Mineral King | Cabin Art

And Still Painting. . .

. . . but almost finished.

That was the last one needed for the upcoming show, Still Here, at Arts Visalia in the month of April (virtual? actual in-person? More will be revealed. . .)

Now I can get back to the Mineral King paintings that I started when the others were too wet (or I was too flummoxed) to work on.

Now I have to decide if it is a good idea to show you all the finished paintings that will be in the show or maybe just make you actually attend the show in person. (As if I have the power to make anyone do anything)

oil paintings

Roadwork and Recreating

“Recreate” in this blog post doesn’t mean to create something for a second time – it means to engage in recreation, or having fun in leisure time.

We drove up the hill to Mineral King to close the cabin and shut off the water for the season. Trail Guy held the gate for a convoy of 6 fire vehicles from Kings County.

Some crews “brushed” (this means “pruned” in normal people language) around the cabins. Because we lease our land from the National Park Service, we are not allowed to do this important maintenance chore. Apparently another agency pulled rank on the NPS. They are not landscapers – just energetic strong people who are doing a job to make a community more fire safe.

They limbed trees to prevent “laddering” by fire – we’ll need to trim these stubs next year.

I sawed off one that was a real tripper.

I am just reporting – not criticizing. I am curious how the Park will view these actions, and hope they just say “Thank you!”

Then there may have been a wee bit of recreating. We needed to do something to stay out of the way while the main men finished closing.

Then it was time to head down the road. The amount of brushing and shredding on the county part of the road (from the Oak Grove Bridge down) was astonishing – 4 or 5 crews, rumored to be from Mexico. Look at the “broom” they are using in the bottom photo.

This has been sorely needed for many years.

Thank you, energetic fire crews! We appreciate you and your consistent hard work. Thank you for saving Three Rivers and Mineral King from disaster in this bizarrely disastrous year.

Less Smoky in Mineral King

Trail Guy took this photo last weekend.

In the olden days, we would have said it was not a good clear day. These days we are happy to see blue sky.

This photo is from the road. Since Mineral King is closed, we are only allowed to go to our cabins and not “recreate” anywhere. This is also due to the voluntary evacuation order. If it becomes mandatory (very slim chance), officials will have to find everyone to say “time to go”. If someone is out on a trail, an official won’t come looking for you! MK cabin folks were reprimanded gently by a Park official who said he was “disappointed”* to learn that people were leaving their cabin area. However, I happen to know that it was Silver City folks, not Mineral King folks who defied the order. Yes, there is a difference, a 4 mile difference.

(I just wanted to set the record straight and defend my immediate neighbors.)

Instead of going to Mineral King, I went to the coast to see some blue sky. I’ll show you next Friday.

*I refrained from telling the official that we were disappointed that he didn’t open the campgrounds this summer – took a bit of discipline, but I managed somehow.

Gloomy in Mineral King

“Dismal” and “grim” are the 2 words that come to mind when I think of the state of Mineral King and Three Rivers, and Tulare County, and while I am at it, California. But for this post, I’ll settle for “gloomy”. We were up the hill for about 36 hours after the mandatory evacuation was lifted, a chance to gather some things, and secure the cabin a bit.

The lower gate was almost impossible to open, but Trail Guy muscled it open for these frustrated folks; we figured out a way to lock it back. This is all necessary because MK is closed for the season.

The sky was blue for a brief and welcome break from smoke.

The smoke returned. Vandever is barely visible.

The trail sign is covered with warnings.

If I tilt my camera up, the peaks surrounding Farewell Gap show better.

If we got trapped in Mineral King and fire came to get us, we would sit under the bridge.

There was a little dam upstream from the bridge, and I decided to bust it down so more water would flow under the bridge. Probably useless, but it was fun. I’ll take whatever scraps of fun I can find these days.

When we left on Sunday afternoon, Trail Guy apprised the Forest Service fire crew of the water system in our neighborhood. I felt a tiny bit better leaving with these competent professionals in place.

May we please be finished with these fires? Please?? Sigh. I hear that rain is forecast for tomorrow. Please, God, have mercy on this place.

Mineral King, Another Person’s Story

Today we have the pleasure of a guest post, something I have never had in 12 years of blogging! Sharon Devol is a real life friend, and the most regular commenter on this blog. She always has something interesting to add, and when I half-jokingly suggested she write a guest post, she was graciously eager.

This is Sharon’s personal story of her family’s Mineral King cabin.

My family connection to Mineral King starts in 1930 when my grandparents, Van and Mary Dixon, visited Faculty Flat (JB here – Faculty Flat is about a mile below the end of the Mineral King Road, so called because it was first settled by educators from Southern California) on the invitation of faculty colleague, Dr. Bates of the Bates-Bell Cabin. For the next 20 years Van and Mary and their two daughters, Diane and Shirley, used the Bates-Bell Cabin until the cabin built in 1926 by Lou and Mary Lou Coole came up for sale. Despite its primitive condition, the daughters begged Daddy to buy it, and the Dixon family set to work to clean and improve the cabin.

I first visited our cabin when I was one year old, and time at Mineral King has been a part of my summer ever since.

