It must be Friday because the California artist is talking about Mineral King again.
You can count on seeing the best variety of flowers in Mineral King in 2 places: along the Nature Trail and at the Farewell Gap/ Franklin Lake junction. The first week of July is when they are usually the most profuse. It is about 4 miles to the junction from the bridge at the end of the road, aka “The Mineral King Bridge”.
I met some wonderful people in Mineral King WHILE they were buying 2 paintings from me at the Silver City Resort. That is always a thrill! They were so enthusiastic and appreciative of my work, of the area, of everything. Two days later, the cabin they were renting burned down in the middle of the night.
They escaped with their lives, for which we are very grateful. They did not escape with their possessions, including the paintings. I am still stupefied and horrified as I write this, but nothing compared to how they must be feeling.
It is good that I paint from photos (a studio painter composes much work first using the camera), good that I met the customers and know how to reach them, good that I can paint the same scene over and over again. These will be repainted soon for these good people who had a very bad experience.
Fridays are about Mineral King on this California artist’s blog. Just reminding you, in case you are wondering where’s the art. . . or perhaps you only tune in on Fridays. Welcome! (and Mineral King is a HUGE source of inspiration to this California artist, so it isn’t really off topic.)
Michael, aka Trail Guy, likes to go off trail, which is the only way to get up Empire. There is a great deal of interesting history up there.
Will the Mineral King Bridge ever be finished? Will the saga ever end?
Retired Road Guy had the camera with him while his former road crew worked on the bridge. Rumor has it that he joined them for an hour or so, wearing shorts instead of green pants and his signature straw hat instead of a marshmallow head. Rumor also has it that he actually enjoyed the work!
Tomorrow, Saturday, July 21 is the annual Mineral King Preservation Society Picnic in the Park. It takes place at noon in front of one of the cabins at the end of the road. (Look for the signs, follow the people.) Bring your own lunch and chairs, lemonade will be provided. The program has 2 parts – one by Steve Jones who will tell of his memories backpacking and camping in Mineral King. (Never met him before, don’t know a thing!)
The second part will be Retired Road Guy and the California Artist discussing the Mineral King Bridge project. They will be asking the crowd to share their memories of the bridge, and rumor has it that they may even tell what they REALLY think about it.
Guess you’ll have to attend to learn the rest of the story!
Do you have any Mineral King Bridge memories you’d like to share with the blog readers or me?
Or is that Rhyme Thyme? or rime time?
STOP IT.
Because my friend Cheryl Barker does Summer Photo fun on her blog, and I am a monkey-see-monkey-do copyist, I will engage in my own little brand of summer photo fun for your entertainment.
Are you kidding me? That is so gross!
Yeah, I know. They are all over the shrubs in Mineral King this summer.
What do you mean “stuck”?
He wasn’t moving. It was cold. Maybe he was scared.
You’ve got to be kidding!
No, they are cute. I’m not talking about the Franken-foot but the boot. They have pink accents on them.
What is this about?
It got really cold in June and the ferns got frost-bitten.
Skin??
That’s “Bear Skin”, a snow patch on the side of Vandever Mt. which is the right half of Farewell Gap.
Where do you come up with this stuff?
On long hikes. Michael (Trail Guy) makes good coffee and my brain kicks into over-drive.
No more caffeine for you, Young Lady!
I’m fifty-two!
Doesn’t “Nature Trail” sound silly and simple? I’ve pondered it for years and never come up with a better name.
The Nature Trail is about 1 mile long and goes from the upper end of the Cold Springs Campground to the Mineral King Valley.
The trail has a huge variety of things to see – aspen trees, little signs telling about various things along the way, the stream, a variety of flowers, a view of the road, a forested section, a view of Sawtooth, a desert-like area, a view of Timber Gap, and a section that passes through the historic cabins.
Notice I didn’t say I love these companies. (We’re supposed to love people and use things.) In spite of holding back emotionally, these are businesses I would be in a world of hurt without, and I cheerfully pass on the links to you, my readers and friends!
Dick Blick is where I get my art supplies. (I beg you, why would any parent name their child Richard when the last name is Blick??) This company is fantastic in their inventory offerings, deals and customer service. Fantastic, I say!
Vistaprint is my new best friend. They are sooo very generous, so very tempting with all their offers of freebies. I’ve been having a blast designing products to sell and to give as promotional items.
I was despondent when Kodak announced their departure. I have tried to be brave. They have promised to send all my 90-something albums to Shutterfly. The albums have not arrived, but the tempting offers from Shutterfly have. Being a weak and gullible Regional Artist From Quaintsville, I succumbed.
(Trumpet fanfare. . .) There is a new book coming to my studio, primarily to be used for showing my work to potential customers. I have creatively and uniquely titled the book “The Drawings of Jana Botkin”. It should appear here:
Click here to view this photo book on another website. Shutterfly, to be precise. (It will cause you to leave my blog, but you can come back.) Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.
Alrighty then. It didn’t work out exactly as I had hoped. . . As I was saying, I am beginning to really like Shutterfly. I hope they like me back.
