People brave scorching summer heat to visit famous monument
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Three friends said they left the cool, beach weather of San Diego on Sunday morning to brave the scorching heat at Salvation Mountain, located in the Niland area.
San Diego resident Charlotte Schmidt said, “I was really drawn by the inspiring story of the artist’s life and just how powerful faith has been in his life in creating such a beautiful site for people from all over the world to come and see.” She was referring to the late Leonard Knight, creator of the famed monument. He passed away in 2014.
New York college student Natally Schmidt said, “I’ve been wanting to come out here since we saw the film into the wild about four or five years ago, I think I watched it for the first time. And was very humbled by just the story we heard, even in the film and I wanted to see it for myself.”
San Diego resident Julianne Steele said, “It’s like a positive message put out in the world that we need a little more love. And I was kind of more comforted than I thought coming here, because I’m not particularly spiritual or religious, but the message still touched me.”
They’re part of thousands of people that come from all over the world. The monument was built with bales of straw, old tires, broken glass and putty all covered with adobe clay and half-a-million gallons of latex paint. Monument caretaker Ron Mellanovsky said it’s a fantasy land for the spirit.
“For the regular visitors, just in general, it’s the spirituality, love, god, freedom. For the distant visitors, lot of our Asian visitors, this is Americana,” Mellanovsky said.
The three friends said they are happy they came – despite the heat.`
“We’re so used to such a fast-moving world and coming out here to sort of a remote place in relation to San Diego. It takes just a minute to pause and reflect on what’s really important in life like friendship and faith,” Schmidt said.
“Something like this kind of settles that all down, gives you a simple wholesome message to remember and keep in your heart. And it can kind of calm anything that you’re really worried about,” Natally said.
“A good reminder of core values and maybe steer you on the right path,” Steele added.
The Salvation Mountain monument was named a national treasure in the congressional record of the U.S. in 2002, according to their website salvationmountain.org.