Quite an improvement made by a physics professor married to a home economics teacher with elbow grease provided by various family members. And we descendants of Van and Mary Dixon so appreciate their love, care, and hard work to make our family a warm and inviting place to visit each summer.

P.S. by Jana – A few years ago, I got the chance to update the drawing I did of Sharon’s cabin in 1992, because I draw better now. Goodness, an artist would certainly hope so. (Nope, not going to show you the first version because I deleted it, so there.)

Good News

Isn’t it a thrill to have good news? (Although “good” is a relative term these days.)

The Old Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King, 18×36″, oil on wrapped canvas, $1200

On Wednesday afternoon last week, we were told that there was a voluntary evacuation order for Mineral King. On Friday afternoon, the road was abruptly closed by the county to all traffic.

This struck fear in the hearts of all who love Mineral King. Uniforms (that’s what we have around here instead of Suits), barricades, and unknown reasons now prevent anyone from going up to check on cabins. Many of the owners live far away, unable to just show up at the drop of a Smokey The Bear hat. (I think his middle name is The, and I do realize he is a National Forest bear, not a National Park bear.) New info on Smokey here

Trail Guy and I have been faithfully (obsessively?) following the CalTopo fire map. There is no fire in or near Mineral King. Well, okay, how does one define “near”? We define it by listening to people who know the area and know how fires burn. None of those folks are worried or feel that Three Rivers or Mineral King is in imminent danger. Sure, if there was a catastrophic windstorm or more lightning strikes, it could get bad.

But neither of those things is in the forecast, so for now our beloved Mineral King doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy. That’s good news.

Shutter For Sale

Trail Guy helps me with my art business in lots of little ways, and a few bigger ones too. He likes power tools, and by using one he was able to secure a wire to the back of the shutter so it can hang on a wall.

Will it hang on your wall?

For $250 plus shipping (oh my, it is heavy compared to my normal paintings) plus tax (welcome to California unless you live in another state, in which case I would advise you to count your blessings) this one of kind painting can be yours.

And remember, EVERYTHING looks better in person (except those aforementioned news babes – see the post titled “Farewell at Dusk” if you are wondering when they were mentioned “afore”).

Honeymoon Cabin Mineral King Mineral King oil painting

Still Smoky

This is a long post. If it is a TLDR*, you can just look at the photos.

The smoky conditions varied widely over the past weekend in Mineral King, WHICH IS NOW CLOSED.

Now, let’s look at some other views in Mineral King. These first 2 are looking toward Farewell Gap on Saturday evening. (The weird grayish spots in the sky are just the mysterious moving spots on my camera lens.)

On Sunday, mid morning, we could see smoke moving up the canyon toward Mineral King, so we went for a walk while it was still relatively clear. First, we stopped on the bridge. Then Trail Guy encountered a Park mule that was out of the corral, but wanted to go back inside. There was smoke visible coming up from the direction of White Chief. We walked to Crystal Creek, which is hardly a creek. I found a few flowers still blooming, and we passed a hornet hole, AKA a wasp nest. I looked those critters up in a couple of books; although we call them “meat bees”, they are really just yellow jackets. Mean dudes, don’t mess with them.

Whoa. Is that from an existing fire, or is there one roaring up from Three Rivers? *(It was from the SQF Complex and the Creek fires, not a new one.)*

Blue sky directly overhead! Remember that? Thrilling (but fleeting).

Looking up toward Farewell Gap from the bridge.

One more pass over the bridge, then we packed up and headed down into the smoke of Three Rivers, talking about evacuation, thinking dark thoughts.

Please God, don’t let locusts come next.

*Too Long Didn’t Read

Farewell at Dusk

This year I have been painting larger, in between completing the commissioned custom work. Smaller paintings do well at shows, but all my shows have been cancelled. (By “shows” I mean arts and crafts boutiques, fairs, festivals, and other assorted events.)

My idea is to build up a body of larger works so that when a local gallery decides to give me an exhibit, I will be ready.

In that vein, I recently completed a 10×30″ oil painting of Farewell Gap (in Mineral King, of course) at dusk. As you look at the progression, remember that things always look better in person (other than the model-type news babes on teevee, because No One could possibly look That Perfect.)

Farewell at Dusk, 10×30″, oil on wrapped canvas, $500 (looks better in person, but everything and everyone does except those news babes on teevee, because NO ONE looks that perfect, ever.)

I photographed it while still wet on the easel, and then tried to duplicate the color on Photoshop Junior. It isn’t right, but it’ll do for now.

mineral king painting

Another Smoky Stay

Labor Day weekend was smoky, but conditions kept changing. We only did a few short walks, not wanting to develop emphysema, allergic pneumonitis, or black lung.

The first batch of photos were taken on Saturday.

The smoky green tunnel.

An unknown yellow flower flourishes in the diminishing creek bed at Crystal.

Sierra Gentian can still be found.

This is the Honeymoon Cabin, AKA Point Cabin from an angle that is rarely noticed.

These next photos were taking on Sunday, which was hot hot hot. Yes, I know, not compared to down the hill, but in the 80s and smoky in a place without electricity is not what we expect for Labor Day weekend. There has been snow on some Labor Day weekends in the past.

Sort of a hood ornament.