Sequoia National Park appears to be seriously understaffed, particularly when it comes to Mineral King.
These are a few things in Mineral King that I noticed.
Falling apart signAbandoned pack stationFalling apart signTrail Guy picked it off the ground and used a rock to get it back in placeSomeone did a makeshift repair at the ranger stationPropping up a sign rather than actually setting it in place is sort of a repair.Campground closed??Cold Springs bridgeIf the campground ever reopens, I bet it won’t be $12 per site.
But wait—there’s more! A trail crew has done a bit of work on the Nature Trail.
The signs on the nature trail have never been replaced.Looks brushy but it has actually been cleared a bit.A trail crew placed a warning on this bridge. Are we suppsed to wade alongside rather than walk across?
Along the road, oh my goodness. I shot these photos through the windshield one morning while heading down.
This poor little cabin belongs to the Park.
HOWEVER, someone has worked on the water troughs and Redwood is now flowing.
Before I met him, Trail Guy spent three winters in Mineral King. At this year’s annual Mineral King Preservation Society “Picnic in the Park”, he told his story.
This begins a series of posts: Noticing, Neglected, and New. Today’s post is NOTICING.
Noticing
“Noticing”? Yes. Since my hiking is severely curtailed, I am walking with my eyes peeled for things I may not have noticed before. When hiking, one tends to focus on the next step. When simply walking, there is more of a meandering attitude.
Instead of heading up with neighbors, I drove up. This meant I could stop for photos, and it had been awhile since I photographed the bridge.
My favorite bridge (I wasn’t walking)
The gas pump at Silver City has been painted. (No, I wasn’t walking, but this is too brilliant to ignore.)
Evening light on the cottonwoods by the bridge at the end of the road is always worth noticing.
Another damWhy is the grass squished here?Arnica grows by water.Nude buckwheat – the name makes my 6 year old neighbor giggleFoxtail pine cones look like smaller Jeffrey pine cones.The grasses are very tall.
Two foxtail pines with a red fir squishing its way between.
Trail Guy kindly and patiently meanders along with me instead of always burning up the trail.
Goldenrod is early this year. Those are corn lilies behind.
I found a new flower, then discovered it is in my now sold-out Wildflowers of Mineral King as an unknown flower at the end of the purples/blues chapter. (The book was published 5 years ago so I am allowed to forget some things.) It took 4 different attempts to get a single photo in focus, because my PHD* camera focuses on whatever it wants to focus on.
I stopped by a friend’s cabin for a quick visit and was struck by this timeless cabin scene.
The smoke did not prevent or hamper the 39th annual Mineral King Preservation Society’s Picnic in the Park, featuring our own Trail Guy.
He told of his three winters spent in Mineral King in the early 1980s, a story that held people’s attention for an entire hour.
Even little ones didn’t get restless, which is mighty amazing in this age of devices.
This one had a companion with her, besides me, her current MK BFF.
These are some of the very few artifacts remaining from the end of Trail Guy’s third winter (although the photos weren’t in the cabin when it went the way of all flesh.)
When the ordeal of public speaking was behind Trail Guy, we gathered with our neighbors in the evening.
The next day we went for a walk with some of our neighbors, in spite of the smoke.
Trail Guy loves to show people his favorite flower, the tiger lily (more accurately known as a leopard lily because it has spots, not stripes, but we have discussed this previously. . .) How thoughtful of those ranger buttons to disguise the face of his hiking friend.
The flowers were excellent, something I was almost resigned to missing in this hikeless summer. But some of the wildflowers are accessible even if one is only in walking mode.
Glacial daisy
This is Soda Springs, where water bubbles out of the ground with a hint of carbonation. Some people like to mix it with powdered lemonade, but I’ve never thought that was better than plain water. The water bubbling up tastes metallic. Some of these places are called “iron springs”, some “soda springs”, although I’ve never learned the difference, if there is such a difference.
The air cleared out in the evening when the winds shifted direction.
Thus we conclude another report on a series of days spent in Mineral King. Thanks for tuning in!
Here is the continuation from Friday’s long post about hot times in Mineral King.
Evening light
In spite of the ferocious heat down the hill and the uncommon heat in Mineral King, the evenings were very pleasant.
One evening, Trail Guy went in search of his favorite flower, the leopard lily, more commonly known as the tiger lily. This doesn’t make sense to me, since the lily has spots rather than stripes, but the flower namers didn’t ask my opinion.
