White Chief

Are you ready to see some Mineral King footage that isn’t a road report or a show/sale report? We had the pleasure of hiking to White Chief with Hiking Buddy and The Farmer on Sunday, July 1.

Someone moved White Chief farther away than last year. They also tilted the trail to a steeper angle. I hate that.

It was a perfect day for a hike.
The Languid Ladies/Sierra Bluebells were still thick, normally only seen in late May and early June.
The bitter cherry were thick.
Bitter cherry blossoms.
Spring Creek was roaring, and we were thankful the bridge had been installed.
This was one of the unknown blues in the Blue/Purple chapter of Mineral King Wildflowers.
One of the well-loved White Chief junipers.
Discreet Creek (who named it that?) was flowing steadily for a change.

Trail Guy and the Farmer were well ahead of Hiking Buddy and me.
Lots of water in the first level area of White Chief. My feet lasted about 15 seconds in it.

We love this place.
The pointed peak is Mineral Peak, AKA Sawtooth’s Shadow.

Watching Paint Dry

When I show paintings in progress on my blog, they don’t cause people to comment. Comments are fun for a blogger, show that people are reading and care enough to say something, and provide a way for a bit of interaction. When I talk about places I walk or hike and show photos, the comments come in more often.

Funny how that works – it is more enjoyable for my readers to see where I walk and what I see than to watch paint dry.

So, today there will be a little bit of drying paint, and a little bit of scenery.

2 in progress
3 drying

Since switching to Spectrum, there is no longer a telephone in the painting workshop (or in my studio, but that is a very long, annoying and boring tale). So maybe it is time to erase the phone #s on the chalkboard. But this is long and boring and annoying, and I’ve promised you other photos.

The top of Blossom Peak as seen from a friend’s driveway. I want to go there but don’t know a good route. Besides, I have waited a bit too long. The grasses are tall so they hide the footing, and the snakes might be out. Next January, perhaps?

The 2 left points of Blossom. It has 3 parts as you can see in the next photo.
Like the power lines? Phone lines? Whatevs, the point is to see the 3 points.
Looking upstream on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.
Looking downstream from the same bridge.
Just loving the green with the fiddlenecks and popcorn flowers.

That was just a regular Three Rivers walk on a popular road for walkers. A friend who lives below Blossom Peak had neck surgery and has to walk a certain distance each day in a flat place. She got tired of circling her house, so I brought her to a flat place near my house to get in her steps. The pace was much slower than my regular morning walks, the light was much brighter, and it made everything look even prettier than normal.

There. Aren’t you glad you made it through the paint drying session?

Mineral King in January

It might be springlike in Three Rivers in January, but it is winter in Mineral King. Trail Guy made a day trip up there to check out the snow and the cabins. The photos look almost like black and white; I’m into green more than into white so I went walking up Salt Creek that day.

From the top of Endurance Grade.
The classic view
Yea! Snow.

Spring in January

When we have had rain and the sun is out in January in Central California, it seems like spring. Sure, we think it is cold out, but compared to places with real winter, this is very springlike.

On a walk while visiting my friend, AKA The Captain, this was our view.
Look at this classic barn, still in use, not leaning over.
Same neighborhood, this barn is both retired and tired.
And here is another barn, very picturesque. Wooden barns beat metal barns or pole barns for paintability and photogenicness. (Is there a real word that means that?)
There are several streams in this area of the Central California foothills, which is about 1000 feet higher than Three Rivers.
Gotta dig this unit out before a horse eats it and dies. Horses are fragile creatures with delicate digestive systems. (Seems that way to this non-cowgirl. . . )
Ernie is beautiful, but a little bit rude to me, except when I am feeding him little pieces of peppermint. When I feed him hay, he jerks it out of my arms before I can drop or throw it. Rude.
The chickens are not rude; they provide lots of eggs (not the rooster, of course, because he provides beauty and noise.)
These paperwhites are blooming profusely in my yard back home in Three Rivers. See? Spring in January!

Chasing the Big Trees and Dogwoods

We (Trail Guy, Hiking Buddy, and Mr. Hiking Buddy) joined in with the madding crowd (I don’t know what “madding” actually means, but I liked the book and the movies “Far From the Madding Crowd”) and visited the main part of Sequoia National Park.

