#Salvation Mountain

[chillyfeetsteak]

I first became fascinated with it a few years ago when I noticed it out an airplane window on a flight from Texas to Southern California. In an expanse of endless desert, suddenly, a vast body of water. When I got home, I immediately looked it up on a map. The Salton Sea.

It’s the largest landlocked body of water in California. It sits right on top of the San Andreas Fault at over 200 feet below sea level. It is more than twice as salty as the Pacific Ocean. It is completely toxic. And I had never heard of it before then.

(photo essay under the cut)

In the early 1900s the Colorado River was diverted through a series of irrigation canals in order to provide water for the farmlands of Imperial Valley. One of the head-gates broke during a flood, and the desert basin filled with water for 2 years before it was fixed. The unexpected lake soon became a popular vacation destination; it was stocked with fish, and resorts and hotels popped up along its shores. It became known as a great place for sport fishing, waterskiing, and yacht parties. Big name celebrities visited. At one point, it had more annual visitors than Yosemite.

Salton Sea has no outlet, and is only filled via agricultural runoff. As the water evaporated in the hot desert sun, the lake became more and more saline. Chemicals began to build up from the run off causing toxic algae blooms, and mass die-offs of fish and birds started in the 80s. By the 90s, the beaches were littered with fish gills and bird bones and the resorts were abandoned. The lake began to dry up as irrigation run-off was diverted away. The exposed lake bed is also toxic, and the high desert winds kick up the dust, making the air poisonous. 

Despite the unpleasant odor, the noxious air and the summer temperatures regularly reaching 120°, a renaissance of sorts began in the early 2010s. Artist and nomad colonies began to spring up around Salton Sea. Bombay Beach, once a popular resort destination, is now mostly a ghost town, but the folks who remain have turned the ruins on the shores into an outdoor art installation gallery where the found-art sculptures are cyclically destroyed by the elements and then replaced with new ones. Many of the houses and RVs in town are themselves art pieces.

In nearby Slab City, a settlement of off-the-grid lifestylers, you can find even more folk art. Salvation Mountain is a manmade hill painted with bright colors and bible verses and maintained by a community of volunteers. East Jesus is a sculpture garden and art installation. 

This past weekend my partner and I finally made the pilgrimage to the Sea. California has the benefit of being home to a huge array of biomes. In just a couple of hours you can travel from snowy mountain peaks to lush oases to endless sand dunes. Driving the hour or so south from Palm Springs towards Salton Sea is like driving towards the end of the world.

Bombay Beach especially enamored me. The beach is crusted with salt and millions of tiny shells and bones. It smells awful, like sewage and chemicals and low-tide and rotting fish. You drive out onto the beach and park anywhere amongst the sculptures and deteriorating resort ruins. The art feels raw in a way I haven’t experienced before. It reminds me of seeing paleolithic cave art. Humans made this, with no motivation other than to create something intriguing or beautiful or sad. Not much can live out here, but what you find fills me with a great adoration for humanity. Despite the asphyxiation of the natural world, the human spirit persists.

#im sure most people know about this place but i didnt so!! #i hated writing essays in school but now in my 30s i do it for fun apparently #photos are all mine except the first one #salton sea #bombay beach #slab city #salvation mountain

[killyridols]

salvation mountain by theresa escobedo, 2020, polaroid emulsion lift, 3 × 3 inches

#theresa escobedo #american art #photography #polaroid #salvation mountain #christian cross #god #text #2020s

[cpleblow]

The Divine

©cpleblow (2014)

Shot at Salvation Mountain, near Slab City and Niland, Salton Sea

#travel #salton sea #salvation mountain #slab city #Southern California #curious cat #Niland #religious shrine #cpleblow.tumblr.com

[williammarksommer]

Salvation Mountain

California

All The Time In The World

Hasselblad 500c/m

Kodak Ektar 100iso

#Salvation Mountain #All The Time In The World #California #art #painting #Leonard Knight #salton sea #slab city #travel #road trip #on the road #road #road sign #sign #photo #photography #photographers on tumblr #color film #photographers directory #original photographers #photographerslife #film #film photography #film is not dead #god is love #outsider art #kodak #Hasselblad #hasselblad 500c/m

