four takes us to the Eastern Shore to visit Steve's mom and some of our many hometown friends; and leg fives returns us to our new home state South Dakota just outside Rapid City and at the base of the Black Hills. We haven't decided where we will go or when we will leave Rapid City, but we know that we will be back in Arizona by November unless something unexpected occurs...
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