Category: Mineral King

Timber Gap Trail

The bottom part of the Timber Gap/Monarch/Sawtooth trail is usually dusty, hot, and always steep, with steps that seem to be made for giraffes. One morning I walked up it a ways, intending to go to the junction.

The trailhead is another site of the Park’s neglect. There is nothing indicating what trail you are on, which could be a problem if you’d never been there before.

And that’s all the photos that turned out because I was shooting directly into the sun. Well, there is another one of some stupid hon-yock hiking with his dog, but it also shows the face of a friend who probably wouldn’t mind, but I am not putting her on the world wide web without her permission.

So, let’s move on to noticing other things.

Noticing

The Timber Gap trail wasn’t dusty because it rained the evening before. There was a bit of a puddle-flood on the road, but Trail Guy reverted to Road Guy and solved it.

I didn’t photograph it after it drained because that would be ugly.

My neighbor’s cone flowers (a native wildflower, not actually planted by her) began blooming at the beginning of August.

A few weeks ago I did a little pruning around the cabin and discovered the weirdest branch.

On the way down the hill that weekend, we saw a fire from a lightning strike.

I sure hope it doesn’t turn into a conflagration, as a similar strike in a nearby location did a few years ago.

That’s too grim of a thought to leave with you. Here, have a look up the road at Sawtooth and the residual clouds from that dastardly storm. No, the storm was good, the lightning was dastardly.

Short Walk to Crystal Creek

One day a friend and I made the 2 mile round trip walk to Crystal Creek to fulfill my overwhelmingly vigorous commitment to exercise. (No need to be impressed.)

We realized that this is the first year we both sort of like goldenrod and concluded it must be the abundance, because it looks better in a mass than as a singleton.

We also admired the tremendous variety of colors and the extraordinary height of the grasses.

The flowers are good if you pay attention, and since I am all about noticing things this year, I am paying attention.

Crystal Creek looks kind of sorry this year, but it is just because we aren’t used to it flowing in a different channel with the main one dried up.

And, heading back is a familiar scene, looking toward Timber Gap. I decided to walk a mile or so up that trail for my next “excursion”.

Heading up to the Eagle/White Chief junction.

Instead of hiking, I am taking short walks of about 2 miles round trip.

I thought I was seeing a new flower; after some careful study (about 5 seconds), I realized that it is sulfur flower as it is aging.

I love the intense greenery of the thimble berry bushes that grow so faithfully across the Spring Creek bridge.

By the Honeymoon Cabin

The Honeymoon Cabin sits at the beginning of that trail, the tiny museum of the Mineral King Preservation Society. There is a tree that confounds me each time I paint it, and I decided to study it. It is a large juniper, with a smaller (comparatively speaking) branch coming out of it on the side, not 2 separate trees. In between the 2 parts is a weird growth, with a board on top of the weirdness.

The big old juniper just downstream has a wonky top. My friend said there used to be a footbridge across the creek in the vicinity, and we both thought that when the juniper falls, there will be a footbridge again.

This time when I tried to photograph my mystery flower, I had a dime in my pocket for comparison’s sake. And I decided it made a nice photo of greenery with a blurry Farewell Gap in the distance.