Community Life in Mineral King

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.)

There are cabin communities all over the mountains in this country, and most likely in other countries too. I’ve written in the past (2018?) about what makes them special: Cabin Thoughts, One; Cabin Thoughts, Two; Cabin Thoughts, Three, A Few More Cabin Thoughts, and Final Final Cabin Thoughts.

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:

  1. gather at someone’s cabin for “happy hour”, eat fun things, catch up with one another, and then are too full for dinner
  2. eat dinner together
  3. (Trail Guy and The Farmer, not me unless The Farmer isn’t around) help with various repairs. (The cabins are OLD.)
  4. hike together (hike: carrying pack with lunch and water)
  5. walk together (no pack, no lunch)
  6. give one another rides up and down the hill
  7. bring supplies for one another when coming up the hill
  8. share books
  9. lend knitting needles
  10. let people use our telephone (when we had one) and borrow the neighbor’s phone now
  11. clean up the platform for the annual “Music in the Mountains” event
  12. prune in one another’s yards (okay, that’s just me. . .)
  13. use a hav-a-hart trap to catch bushy-tailed woodrats (definitely Trail Guy, NOT me)
  14. explore historic sites
  15. lend tools
  16. repair water line breaks
  17. go through the junk we discover in our respective cabins, sometimes trading items of interest
  18. share missing recipe ingredients

We stay in touch throughout the year, because our friendships are solid, not simply seasonal.

Mineral King Without Hiking

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.

Really Big Oil Painting of Classic Mineral King

The day finally came to finish this painting. Well, not entirely finish, because after I photograph a painting, I usually see a long list of things to fix or change or improve. I don’t know why this becomes evident when looking on a screen; it is also true for my drawing students and other friends who paint or draw.

The tall trees were the next thing to paint, and I decided it was time to go in search of my floor easel for larger paintings. We have a lot of storage space, and it wasn’t easy to find or retrieve this thing. But, it was worth the effort—tall easel=ease of painting but ease of locating.

I cleared off the table where an easel usually sits. Whoa, I have a lot of brushes.

Then I lowered the painting so I could sit on the stool and still reach the top. I used to paint standing up. My feet used to not be numb. I’m thankful I can still paint at all.

Stop procrastinating, Central California Artist! You have a large painting to complete, so chop-chop!

First, I redid some of the background details (not so as you’d notice in these little photos, but I didn’t want you to think I was just sitting there.)

A tree grows in Mineral King/Three Rivers/on canvas.

And another tree grows.

Shrub and water time.

Now the canvas is covered. Time to let it dry.

I wondered what it looked like in real sunshine so I carried it outside for a photo. It isn’t signed and the edges aren’t painted, so it didn’t matter that the easel cast a shadow on the top.

Let’s have a little fun. . .

I think this is fun. Simple pleasures. . .

Before I put on my metaphorical critical hat, I just want to enjoy the sense of almost completion of this 18×36″ oil painting of classic Mineral King. I wonder if it will sell at Silver City, sell from my website, or hang on until the solo show in October at CACHE. . . more will be revealed in the fullness of time.

18×36″, oil on wrapped canvas, suitable for framing or ready to hang as is, Classic Mineral King, $1500

Mellow Mineral King Time

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.

2021
now

A few flowers were out in abundance and the light was right.


Western wallflower
Bitter 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 rocks
photographing the big splash
evening 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.

A Situation and a Recovery

A week ago, I had a situation to deal with: I got sick. Such a disruption. I was only able to paint a little bit before the need to lie down took over.

While reclining, I used the laptop to look carefully at the paintings finished and paintings needed for the upcoming solo show at CACHE. More paintings are needed, but feeling poorly meant that I would paint poorly.

There were other tasks to tackle, ones that didn’t require heavy concentration. One day I gathered canvases, put on the hanging wires, chose titles, assigned inventory numbers, and actually slapped on a light layer of paint. I knew it wasn’t a good day for painting when I dropped my palette. It landed upside down, of course. I headed back to the couch.

These are all 8×16″, a new size for me. 10×20″ was too big, and 6×12″ was too small. These might be just right, as Goldilocks said.
These are all 16×20″.

Another simple task for another day was to scan these two new Mineral King paintings.

Sawtooth #61, 8×8″, $145
Mineral King Valley #7, 8×8″, $145

Recovery came; it always does (except when it is time for the big dirt nap).

Trail Guy Goes to Ranger’s Roost

Do you know “Ranger’s Roost”? It is the higher ground to the west of Timber Gap.