I followed along with my camera, because the light is so enticing at the end of the day.
There they are! Alas, too hard to get to; keep looking.
Down in the willows, almost indiscernible in this photo.
Here are some that Trail Guy could stick his nose into.
Popular Sight
When Hiking Buddy and I were trudging up the Nature Trail, I stopped for this classic photo, which never comes out right. My camera sees Sawtooth and the sky as almost the same color and value. (I messed with the sky color on the computer so you can see Sawtooth.)
That’s why I have to paint this scene; my paints can correct many photographic shortcomings.
Popular Hangout
The bridge at the end of the road is a popular place to hang out. Without fail, someone builds a dam every year.
Well-loved Juniper
A few years ago, this juniper was in jeopardy of being chopped down. A few of us protested, (my cousin, a tree guy/certified arborist also told me it still had plenty of life) and whoever was in charge changed his mind. I don’t mean that we marched around with signs and obnoxious behavior; we wrote letters in a very civilized manner.
It occurred to me that I have never painted this juniper. I wonder. . . if I left off the cars with blue tarps, took some license with the parking lot, would anyone else know or care what tree it is?
When it is Really Hot down the hill, it is just hot in Mineral King in the sun and on the trail. Sitting in the shade isn’t too bad, if you are covered in bug spray, the kind with a lot of DEET. When the heat is on, the biting bugs are very very active.
Independence Day
We raised the flag on Independence Day at the neighboring cabin with the tallest flagpole.
Work
Several mornings, I worked on another neighbor’s cabin trim, just until the hot sun hit.
beforeafter
Trail Guy was Road Guy before he retired, and he regularly uses many of his skills from that era for the benefit of Mineral King. Together, we pruned a very brushy section of road.
Beforeduringduring
I was too hot to take a decent “after” photo. Just wanted to go back to the shade and swat some biting flies and mosquitoes.
Crystal Creek Goes Rogue
One day we walked to Crystal Creek. I was shocked to see that it has changed channels.
The first section of stream has always (in my lifetime) been the strongest. (photo from 2021)Now the first section is dry. Keep walking—you will find the water.
Since I walk in my Crocs and my feet are numb, I am the one who gets to wade into the stream and toss rocks and logs around. Trail Guy and the Farmer put together a “bridge” so non-Croc-wearing folks who aren’t fond of cold water can cross with dry feet.
The flowers were great, as they always are in the beginning of July, even when the heat is ridiculous.
wild blue flaxblue-eyed grass and a dandelionThis larkspur was blue instead of purple lots of baby’s breath
The trail was thick with lupine, and Spring Creek was roaring across the valley; good thing the bridge was up, because “EVERYBODY” goes to Eagle Lake.
Nature Trail
One afternoon, Hiking Buddy and I went down the road and then trudged up the Nature Trail in the humidity and bugs. This was a necessity, since there was way too much eating going on over that stretch of days.
I am not complaining, because compared to what the weather was down the hill, this was very pleasant. Besides, look where we were!
We didn’t stop to put our feet in because the biting bugs were ferocious.
When passing through this swampy area, a branch whacked me on the brim of my hat and knocked off my sunglasses. We looked several times, but they apparently have turned invisible.
Lupine never photograph as beautiful as they look in person. (Me either)
This post has gotten too long. How about if we continue on Monday?
Mineral King is a place for backpackers, campers, day hikers, day trippers, and cabin folks. Today’s post is about the cabin community. (Last summer I posted regularly about cabin life.)
Today’s post is what happens on a busy weekend in our cabin community of Mineral King. There are several parts to the community: our immediate neighbors, those across the creek, the settlement one mile down the road (formerly known as “Faculty Flat”, now “West Mineral King” is the preferred name, and no, I didn’t ask for pronouns); Silver City (private property 4 miles down the road); and Cabin Cove (7 cabins about 5 miles down the road from us).
