Travel Diary: Salvation Mountain

We've been meaning to make a trip our to Salvation Mountain for a while now. Last year we made it to the Salton Sea, only 20 minutes away, but ran out of time to make it any further. Let me preface by saying it was well worth the two hour drive from our home base in Joshua Tree. 

I did some obsessive reading up on Leonard Knight, the creator of Salvation Mountain on the way there - his story is pretty amazing, but here's the short version: he started creating this incredible work of art-turned-mountain after years of trying to find a way to create a tribute to God. It started small, but kept growing over the years. He's still working on it to this day. It's 50 feet high and 150 feet wide (in other words, huge) and is made from mostly hay and adobe clay, painted with all donated paint. You can climb all over it (there are steps to the top but my fear of heights prevented me from making it there), and it's considered a national treasure.

If you are ever in the area, it's totally worth the drive. The history behind it and the surrounding area is simply astounding. And trust me, when you drive up to it, there's no way to not be taken aback by just how big it really is. 

p.s. I got some news today about that thing I can't tell you about just yet that's sounding pretty favorable. So I'll be sharing it with you very very soon! I'm SO EXCITED!!!

xx,

Tienlyn

Photos by Nikko DeTranquilli

Tienlyn JacobsonSalvation Mountain, recently