I didn’t go. I was at home, dealing with a situation. More on that next week. . .

Trail Guy was gobsmacked by the abundance of phlox, as evidenced by the abundance of photographs of phlox.

Timber Gap has great views, both north and south.

Looking south into Mineral King

Looking north into the middle fork drainage of the Kaweah river and the mountains beyond, none of which I can name.

I love trail photos.

If you are reading this post on the day it goes live, I hope to be back in Mineral King. Probably not hiking, maybe painting, probably just reading or knitting or splitting wood. Maybe next week’s Mineral King post will have photos taken by me with my camera.

P.S. You can tell these photos are from Trail Guy’s camera because the sky has those dark spots (from something on/in the lens, not chemtrails). He doesn’t mind. I bought him a new camera, and he declined it. I kept the new camera, and it went weird, while his spotty camera just keeps soldiering onward. I bought myself another new camera, and so far, so good.

Painting Mineral King with the Swamp Cooler

On another hot day with my brave swamp cooler, I focused on the giant oil painting of the classic Mineral King scene.

I was thankful to have the sky finished—well, finished unless I decide later that it isn’t finished. It is just too tall for me to reach, so some logistics must be addressed each time I work on it. Tabletop about 3′, lowest easel setting about 5″, top of painting another 3′. I’ve used a ladder in the past but my numb feet don’t want to stand on a rung these days. I do have a large floor easel, but am too lazy to set it up. It’s just one painting—I can stretch.

Details on the peaks, building up the background as I work lower (and closer to the viewer in the scene).

Fix that cabin!

Sort out the river ripples, rocks, and layers of willows according to the “map” I drew a couple of weeks ago. This distinction isn’t very visible in the final photo, but it makes sense to me.

Give up and go in the house. Five hours in the swampy heat is enough for today. I’m guessing to have about 15 hours remaining to completion. That is a WAG (Wild [Donkey] Guess), for those readers who always like to know how long a painting takes. This probably already had 3 hours in it before I started back up.

Back to Painting Mineral King.

Thanks for taking a detour with me to Hume Lake. I came home and went straight to the easels. Mineral King is my main subject this time of year, a short season with no time to lollygag around. (Imagine taking a vacation FROM Mineral King!)

This piece got sky, and I started shaping the mountains that form Farewell Gap. It is 18×36″, and will take awhile to complete.

So, it is necessary to focus on some small pieces. Again.

I finished these five. One of the Mineral King Family Cabin paintings was painted for a blog reader, but I haven’t heard back from her, so maybe she didn’t read the comment reply or the email I sent her. (HELLO, JO L! ARE YOU STILL INTERESTED?)

These two 8×8″ canvases will become Sawtooth #61 and Mineral King Valley #7.

All the paintings are to be sold at the Silver City Store, unless they sell here first.

(6×6″ = $70, 8×8″ = $145, 18×36″ = $1500 Thanks for asking.)

Brain-melting Painting

Remember last week or so I showed you some completed paintings intended for Silver City, unless they sold first?

They sold.

Someone else asked for the one called Mineral King Family Cabin about 5 minutes after it sold, so I told her I’d paint another one for her.

Of course I needed to paint some new little pieces for Silver City too.

These look distorted in the photo; in reality, they are each 6×6″.

These aspens really caught my attention, maybe because of all the details, maybe because I have been painting many paintings of the same scene recently. They aren’t finished, but I signed them anyway. It was so hot in the workshop even with the swamp cooler, so maybe my brain was melting a little.

This one needs a do-over on the sky, and the flowers were put in too early. It needs to dry before I put those dots of color in. I signed it too. Brain melt.

I figured these could wait until another painting session, but a friend came over and kept me company, so I just kept working. Such a good friend, to sit in the swamp cooler “cooled” workshop with me!

This is a view of the Honeymoon Cabin I haven’t tried before. I signed it too. It isn’t finished —the angle of Vandever is too steep, and the cabin roof is the wrong proportions. But, that melting brain did at least allow me to get this far.

It was the first hot spell of the season, and maybe it isn’t hot compared to real summer. (It is still spring on the calendar.) Things felt hotter than normal because the previous night we were without power for 12 hours. This means no A/C, no fans, no internet, no landline, no cell phone (because we don’t have service without wifi). It also meant almost no sleep.

I thought about why we can easily live without any of those things in Mineral King. Simple. We live simply there. Woodstove, propane fridge, no phone, and no A/C or fans required.