Mineral King | Cabin Art

Perilously Emotional See-Saw

For the past several summers, I have sold oil paintings of Mineral King scenes at the Silver City Store.

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This summer I took up 3 6×6″ and 3 8×10″. Each time I go to Mineral King, I stop by the store (we think of it as “The Store”) to see how the paintings are selling. I missed a weekend, and then stopped by again.

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THEY WERE ALL SOLD!

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The reason I stopped by was that I met some great folks who wanted to talk about Israel. Then the woman asked my last name (weird, I know, but someone introduced us by first name and mentioned I had been to Israel) and was all excited to meet me.

Hunh?

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Turns out she buys a painting by me each year when she comes to her Mineral King cabin.

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It is quite a thrill to meet a stranger who buys my art, because often I wonder if it is just my friends and relatives who feel sorry for me that buy my work.

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The business of art is a perilously emotional see-saw.

Please excuse me while I go find a chill-pill and then start painting again.

Wildflower Quest and Thoughts on Naming Flowers

Every summer in Mineral King, Trail Guy goes on a quest for Leopard Lilies. They have a fabulous fragrance, and often we smell them before we see them.

Mineral King wildflowers are usually at their peak during the first couple of weeks in July. This year they are particularly profuse.

Groundsel is common. It is a little boring, except when there are great masses of it together. It always looks slightly worn out.

Penstemmon comes in many colors and styles. This might be called “golden beard”. I wasn’t asked, but if I had been, I would call this one “lipstick”.

No flowers here, but I can’t pass over this bridge without photographing the classic scene.

“Wild geranium” makes no sense as a name, unless you know that what we call “geranium” at home is actually pelargonium, and true geraniums look more like this. Someone is jerking us around in this naming busines.

Wild asters usually don’t appear until late August. They are more lavender than they appear in this photo.

The larkspur were thick and bright, but my little PHD (press here, Dummy) camera wouldn’t focus on them. Where else will you see purple and yellow together and not think it is a little obnoxious?

We (ahem – Trail Guy) always find artifacts in Mineral King, a place very rich in cultural history. This is part of an old stove. Apparently, people in the olden days thought nothing of walking away from their stuff. Don’t know about you, but I’ve never removed a stove part, much less left it lying around. Maybe these folks would have been Lawn Parkers if they were in a more modern era.

Rein orchis is a weird weird name. “Orchis” not “orchid”. “Rein” not “rain”. You just can’t make this stuff up, unless you are an Official Flower Namer. They get to do whatever they want. I used to think grown-ups got to do whatever they wanted, but maybe not, unless they are Flower Namers.

Somewhere in there is a Leopard Lily. We spotted it!

This is a boring photo. In real life it was sparkly white flowers and a few bright purplish-pink wild onions.

More sparkly white “knot weed”, which looks like a Nothing Burger in this photo. Guess you had to be there.

This unnamed and unknown (to me) flower is thick along the Mineral King Road, maybe around 5000′. This was one of the first times I found it near a turnout, when no one else was around so I could really appreciate it. Besides, it wasn’t 100 degrees out, so I didn’t mind stopping.

Look how thick this is here! Anyone know the name of this? How about “roadside blue”? I want to be a Flower Namer!

Mineral King wildflowers

While I Was in Israel. . .

. . . Trail Guy was in Mineral King. He took photos, I put them on my laptop, and now you get to see them.

It is fun for me to guess where the photos were taken. It is also fun to see what he chooses to photograph, after years and years of visiting the same places.

camel — Oops. Sorry for the interruption? Not really. Just wanted to make you smile.

Listen to Mineral King

Sometimes when I am in Mineral King, I make a point to experience as many senses as possible.

I feel the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the shade.I hear the birds and the wind and the water. After the rain I smell mugwort and currant bushes. I see wonderful scenes, which are the easiest to share with you on this blog. I try not to put stuff in my mouth, but sometimes in late fall I do taste the currants. (They are sort of more trouble than they are worth.)

Late last night, I got back from 12 days in Israel. (Yes, I posted ahead to my blog for the time I was away. Please forgive me for not responding to comments or emails during that time. I will be sending out coloring books to those of you who ordered soon. Thank you for your patience.)

So, because today is Friday and Fridays are for Mineral King, see if this movie will play for you so you can hear a little bit of Mineral King in addition to seeing it.

Spring Creek

Mineral King (Click on the words Mineral King, and a movie might open for you in a separate window. Key word here: “might”. I’ve never tried this before. Never gone to Israel before either.)

Mineral King

Wherein I Join Trail Guy on a Mineral King Hike

Coloring books will be available again on July 1, 2016. You may order, but it will involve a wait. Thank you for your patience.

Mineral King — Languid Ladies in the foreground; Chihuahua Creek in the distance. I don’t think this has flowed for the past 4 summers, and Trail Guy thinks it will last through the whole month of June this year.

Mineral King Trail — Steps on a trail look friendly and helpful to me. Trail crew builders accuse step-builders of “making monuments to themselves”. Thank you, Monument Makers.

This is sort of a boring photo of Indian Paintbrush, (red), Western Wallflower (yellow), and a bit of Larkspur (sort of bluish). I just got a little excited to see the 3 primary colors all together.

We saw 2 of these mylar helium balloons. Partiers down in the valley (not Mineral King, but the San Joaquin Valley) don’t realize that when they let go of the strings of their balloons, they are littering.

