Bottle Tree Ranch is a quirky, on-going outsider art installation/domicile located on National Trails Highway (formerly and more famously known as Route 66) in a town called Oro Grande just outside of Victorville. Similar to Hulaville, a defunct roadside attraction that at one time could also be found on Route 66, Bottle Tree Ranch is a collection of junkyard treasures including old bottles, typewriters, Lionel train sets, sewing machines, buffalo nickels, the kitchen sink and much more that have all been transformed into a dense forest of mixed media sculptures.  Experience Bottle Tree Ranch on Google Maps Street View here.

View on Google Maps Street View

A year ago I blogged about my New Year’s goal to develop my chops in 360° photography. To that end, throughout the 2011 I explored and photographed spaces that artist’s work in and/or find inspirational.

This brought me to Salvation Mountain on Easter Sunday where not only did I meet the artist Leonard Knight (see original post) but also had a star sighting: Sean Penn and his gal pal Scarlett Johanssen. Knight appeared as a cameo in the film “Into the Wild” (2007) that was directed by Penn. It would appear that since then they’ve remained friends.

When in early December Knight was placed in a home after being diagnosed with dementia, I became concerned about the survival of his life’s work.  In my humble opinion, without the artist there to maintain it, it wouldn’t be long before the mountain suffers from either erosion or vandalism or both.

Salvation Mountain – “Little Planet” projection

So I made plans to camp at Salvation Mountain for New Years and take some panorama photos for posterity. The first time I came to visit the weather was warm but blustery winds whirled around the mountain which limited my ability to interior shots only.

This time, however,  the weather conditions were more favorable: the air was calm and still which enabled me to get a series of exterior shots that I’ve posted below.

Salvation Mountain gives curb appeal to the community of people who live in what’s called Slab City, an abandoned Marine base in the Salton Sea that’s been overtaken by squatters for the past 50 years or so. You could say the mountain is the crown jewel of the slabs.

Recently there’s been a lot of press about Slab City* that’s mostly tied to Knight’s health reports and the fate of Salvation Mountain. This has caught the attention of many journalists (of which I met several on this recent trip) that have discovered that Slab City’s inhabitants to be rich with human interest stories about outsider artists as well as survivors of the Econopocalypse.

I should say that “slabbers“, as the locals like to refer themselves to, consists of folks living on the edge: a weird hybrid of retired fixed income senior citizens and wealthy snowbirds, homeless vagabonds, itinerant Canadians (!), dirty hippies, children of the Rainbow Family and binky sucking candy ravers, not to mention runaways, alcoholics, tweekers and dropouts.

It’s not exactly a tourist destination to go to Slab City. It’s not even remotely like a family vacation at Disneyland or even Burning Man.  No, Slab City is rough yet some inhabitants have brought their families there presumably because they have no place else to go.  A visit to the slabs is like entering the world of Mad Max where all the perceived danger is real. It’s no place for kids. That said, most of the locals I met were incredibly kind, genuine and authentic.  I even met a bunch of out-of-towners like myself including a slew of hipsters from San Francisco, a contingent of Tucsonian students, and some German and Australian tourists. Of course, academia also represented: I met a sociolologist from Stanford documenting the slabbers and their urban tribal community.

While I befriended many slabbers that I consider to be the salt of the earth, I also found that a few of Slab City’s inhabitants — to quote Obi Wan Kenobi — can be described as wretched and well, downright scummy. One must be cautious when visiting this place.  If you’re thinking of visiting put your trust to the tender mercies of a man named James, a long-time slabber with the world’s smartest and cutest dog called “Spider Monkey” and tell him I sent you.

If you prefer to visit the slabs through the magic of technology, you can catch James tonight at 10pm on the History Channel: Corey’s Big Play. (2012). https://www.history.com/shows/pawn-stars/episodes/current-season.  And you can always virtually visit Salvation Mountain through the series of 360° panoramas I took by clicking on the images below:

Entrance to Salvation Mountain

Parking lot of Salvation Mountain

Leonard Knight’s “Yellow Brick Road”

The Gates of Love at Salvation Mountain

North side of Salvation Mountain

Salvation Mountain from the road

Interior, Salvation Mountain

* Slab City: Last free place in America? Imperial Valley Press, December 31, 2011
All directions point to East Jesus, Imperial Valley Press, December 31, 2011
Hard Times on Salvation Mountain, KCET, December 20, 2011
The Future Of Salvation Mountain Uncertain, KPBS, December 20, 2011
A 24 Hour Visit To Slab City…, Seattle Post Intelligencer, December 20, 2011
Living off the grid in Slab City, Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2011
Slab City, a trailer park utopia, thrives in remote desert – Los Angeles Times – December 17, 2011
 “Slab City” a desert haven for recession’s victims, CBS News – December 14, 2011

View on Google Maps Street View

This past Easter I went to visit Leonard Knight, 80, the creator of “Salvation Mountain” an on-going art installation near Slab City in the Salton Sea, California. Just last week, Knight was hospitalized. According to reports, he was suffering from cognitive issues. He was placed in observation for 72 hours and then subsequently released to a long-term care facility with a diagnosis of dementia.

Salvation Mountain is significant not only as a major American folk art installation but also because of Leonard’s heartfelt and simple message that God is love. He spent over thirty years building the mountain to convey that message and during that time he personally told each and every visitor the same thing.

If Leonard’s friendship, art or message has touched your life, won’t you take a moment to send him a note of gratitude, love and support?  You can send him a card or letter to:

View on Google Maps Street View

Leonard Knight, 79, has been building “Salvation Mountain” an on-going art installation near Slab City in the Salton Sea, California, for the past 27 years. Its sole purpose is to convey the simple message “God is love.”

Because of Knight’s dedication, it seemed fitting to see Salvation Mountain on Easter.  So last Sunday along with my sister we set out for a visit, and while we were there, we had an opportunity to meet the artist.  Knight is a sweet, kind soul as evidenced in the video clip below. He has only recently returned to the mountain after being hospitalized for heart complications about six weeks ago. Despite his weakened condition, the artist remains cheerful and vibrant sharing his message and giving gifts of postcards, stickers and a DVD featuring a documentary about his work to all who come to visit.

The mountain was fabricated from an adobe mixture that Knight mixes himself using dirt from the desert floor and straw.  The structure is then lovingly lavished with color using thousands of gallons of paint.

Whether it’s Easter Sunday or not, anytime is a great time to visit Salvation Mountain but more so now while Knight is still alive and kickin’.  According to his friend Kevin Eubanks, due to his health Knight will no longer be sleeping in his truck near the mountain at night but instead staying at a house nearby in Niland with visits to the site during the day.  You can keep up with the latest developments at Salvation Mountain’s Facebook page.