Back to Mineral King: The Road

On Friday, September 20, we headed up the hill. The Park restrictions were still in place, so we made sure we were on the road during the permitted hours, which were quite illogical. Whatever. They are in charge; we are not. We only met 3 vehicles, all part of a construction crew on a cabin.

That pink stuff was all along the road, mostly on the uphill side. It is fire retardant called “borate”. The idea was to widen the road as a barrier to fire, should it climb up to the road.

Follow the pink road.

This is the view upcanyon, just above Lookout Point. The fire made it to Lookout and then crossed the road a bit, but we didn’t stop to figure out the particulars. We only stopped to chat with the Park employee, on loan from some Southern California park, to be sure that she made an opportunity to drive to the end of the road.

You can see borate across the canyon, along with swaths of burned areas.

The road is in terrible shape. No surprise, that. The air was clear and clean and it was a great relief to arrive at our cabin.

More tomorrow. . .

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2 Comments

  1. I bet you were thrilled to arrive at your summer paradise!

    I’ve always heard that pink stuff was Phos-Chek. Maybe that’s the brand name of borate? But I’d rather see pink than black and gray!

    Looking forward to “more tomorrow!”

    • Sharon, arriving in MK was like waking up from a dream, a “did something happen?” moment.

      I don’t know what borate is, nor have I ever heard of Phos-Chek. Just glad it works.

      Yes, tomorrow and Friday will also be about MK.


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