This tree is not a failure. It is a juniper, and it is Trail Guy’s favorite tree. It is a sign that the steepest part of the trail to White Chief is over. It is still steep, just not the steepest part.

Here is an example of Phlox in all the variations of its whitish-purplish-pinkish glory.

Hello White Chief! The peak is square topped and this is where you first see a glimpse of the canyon, which our 2 new trail friends called “enchanting”. (Hi Dean and Dave!)

Not Trail Guy. He’s not getting wet with his high-tech poncho. He sort of looked like Moses, if he had pulled his arms out of the garbage bag and held his walking stick like a staff.

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Mineral King, Because it is Friday

After a harrowing week, most of which doesn’t not belong on a public blog on the World Wide Web, I ran away to Mineral King for a much needed respite.

It was overcast and a bit rainy. That’s fine. We have a wood stove for cooking and heat, and I always have my knitting.

In between, there were some walks around the valley floor. Strolls, really.

In gardening, it is tricky to find blue flowers. In Mineral King, that is one of the main colors of the early season flowers.

blue lips — The aptly named “Blue Lips”.

bluebellls — “Sierra Bluebells” are also called “Languid Ladies”.

forget me not — Sierra Forget Me Nots look just like the Alaskan state flower, same name minus the Sierra part. Duh. Sometimes these come in pink. So do the “Languid Ladies”. Weird, but maybe they are like hydrangeas and depend upon the make up of the soil. These are also called “Sierra Stickseed” because when they go to seed, they stick to your bootlaces (or the velcro on the straps of your Tevas, if you are like me in your hiking footwear).

honeymoon cabin — Wonderful flow of water, here in the east fork of the Kaweah River next to the Honeymoon Cabin. If you are in Mineral King, you can learn about some of the history in this little building. You might need to bring glasses and a flashlight if you are over 45.

The evening is looking hopeful for a good hiking day tomorrow. This is the alpen glow on Farewell Gap.

To be continued next Friday. . .

Coloring books will be available again on July 1, 2016. You may order, but it will involve a wait. Thank you for your patience.

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Mineral King in Early Summer

What do I mean “early summer”? It isn’t summer until June 21!

Oh yeah? It’s been in the high 90s and low 100s for a couple of weeks around here. That qualifies as summer, despite the calendar’s report.

Trail Guy is back out on the trails in Mineral King. I’ll get there, just hang on. Meanwhile, please enjoy his photos with my photo editing and explanations.

These are phlox, an early flower that comes in subtle shades of lavender, pink, white, pinkish white, whitish pink, lavenderish white, whitish lavender, pinkish whitish lavender, etc.

Can you pick out Sawtooth Peak from this angle?

This is the view that the Mather party had 100 years ago. There is a photo, a book and a pencil drawing commemorating that event.

Mather party book cover drawing — Remember this pencil drawing? When the Park wanted to reprint the book on the Mather party (group of people on an excursion, not group of people drinking and dancing–but how would I know? I wasn’t there), they commissioned me for a cover drawing redo. That mule heiny was a challenge, but Cowboy Bert took photos of his mulz (that’s how he spells it on his license plate) to help me get it right.

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And More Mineral King

During a mostly overcast weekend in Mineral King, we had a few moments of sun. A standard simple walk is to go down the road and back up the Nature Trail (Yes, I know it is a stupid name – “Wildflower Walk” seems more appropriate once summer arrives.)

Manzanita in bloom near a seasonal creek coming off Timber Gap

The appropriately named “Five Spot” wildflower, about the size of a nickel.

An unknown little white flower. I think white flowers are boring, but any flower will do this early in the season.

Not too many wildflowers along the nature trail this early. The aspens aren’t leafed out yet, so you can see Empire with its snow.

Sierra Bluebells, or Languid Ladies. . . it is one of the early flowers in Mineral King.

Great flow on the East Fork of the Kaweah!

This is the only time I had a view of Sawtooth. It is still holding snow.

A drawing similar to this appears in my latest coloring book, “Heart of Mineral King”

These are a version of Chinese Houses along the Mineral King Road on the lower section. The wildflowers are still very good along the road, mostly the yellows with a few purples. Worth a drive if you are into wildflowers.

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More Mineral King

Favorite cabin on Memorial Day. Nope, not my cabin!

Learning about catch-and-release fishing from the bridge.

Rock outcropping of Empire, good water flow on Monarch Creek.

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Summer Season in Mineral King Begins

The summer season has begun in Mineral King. Normally I post about Mineral King on Fridays. This week, I am beginning Mineral King on Wednesday.

Why? Because I am the boss of my blog.

There are formulas for “successful” blogging. I ignore most of them. I don’t know how to measure success on my blog other than by hearing from people who say they enjoy reading it. I don’t know how to find the stats and would rather blog than figure that stuff out.

Let’s just go to Mineral King and forget that techie stuff. Mineral King – Land of No Electricity or Internet (unless you pay for the password at the Silver City Store)

Water in the East Fork of the Kaweah. A walk with friends. An overcast day. Mineral King in late May.

Can’t see Farewell Gap behind all the clouds.

Willows in early spring make these soft furry things – I think that is why we say “pussy willow” – soft like a kitty.

Looking downstream toward Timber Gap, dandelions along the bank, evidence of good water flow.

Thus we conclude today’s tour of an overcast day in Mineral King in late May.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow.

Mineral King photography

Category: Mineral King