This is what happens on any given weekend—the closer to the end of summer, the more activities. We:
gather at someone’s cabin for “happy hour”, eat fun things, catch up with one another, and then are too full for dinner
eat dinner together
(Trail Guy and The Farmer, not me unless The Farmer isn’t around) help with various repairs. (The cabins are OLD.)
hike together (hike: carrying pack with lunch and water)
walk together (no pack, no lunch)
give one another rides up and down the hill
bring supplies for one another when coming up the hill
share books
lend knitting needles
let people use our telephone (when we had one) and borrow the neighbor’s phone now
clean up the platform for the annual “Music in the Mountains” event
prune in one another’s yards (okay, that’s just me. . .)
use a hav-a-hart trap to catch bushy-tailed woodrats (definitely Trail Guy, NOT me)
explore historic sites
lend tools
repair water line breaks
go through the junk we discover in our respective cabins, sometimes trading items of interest
share missing recipe ingredients
We stay in touch throughout the year, because our friendships are solid, not simply seasonal.
There is always work to be done on cabins; I’m the self-appointed Chairman of the Neighborhood Beautification Committee. As such, I said “I can” when a neighbor asked if I knew of anyone who could paint the trim on his cabin. The very faded and peeling trim.
A new pair of socks is on the needle (yeppers, one pair at the same time on one needle).
There was a lovely evening time around a fire with neighbors who are cherished friends. We choose to hang out with our neighbors, and time up the hill is always enhanced by their presence.
I took a short (very short) walk to see what is in bloom. The lupine are profuse.
There is more larkspur than in the past, and it is very small.
In my ongoing efforts to learn trees, I stopped to photograph this lodgepole pine. Did you know that lodgepoles are the only 2-needle pines? That means the needles grow in pairs. Duh.
There is still whitewater, and yes, that is smoke obscuring the rock outcropping on Empire. There are multiple fires in the Sierra Nevada foothills right now.
It was so very green (if I ignored the smoky sky and the dead trees.)
Heading back, I was struck by how different this little group of aspens looked with the sunlight behind. (It is the same group of four shown in the previous photo.)
Thus, we conclude another few days of hanging out in Mineral King, keeping occupied without hiking.
On my most recent excursion to Mineral King, Fernando and I took our time getting there. (I drove myself so as to not cough on other people.) I didn’t take any road photos, lost track of how many potholes, dirt sections, and flower varieties, and thoroughly enjoyed the drive. (The radiator was replaced last summer, so all was well.)
In spite of not hiking, I found plenty to keep me occupied. First, I just admired our new umbrella.
Then I worked on some socks, which really looked great with the dress I was wearing.
I admired the umbrella a bit more.
I contemplated the changes up slope the hill from my vista point.
2021now
A few flowers were out in abundance and the light was right.
Western wallflowerBitter cherry
I admired a cabin with evening light through their tangled flag. I’ve drawn this in pencil and called it “Dawn’s Early Light”, which is more poetic than “Tangled Evening Flag”.
The classic view is both beautiful and unphotographical in evening light. However, it is useful to have this photo of the water as I finish up my current painting of the most popular Mineral King scene.
There is a lot of fun to be had at the bridge.
seeking flat rocksphotographing the big splashevening light beneath the bridge
By hanging out near the cabin instead of heading out on the trails, I spend more time with neighbors, splitting firewood, doing little projects, noticing details and new possible paintings.
Languid ladies, AKA Sierra bluebells
Let’s close this little session of chitchat about mellow cabin life with another shot of the classic scene.
On the drive up the hill, I was just astonished by the abundance of yellow flowers, particularly bush poppies, covering the areas that burned in 2021. There were also blazing stars, common madia, flannel bush, and monkey flowers, all yellow. There were some other colors too, but yellow dominated.
This is actually looking back downhill.
I have been working on a painting of a scene, incorporating every cabin below Timber Gap and Empire’s outcropping, in spite of there being no actual place to see everything at once. So, this was a good opportunity to really observe each cabin before all the foliage had leafed out.
I spent several sessions standing in various locations, sketching how each cabin might look in relation to its neighbors.
But I bet you didn’t come to this post to see me go on about my work.
View looking uphill from Lookout Point. The tip of Sawtooth is barely visible, but you can see that Sawtooth is still snow-covered.
Farewell Gap is also very snow-covered.
This is the stream by the Honeymoon Cabin.
The Nature Trail has some snow drifts.
The Spring Creek bridge is not in, but someone went snooping around and found a metal plank and placed it below where the stream divides.
The Mineral King road is still under construction with a fluctuating schedule of closures. As soon as I think I know when it will be open and when it will be closed, the schedule gets rearranged. There were many pieces of equipment parked along the shoulders (such as “shoulders” exist on this road), many piles of dirt, and many places of dropping down to gravel where sections will be repaved. But compared to last summer, it isn’t scary.
