Isn’t this the loveliest swimming hole you’ve seen?? Of course this is at the end of the season, but oh my!
Mini Vacation
This morning I had a very long walk. Eleven miles long. Really! It was beautiful – see?
When we arrived at our destination, this was waiting for us to soak our tired selves in:
There was a great lady there awaiting our arrival, and after our soak, she drove us home. After I got home, it felt as if I had been on vacation and I never left Three Rivers! It took some discipline to focus on the easels and the oil paintings after that little respite. However, work did happen. These oil paintings are either newly finished or still in progress. You may not be able to discern the progress, but the bridges are gradually moving toward the end.
And what are those little paintings there on the window sill? new subjects? Not oranges or pomegranates or poppies? Wow!
Time Out
In The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, she insists that field trips are very important to cultivating creativity. Yesterday, I took her advice (or was I using it as an excuse to mess around instead of work?) Have you ever heard of the Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno? I’ve been wanting to visit since 1978 but just haven’t. The gardens get closed from time to time for renovation, and when they are open, I am usually in Mineral King. Yesterday, I finally got to see this incredible place! http://www.undergroundgardens.info/ I can’t wait to go back (wish they rented it out for overnight stays!)
Gathering visual information
Michael and I hiked to the upper Monarch Lake. It is about 5.5 miles – the first mile and a quarter is steep and hot and dusty with giant steps up that just suck the juice right out of your legs. 
The Bigelow Sneezeweed are at their peak in August, as are the Gentian. 
The next 4 miles are on a beautifully graded trail with a flat trailbed; the trail actually has a few too many (unnecessary) switchbacks. It takes you well above Timber Gap, and it was a bit smoky from the California wildfires.
The last 3/4 mile is Find-Your-Own-Way.
Upper Monarch Lake is one of the four lakes out of Mineral King with a dam on it. It was constructed in 1905, well before the well-graded trail was ever built (but you can bet it was thought of with great longing by those hard-working men!) The peak is Mineral Peak; it is the one some guy kept trying to convince me was Homer’s Nose while I was painting the mural.
We went up one way from lower Monarch to upper Monarch; it wasn’t very easy. We came down a different way that included quite a bit of meandering and backtracking; it was much easier and rather interesting.
See what we found? We left it there. Pity the guy who had to hike down on a non-trail missing a sole!
Those Bridges again
I just can’t help myself when it comes to these bridges – the arches, the stonework, oh my. I’ll let you know when they are finished.
Too Much Beauty?
One of my favorite authors is John Eldredge. In Journey of Desire, he writes this about beauty:“We need not fear indulging here. The experience of beauty is unique to all the other pleasures in this: there is no possessive quality to it. Just because you love the landscape doesn’t mean you have to acquire the real estate. Simply to behold the flower is enough; there is nothing in me that wants to consume it. Beauty is the closest thing we have to fullness without possessing on this side of eternity. “Try to grasp these two huge ideas:1. You simply cannot have too much beauty. It is one thing where you do not have to worry about overindulging. It isn’t illegal, immoral or fattening, although it might be addicting! If so, it is definitely a healthy addiction. 2. You don’t have to own, accumulate or acquire anything to appreciate beauty. It can be found almost anywhere, and no credit card is required! ONE FINAL CLOSING THOUGHT: This too comes from a John Eldredge book. Of course we long for beauty! Our original home was the Garden of Eden!
Sunny Sequoias IX – oil on wrapped canvas – 16 x 20 – $320
Just walking?
In case you were wondering, hiking is not “just walking”. Yes, in theory you are doing the same motion of putting one foot in front of the other. However, you are doing it on a steep slope, often with weight on your back and at altitude! I walk between 30 and 40 miles a week, and sometimes hiking still makes me sore. (hate to think how I’d feel if I didn’t walk so much!) So, here are some photos of some of last week’s excursions for you to enjoy.
This is the Nature Trail, which Phoebe thinks is boring, probably because it is the closest to “just walking” of any trail in Mineral King. I like it because of the variety of flowers and trees – these aspens are possibly my favorite part of the trail.
