Salvation Mountain
I arrived in the Slab City area just before noon, after jumping my van over some odd part of the road that acted as a launching pad. I figured, in that split second, that the van was a goner when it touched ground again. Though everything flew around the back of the van, breaking a few minor things, it came out pretty unscathed (whew!). A few more miles of driving and I pulled into what is known as Salvation Mountain, which is basically a mud-hut some religious fanatic created from the sand, hay bales, and a few thousands gallons on latex paint. You can read up on it here if you care.
Salvation Mountain brought mixed feelings to me. Anyone this fanatical about ANY religion needs to be in a nut house. However, set the religious aspect aside and this place is wonderful and odd at the same time. It is a huge multicolored mud-hut two stories tall. Inside appears to be a tree holding it all together, though it could be loose lumber that was collected as well… you can’t really tell as it is all covered in a think layer of mud and paint. This place is straight out of Wonderland on LSD.
After leaving Salvation Mountain, I went into the “city” to find someone to ask a few questions. I wasn’t sure if there was some rules (written or not) of where to camp and where not to. Once that was sorted out (camp anywhere… if you don’t like your neighbor, just move) I scouted about for a while an settled on a spot a few hundred feet off the road, across the street from Salvation Mountain. A small dirt road led me to a nice spot which I pulled the van into and promptly sunk into the sand to the axles!
I spent the next 2 hours digging and trying to get myself out. It is 80 degrees here, and I am using my bare hands to dig into the sand. After numerous failed attempts I finally started flagging down passing 4X4 trucks and the 3rd guy had chains and was willing to pull me out of the sand without making fun of me (too much). Once out, I parked at the neared flat-ish surface that was NOT sand, made up some wash water and changed clothes.
I’m done. I will sleep here tonight and scout around on foot in the morning. Then I will decide if I like Slab City or not.
