Seven women friends met for a long weekend at a Shaver Lake cabin. 6 of us went to Redwood High School; 1 went to Whitney (but we have forgiven her). 6 of us graduated in 1977; 1 graduated in 1976 (but we love having her with us). 5 are turning 60 this year; 2 turned 60 last year (but we were celebrating all our birthdays).
It was FANTASTIC! No more chatting, just some photos (but all the friends shall remain unseen and anonymous.
P.S. Not my toes (and I’m still in the Fs.)
There is a funny walk at Hume, which most of the residents call a “hike”, but this ain’t Mineral King, folks. (What a snob I am!)
The walk is best enjoyed in photos. Let’s go!
I believe this qualifies as a Peculiar Sight.
Say what? “Hume Lake wildflowers”, I said! It is still the Sierra, and I love wildflowers, as you know. And sometimes I go to the mountains in places that aren’t Mineral King. It’s permissible.
I stayed with my old friend at her cabin. It was charming, and it has electricity and even a teevee with a DVD player! There are 2 cabins nearby where her cousins are, including my new friends from Georgia. But I came here to tell you about wildflowers today.
There we were, just walking along a road above Hume Lake, when I almost got whiplash, or flew over the handlebars, or went a little nutso. Lots of Mariposa Lilies, and then BOOM!
That was completely thrilling! The Mariposa Lily that I know is on the title page of the white chapter in my book. When I got home to my books, I found 2 mentions of a different type of Mariposa Lily that occasionally comes in red or purple, but no photos, and I had to read to the bottom of a couple of boring descriptions to find them. (I hope my book isn’t boring to you.)
What is going on? At the end of June, I hadn’t been to Mineral King, but I did visit Hume Lake. This has become a tradition with a friend of mine from childhood. (“Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other PLATINUM!)
More tomorrow.
The current plan is for the Sequoia Road Crew to return to maintenance on the Mineral King road as soon as the current road center and fog line striping project is completed through the Giant Forest area this week.
Mineral King road maintenance will consist of spot brushing priority areas, pothole patching, drainage maintenance, shoulder damage repairs and regrading of the washout above Cold Springs and spot grading of the remaining unpaved sections of roadway, not necessarily in that order. Tentatively starting date of 7/15.
Today’s post isn’t very fun, but it is informative if you or someone you know is planning a trip to Mineral King this summer.
I’ve been driving the Mineral King Road regularly for 35 summers, sometimes weekly. This year it is the worst I have ever experienced.
There is no attempt to smooth it, no pothole patching, no erosion control, and no brushing. None.
Several times I wondered if I should stop, get out of my car, and eyeball the route on foot to find the safest way through the obstacle course. Instead, I crawled along in first gear, sometimes riding the brake to go even slower, and I made it without breaking anything.
My non-objective view is that since Trail Guy (AKA Retired Road Guy) retired 7 years ago, there has been a cumulative effect of his not working on the road. The Park roads department is headed up from an office in Grant Grove, which is in Kings Canyon National Park rather than from Ash Mountain in Sequoia. When Road Guy was there, he made certain that the Mineral King Road was not neglected. As a retiree, he still volunteers many hours on a (borrowed) big yellow machine to clear away the winter snow to get the road opened sooner than if folks waited for the Park or for nature.
The Park’s view might be that the road will be redone in a few years. Do they think that it won’t deteriorate further until that time??
I counted 60 potholes in the paved sections on the four-mile stretch between Silver City and Mineral King.
2019 was a real winter, which delayed the opening of the Mineral King road, campgrounds, and our own cabin. Atwell Mill Campground is open, but Cold Springs won’t be opened until July 10. (Most of the passes are snow-covered, but people are backpacking and day hiking anyway.)
Drive carefully. If you find the road to be a problem, it might not hurt to write a letter to the acting superintendent, whose name I do not know. (Woody is away, working at the Grand Canyon this summer.)
On Day Four, we were READY TO BE HOME. We looked over the maps, picked a route, finished emptying the UHaul, returned it, and hit the road with the intention of driving until just before we got sick of it. It is easier with two drivers, so you can switch off.
We wanted to be home pretty badly to brave that storm and 545 miles in one day. I have kittens to play with and a painting to finish. Sister-in-law is settling into her new surroundings, and We Are Home!
Day Three wasn’t as pretty. I’m not fond of desert scenery. We drove very far. We were tired of driving. We were not looking forward to unloading the UHaul. There aren’t many photos. (Our destination was a town outside of Phoenix, in case you were wondering.)
I missed many interesting shots, including saguaro, so I took advantage of the one across the street from the sister’s new home. I also passed up the most interesting cactus I’ve ever seen: it was prickly pear (the kind with paddle-like things) but it was PURPLE!
Day Two began with finishing the UHaul load, and then leaving Tahoe, headed toward Barstow. (I know, “WHY??”) The drive was gorgeous. We went over two mountain passes, heading toward 395. We don’t often get to see the Sierra from the east side.
So many missed shots because I was driving. I think we need to return to this part of the world, preferably with these clouds and all this snow.
We gave up in Ridgecrest and had to eat the motel reservations in Barstow. That made for a very long Day three, but sometimes a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. Women too. We had to stop. Had. To. Stop.
California is a HUGE state. We began our trip by driving to Tahoe. Trail Guy’s sister needed help moving and we were chosen.
These next photos are my version of a drive-by shooting. I think I could do some paintings of oaks on golden hills (minus the phone lines and road signs).
Since we only have one cell phone among the three of us, it made sense to have the highly visible UHaul in front. Trail Guy and I had walkie-talkies, which was helpful, since I was the navigator but not driving in the lead.
I believe that UHaul is a highly necessary, convenient business model. Whoever thought that up was a genius, right there with the dudes who invented Post-It Notes, W-D40, and Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.
So many things to choose from for my final plein air painting.
And that’s all, folks. Suddenly, the carriage turned into a pumpkin. I told Laurel that the entire experience was so perfect that I’d think it was just a dream if I wasn’t sweating so much in the humidity.
So, back to the host and hostess’s home in Brunswick, rearrange all my supplies to pack for flying, say a quick good-bye (like ripping off a bandaid), hit the road for a silent drive back to Jacksonville (since I never did figure out the fancy radio), return the car, oops, go back to gas up the car (less than $3/gallon in Florida when it is over $4 now in Calif.), get a ride to the hotel, find some dinner (grits! because I was in the south), fall into bed for a 4 a.m. wake-up call. “Pumpkin”? More like a squash.
It was a fabulous adventure, a time of new sights, learning, friendships, challenges, new wildflowers, and, umm, sweating.