Have you heard of a marmot? They are in the same family as rabbits, or maybe rodents. Maybe rabbits and rodents are cousins. (I didn’t take biology in high school because in the ’70s, you could really coast on nothing.)
The first time I heard of a marmot was when I was backpacking in Kings Canyon in about 1974. They only appeared in very high back country, way above timberline. To see one was a thrill.
In Mineral King, they can be like a plague of locusts. They chew on car parts, and they are legion. (That means “a vast host or multitude”.) People try all sorts of things to protect their vehicles. Very little deters these determined creatures.
A number of years ago, The Retired Road Guy left the hood of his pickup raised so he could see when they were assaulting his rig (that’s what he calls his Toyota). A ranger saw that his hood was up and figured that being Road Guy, he must know how to deter marmots. Ever since, lifted hoods are the norm around Mineral King because people think it keeps the marmots out.
It doesn’t help. It gives them easier access. It only helps you see if they are there. (Sometimes it makes car batteries go bad because it leaves a light on for an extended period.)
There are multiple stories of these guys being transported great distances in people’s engine compartments. No first hand experience, no comment.
This is the best way I’ve seen to keep the rotten varmints out of a car:
And this priceless photo is courtesy of Diane Gladieux, a regular reader and commenter on this blog. This is her grandmother great-grandmother. I don’t know the date. around 1910.
I watched my friend Marilyn pet a grouse once, but this takes the cake!
Remember I said that Fridays are for Mineral King? If you don’t care about this place in the Southern Sierra, in Sequoia National Park, you can skip Fridays on my blog. If you only care about Mineral King and don’t give a rodent’s hiney about my art, you can skip Monday through Thursday on my blog. Okay, now everyone knows what is what, so let’s get to Timber Gap. (And welcome to my blog, you 2 hearty hikers from NY – hope you made your plane!)
It looks like this from the Mineral King valley:
A “gap” is a low spot in a ridge of mountains, a place that is the most sensible for crossing over. Sometimes it is called a “pass”.
To get there, you must endure a very steep 1/2 mile of trail with steps (“trail checks”) sized for giraffey people. It is hot, dusty, difficult. Suck it up, no whining, put one foot in front of the other, remember to breathe (if you can), and just get it over with.
There are fine views of the valley if you can focus through your huffy-puffiness:
The trail flattens out and then you are faced with a choice.
You may recall the last time I was on this trail was back in January.
There is more climbing through the groups of trees below and to the right of Timber Gap. This is where a tram used to run, bringing ore down to the stamp mill from the mines on Empire. Here is the remains of the tram tender’s cabin near the top of that second group of trees.
Shortly after breaking out of the trees, you cross a very small stream. If you look up, you can see where the mines were. They are still there, but didn’t produce so are simply interesting historical sites if you feel like scrambling up to see them. I didn’t.
Then you are on a wide open slope that can have great flowers. Probably won’t be great this year. In fact, this year is looking a bit weird. There was a swatch of wild blue flax that usually doesn’t appear until August!
After you’ve finished skipping and singing “The Hills Are Alive”, there is more climbing to do. The top of Timber Gap is about 9600′ (or is it 9700′ or 9800′?) and you must earn it. Here is the view over to the other side.
All the landmarks I might recognize from living in Three Rivers are too far to the left to see. Just saying, in case you were curious like I am about where Moro Rock and Alta Peak are!
Mineral King is a source of much inspiration to me. That is why Fridays are devoted to the subject on a blog that is supposed to be about a California artist.
That is a shamelessly self-promotional title! However, it is also promoting the Silver City Resort, so perhaps “self-promotional” is a bit of an exaggeration.
(happy birthday, Deanne!)
A few weeks ago I posted a list of places that carry my work. Immediately afterward, I took paintings to the Silver City Resort for the summer. (6 years ago right after printing 1000 business cards, I launched my website, so this is normal behavior for me.)
The Silver City Store is located 4 miles below Mineral King. It has a little restaurant and rental cabins. It also has been a good place to meet a future spouse for a great number of its employees. (worked for me)
Currently, they are carrying a number of little regional oil paintings that aren’t very expensive and will fit into travelers’ suitcases. Here are 4 new ones, all oil on wrapped canvas, 4×4″, available at the Silver City Resort. They are animals commonly seen in Mineral King. I’ve photographed these animals zillions of times and only came up with a small handful of paintable photos. Here are some of the best:
Mule Deer Buck
Black Bear – sold
(They are all called this, whether they are brown, blonde, black or cinnamon colored.)
Yellow Bellied Marmot – sold
(These are the dudes that chew on radiator hoses, belts, brake lines, etc.)
Golden Mantle Squirrel – sold
These little guys have a stripe (barely visible on his back) but are distinguishable from a chipmunk because the stripe isn’t on their heads.
If you would like to buy one of these the buck, he is $30, and maybe I can retrieve him before he sells. Alternatively, I can paint you another one, even of a different size.
Now THAT was shameless self-promotion!
Which is your favorite?