I wanted to see the dogwoods in their autumn colors and gather more photos of the big trees, AKA Sequoia Gigantea AKA Redwoods (Redwood High School, Class of ’77, yea for us). It was a fun day, but also smoky and crowded up there.

Smoky – this mess is coming over a ridge or two from a lightning fire in the Camp Nelson area.

Dogwood is a tree that blesses us twice – flowers in spring, colored leaves in fall. This is by the Crystal Cave Road.

Crescent Meadow

A fallen giant next to a midget man.

We walked on top of it and the midget man became Trail Guy, who helped us get down off of the big tree.

Woodpeckers go after redwood trees??

Tharp’s Log as it appeared when we approached it from a different trail.

I’ve painted this fence (not itself, but oil paintings of it) several times.

This big tree fell recently and its roots landed on a boulder.

This is the brightest one we saw.

It is tricky to find colored dogwood with redwood trees nearby, good sunlight, and a turnout off the road all together.

The colors were brighter in person.

Dogwood berries?

Remember to contact me if you bought a 2019 calendar in person – if you bought it through the website, I have your info already.

Closing the Cabin in Mineral King

We usually choose a weekend in the middle of October to close our cabin for the season. The date is not weather based, but instead it is based on what fits our schedule, that of our neighbors, and how badly we just want to put away our duffle bags for the year and STAY HOME.

The weekend of Oct. 12-14 was our last weekend up the hill for the year. The road isn’t closed yet, and there may even still be water in the campgrounds. Silver City’s last day is October 27. The autumn colors were still present during our final stay, and the air was clear and nippy in the shade.

 

P.S. Remember the Harvest Festival tomorrow at the Lemon Cove Womans Club from 10-4!

More Mineral King Fun in August

August isn’t the most beautiful month in Mineral King but it might be the busiest in  terms of visitation. Who can blame folks for wanting to escape the heat of the flatlands?

There are cone flowers in my neighborhood. This is one of the yellow flowers that doesn’t look exactly like all the others (but looks close if it hasn’t yet matured into a cone-head.)

This is an iron spring, not to be confused with Soda Springs (although the water tastes just as bad.) It is just a different name for the same phenomenon.

An artifact – part of an old bedframe. . . I can hear the voice now, “Henry, I’m NOT sleeping in the woods unless you bring my bed!”

Trail Guy found another artifactual bedframe. What’s the deal? A Mineral King Motel 6?

I FOUND A NEW FLOWER!! This one is called Grass of Parnassus. Excuse me? Who is Parnassus and why is this lovely little white bowl called a “grass”?

Always looks better in person but I thought you’d enjoy a little evening light.

My neighbor told me that he loves the view from the pay phone in the parking lot in the evening. Bruce, this photo is for you.

Hi Maxine.

And in case you were wondering how my favorite bridge looks in August, here is a recent photo.

The Oak Grove Bridge on the Mineral King road.

Mineral King: 1 Hike, 2 Canyons

Last week we took in the 2 best canyons, White Chief and Farewell, with a friend on one long mostly off-trail day. The flowers were spectacular.

 

The lupine were at their peak.

Almost there – a steep climb. The fit folks would say “just a short hop over the ridge”. The sort of fit would say, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” The unfit wouldn’t even be present. (Putting it this way makes me feel better about my own personal struggles in the fight against gravity.)

The wildflowers were truly stunning on the south side of Farewell Canyon where the old route is.

The photos never do the real scene justice; however, I bet your legs aren’t sore.

Early Season in White Chief Canyon

Trail Guy’s favorite place to hike is White Chief. Mine too. I wasn’t there for this hike, but he graciously and eagerly shared his photos with me to share with you.

Oops. This is from a hike up toward Timber Gap, not White Chief. White Chief shows in the distance.

Phlox, also from the Timber Gap hike.

The square top is White Chief peak.

This is a scene I painted over the winter, but with lots more color, mostly greens.

Several friends have taught us to be on the lookout for heart shaped rocks. Trail Guy has gotten very good at spotting them.

Western Wallflower

A marmot, probably fixing to do an ear-splitting shriek of a chirp.

What’s hiding in the rocks?

Today’s painting is for sale:

White Chief III, 11×14″, oil on wrapped canvas, $275