Marmots are an integral part of the MK experience. In May and June they gnaw on car parts; by July they have calmed down; in August they hardly appear at all!
We fill Phoebe’s head with all sorts of information that is a little boring at age 15 but we all hope it will be appreciated in a few years. (She uses my daypack because of the Dork Factor associated with fanny packs.) She and Michael have climbed this rock outcropping of Empire a couple of times. (I wait below, because just as hiking is not just walking, climbing is not just hiking!)
Crystal Lakes are probably the least visited of all the lakes out of MK. The lower Crystal is one of 4 lakes with a dam, built by the Mt. Whitney Power Company in 1911. Getting there is an accomplishment – there are 3 very steep pulls in the 5.5 miles to the lake! Of course we had to complicate things by climbing to the ridge above the lake so that we could possibly climb down to Monarch Lake, also with a dam.
There was too much snow on the north side of that ridge, so we climbed around seeking a route down, then enjoyed the view of upper Monarch Lake and headed back down to Crystal instead of making the loop. The snow doesn’t show in this photo, but it was there, blocking our route of choice.
Here are 2 views of the trail on the way back down to MK.
On another day, we saw a pair of fawns and their mother. We waited a 1/2 hour for them to get comfortable with our presence across the canyon and I took a number of mediocre photos. Here is the best, but only 1 fawn shows (sort of).
After it seemed as if we had hiked a zillion miles, we came to this sign that said we had 4 more to go! According to my Garmin Forerunner, it was fairly close to the truth. That is Timber Gap in the background.
Some books call this a tiger lily; some call it a leopard lily. Because of its spots, I tend to think the latter name is more appropriate. Regardless of the name, you can smell it before you see it!
Spring in the land of No Electricity
There are people who write books for artists on how to jump start, boost or enhance creativity. Almost all of them say it is important to get away from the studio, have a change of scenery, try new things, go outside. Mineral King isn’t a new experience for me, but it certainly is a change from everyday life over the past 6 months. Most people don’t get the opportunity to see it this early in the season, so I will just show you some photos instead of yapping on and on, like some horrid Ankle-biter.
The Bridges of Tulare County
Since THE WALL, other subjects have taken a back seat. While I await the abatement of this little heat wave, the subject of bridges has re-emerged. On my way to THE WALL one morning, I detoured a bit to enjoy spring in the countryside around Exeter and discovered another bridge. I’ve crossed it many times, but only approached it from the east a few times so hadn’t noticed its graceful lines. Perhaps there are more than just the 3 beautiful bridges in Tulare County! (and did I ever say Congratulations, Stan Coffelt, for successfully naming all three!???) Here is bridge #4:
This crosses the St. Johns River on the south side of Venice Hill. It isn’t as dramatic as the other 3, but it definitely has style.
Bridges
On last Monday when we got back to the truck, I pulled out my real camera and got a photo of this odd little footbridge. It is simply a thick wooden beam with a handrail over a rather deep ravine that has a shockingly large culvert pipe for such a remote place and small stream. Got me to thinking about bridges as subject matter. An aside: this bridge is a little too weird-looking to draw or paint because it would look like artist error to depict such a narrow walking part; some things make sense strictly because they are photos but don’t translate into art because of the strangeness! Anyway, a drawing student (Hi Bob!) told me awhile back that he wanted to draw a bridge. I realized that there are 3 beautiful bridges in Tulare County, and the rest are merely functional. (Can anyone out there name the three? First person to do so can have one of my reproduction prints of one of them!!) There are probably numerous footbridges that are quite picturesque, but many of them are on private property or in remote places. Why do we like to look at bridges so much? Any thoughts? I am sure it has to do with all the symbolism of bridging gaps, being bridges over troubled water, and all those cliches, but any other ideas? Do you collect bridge pictures? Do you notice bridges? Why are they so interesting? (or is it just me. . . often that is the case. . . sigh.)