Road Trip

Alta Sierra is a small community of almost 7,000 people in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Nothern California, I drive through it all the time on my way back to my home in Nevada City. Earlier this month I stopped to visit The Biblical Gardens, the signs for which, out on Highway 49,  had caught my eye for years. Now here I was.

A bucolic retreat nestled amid ancient oaks, maple and pine trees, there is a stream running through it and was a popular watering hole for wagon trains during the gold rush.

In 1971 John Sommers from nearby Sacramento found this spot to build his retirement home and over the years, aided by his wife Vera and guided by very specific instructions from God, he built the garden and continues to maintain it today.



A stone monument inside the entrance is inscribed:

Alta Sierra Biblical Gardens
Commissioned by God, June 15, 1971

The very ground on which you now are standing is Hallowed Ground. I, a stranger, stood here alone after sunset being elated by the rushing sound of the brook, the peace and tranquility. I lifted my eyes heavenward praising God, when suddenly the Glory of God surrounded me.
God spoke: I trembled and shook. God granted me the spirit to know Him. Ephesians 1:17. God's spirit joined the spirit within me, and I was lifted. God said, " John, follow Me, feed My lambs: here you will build a garden, portraying the life and passion of Jesus Christ."
After being told my commission and how all this was to come about, I promised to do His will and assume the task.

John Sommers

Now, I'm just a local boy in love with landscape, either with cultural adornments or served raw, but to me you just can't help but admire a project like this, either with religious reverence or hipster irony. Does it matter which?