[thedesertjourneys]

Desert kitty is busy

#imperial county #salvation mountain #desert #california #the desert #travel #nature

[robsimons]

Salvation Mountain

#photography #rob simons #photographers on tumblr #salvation mountain #salton sea #cars #art #travel #lumix

[jacksmannequin]

more film taken @ salvation mountain and around niland last fall because its my favorite place in the entire world

#my work #35mm film #photography #salvation mountain

[corvidist]

Salvation Mountain - 2019 & 2020

#photography #california #desert #salvation mountain #salton sea #art #religious #christianity #post apocalyptic #slab city #southwest

[tomwindeknecht]

Money doesn't grow on trees...paint buckets do. 🤔🤷‍♂️

#art #desert art #salvation mountain #california #desert #installation art #sculpture #paint buckets #colorful

[oasisr]

Salvation Mountain is a hillside visionary environment created by local resident Leonard Knight (1931–2014) in the California Desert area of Imperial County, north of Calipatria, northeast of Niland, near the Slab City squatter/art commune, and several miles from the Salton Sea.

The artwork is made of adobe bricks, discarded tires and windows, automobile parts and thousands of gallons of paint. It encompasses numerous murals and areas painted with Christian sayings and Bible verses, though its philosophy was built around the Sinner's Prayer.

#salvation mountain #Leonard Knight #art #Christian #Christianity #Sinner's Prayer #Catholic #Orthodox #Religion #beautiful #photography #true story #fun fact #travel #aesthetic

[ifelllikeastar]

Salvation Mountain is a hillside visionary environment created by local resident Leonard Knight (1931–2014) in the California Desert. The mountain is located near the eastern shore of the Salton Sea, about a 90-minute drive from Palm Springs, California.

It's 50 foot height and 150 foot breadth is made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint and is truly unique in the United States and probably the world. From its Sea of Galilee at the bottom, to the big red heart in the middle, to the cross at the very top, the reoccurring theme of "Love" is everywhere at Salvation Mountain.

#salvation mountain #love #california #godislove #salton sea #palm springs #desert #outdoors #leonard knight #painting #god never fails

[natalienicosia]

Salvation Mountain in California 📍

#california #hiking #explore #mountains #road trip #forest #photography #adventure #cali #bucket list #sunset #beautiful #salvation #salvation mountain #palm springs #california travel #travel

[williammarksommer]

Slab City

California 

All The Time In The World

Hasselblad 500c/m

Kodak Ektar 100iso

#Slab City #Salvation Mountain #All The Time In The World #California #travel #road trip #on the road #bike #vintage bike #Tree of Life #painting #road #trip #photo #photography #photographers on tumblr #original photographers #photographers directory #photographerslife #photographer #hasselblad 500c/m #Hasselblad #120 #medium format #kodak #film photography #color film #film #film is not dead #To The Sea

[cammi-mcdermott]

Salvation Mountain, 2023

#cammi mcdermott #ethel cain #salvation mountain #california #california art #destination art #religion #christianity #colorful #slab city #desert art #desert #united states #lana del rey #usa #off the grid #abandoned #abandoned west #west coast

[whiskeyandphotos]

Forever one of my favorite and first photos. It was impromptu out in the desert at Salvation Mountain.

Ivsar, Salvation Mountain 2014

#desert #Nikon #salvation mountain #choose love #portrait #photography

[billazin710]

"Dragons' Reign of Terror: Slab City Braces for Battle Against Methalogical Marauders Blaze and Sparkle!

In a bizarre turn of events, the tranquil community of Slab City was thrown into chaos as a notorious duo of methalogical dragons, one blue and the other pink, wreaked havoc yet again. Witnesses reported that the mischievous pair, known for their penchant for theft and wanton destruction, set their own camp ablaze in a fiery display of recklessness. The malevolent duo, identified as Blaze and…

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#dragons #salvation mountain #slab city california