There was an overcast day in Three Rivers this week. Maybe more than one, but we are only concerned with one of them for purposes of this post. We drove up the Mineral King road, as far as the Conifer gate. (That’s the upper gate, which is below Atwell.
Now the gate locks are consistently secured, we got a little sunshine, and you are up-to-date (but only as far as Conifer.)
First, an ad. I hope to see you all (my tens of readers) on Saturday!
Many people enjoy Mineral King in summer; fewer make it there in the fall, and a very few make it up in the winter (for many good reasons, beginning with the locked gates). I think of it as a summer place, and with this year’s extended heat, the season seemed lengthy. The added time was a gift, because we thought it was toast with that stupid Coffeepot fire.
Lots of photos for you to enjoy today. . .
I went out with my dying camera battery to capture a few photos in the sunshine.
It was good to see that work has gotten done on several cabins in spite of the rude interruption of the stupid Coffeepot fire.
The next day began overcast. We went for a walk past Crystal Creek to see if we could discover any fall color. Nothing to see. Hiking Buddy and I went out a bit later, thinking it might be our only chance. However, the sun came out later, so we went back out. Look at the difference the sun makes! (And please excuses the dark spots from Trail Guy’s camera, which I borrowed due to forgetfulness on my part to bring the backup battery.)
While hanging out with my little friend, I showed her something peculiar.
That was there all weekend and no one knows why. So, we added a pair of found sunglasses. We are easily amused at our cabins, always finding something fun to do.
There is such a nostalgic feeling to the season’s final stay at our cabins. Although we see our neighbors throughout the year because we are real life friends, closing is a bit melancholy.
While we made one final stop at the community dumpster (managed by Trail Guy, the all-purpose mayor), I took the borrowed camera for one final look at some fall color. Turned out to be more fall light than actual autumn-type colors.
And finally, it is a huge relief that the temporary bridge allowed us to come and go all season.
I wasn’t there, but Trail Guy brought back good photos of fall color for you. Do you have a favorite?
If plein air painting really floated my boat, I’d be there chasing down fall color. Instead, I am probably there packing up for the winter.
Next fall, perhaps. . .
The recreation restrictions were lifted, so Hiking Buddy and I took a stroll down the Nature Trail, where some fall colors were beginning to show (this was last weekend).
We also took a walk across the bridge (oh my, how my walks have shrunk this year), past the pack station, and up to the much diminished Crystal Creek.
Driving home, we were stopped around the Conifer Gate because there were lots of tree-fallers at work. The 3-man crew on road closure duty was from Tennessee, and it was delightful to talk to them.
The next crew on the lower end of the tree-falling segment was from Montana, also delightful.
We made sure to tell all of these guys to be sure to drive to the end of the road, and also to have lunch at the Silver City Store.
So, after a three week interruption, we return to the normally peaceful and beautiful fall season in Mineral King.
But not me. I’m heading to Monterey for a week-long plein air painting retreat. I will be reporting on this radical new adventuresome opportunity next week. These are photos I took in 2009 when a friend and I went snooping around Asilomar, a fabulous conference grounds with buildings designed by Julia Morgan.
The parking lot was empty on Saturday morning, because the restrictions on the road and on recreation weren’t officially lifted until 10 a.m. Most people didn’t learn of the restriction removal until the end of the day on Friday. This doesn’t really make it easy for people to plan for the weekend, but the Park is in charge, and we are not.
It was so nice to see Timber Gap again.
This cabin might actually be repaired before winter.
The wood was a regular sight; many trees were dropped and bucked up along the road, due to a contracted tree removal crew.
It felt good to swing an ax; we burned quite a bit of wood because it was chilly in the evenings and the mornings.
Here’s another sign of neglect. Literally.
Ranger Mary was lonely at the Ranger station. Backcountry permits are set up on the porch for self-registration now.
Tomorrow: two gentle walks.
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. . .
I finished these two oil paintings, to be held in reserve for when the Mural Gallery in Exeter needs to be resupplied with citrus paintings.
The Mineral King road and recreation restrictions were scheduled to be lifted on Saturday, September 21. By now people who need to know will know for sure if that has happened.
The TB book index problem is not repaired but we now have a plan. Instead of an index that can adjust itself to repagination, we will have a static index. This means that after the manuscript is formatted, I get to go through the index word-by-word and make sure the right page numbers are listed.
Is it a good idea to show you the calendar now? They have arrived, are now for sale, and here is the part I am unsure of: they are a sneak peek into my upcoming show, Simply Home, which opens on October 19, a month from now. Wait, this isn’t truly a “spoiler”, because I have been showing you the progression of paintings for almost a year now!
Yesterday I told you that the paintings retrieved from Silver City will be heading to Exeter’s Mural Gallery, which reopens September 19 (TOMORROW!) after a summer-long renovation. (I don’t think they have a website, but their physical address is 121 So. E Street (next door to the former Wildflower Cafe, at the edge of Mixter Park, home of Exeter’s first giant outdoor mural.)
These 5×7 oil paintings on panels got freshened up and will be sold with little easels. I didn’t photograph the process out of respect for my readers who have no interest in miniscule improvements to paintings.
And here is a table full of Mineral King paintings. I painted them quickly, in order to hustle them up the hill for the usually excellent selling month of August at the Silver City Resort. Alas, we had a thunderstorm which caused a lightning strike which began the Coffeepot fire on August 3. So, I brought them home.
They aren’t terrible, but I studied each one and found at least one thing to improve. I started at the bottom left, and here is a photo for comparison. Prolly a useless exercise for you to discern what got improved, but here goes anyway.
And now the entire table-full has been renovated.
You’ll just have to trust me that they are all a little bit better than before. By the end of the day, the light has changed significantly enough that they look different in photos, whether or not they’ve been retouched.
Now they must dry and I must rescan them in order to have a good record of each painting, because OF COURSE they will sell.
With the Coffeepot Fire about 10-15 miles down the road from the Mineral King valley, the smoke blows up each day, anywhere from 9:30 until noon. Sometimes it clears up a bit in the afternoon or early evening, then it blows back down the canyon at night.
Trail Guy took these clear morning photos for us so that we won’t completely despair of ever seeing the beauty of Mineral King again.
(The occasional weird spots in the sky are due to some malfunction in his camera.)
Then, the smoke arrived.
This happened almost daily the week before Labor Day and during the weekend of uncertainty.
Tomorrow we will return to our regular broadcasting topics.
After wondering all weekend if we would be evacuated from Mineral King, a Park employee came by our cabins on Monday morning around 8, telling us to be at the Conifer gate (7.5 miles below our cabins) to be escorted out. If we didn’t want to go, that was fine, but then we’d be unable to leave for 48 to 72 hours. (They couldn’t make us go but they would be able to make us stay. . .?)
There were about 10 cars, including Park personnel, with someone at the front of the line and someone at the rear.
There was a meeting of the Silver City Mayor and the Mineral King Mayor, as they discussed and examined the locks on the Conifer Gate.
We headed down into thickening smoke. . .
. . . and were stopped at Wolverton Point. Another caravan was heading up the hill.
Lookout Point is a gathering place for vehicles. Initially it was built to look out for fires; now it is a place to look out at fires.
The mayors convened at the lower gate for another session of locks, while a Park person oversaw their negotiations.
It was a long weird smoky drive down. The good part is that we never had to wonder if we would encounter any vehicles coming up the road.
Tomorrow (yes, Sunday, I know. . .) I will share some photos of Mineral King, taken by Trail Guy to contrast the smoke with the clarity of the mornings.