August is a busy month for cabin folks in Mineral King. The first weekend of the month is full of meetings and reunions. 

We also got rain, lots of wonderful soaking rain. Look how green it is!!

Since all the willows were pruned for fire prevention, I noticed new rocks that had escaped me for many years. This is Big Rock, so I guess that smaller one must be Little Rock. Or Small Rock.

The asters were thick along the road as I walked down to attend a meeting.

I saw a butterfly I’ve never noticed before.

I love this view at the top of Endurance Grade but either the water or the distant peaks are overexposed in every photo. This time I chose to let the water look all white so that you can see the peaks. Farewell Gap is out of the photo, to the right.

We listened to the superintendent of Sequoia National Park at the meeting. There were many many questions about fires. There were more people behind me and also to my right, but I like to protect people’s identities here on the World Wide Web. Some of these people we only see every handful of years, which makes it difficult to recognize faces and remember names. Good thing that Trail Guy and I never change, eh?

I rode up the hill with my friend Sharon, who drives fast, and down the hill with my friend Karen, who drives slow. Driving fast meant we got there sooner; driving slow meant we spotted scarlet monkey flower, something I’ve only seen once in memory. Both trips were fun, a time to visit with dear friends, friendships based in Mineral King which have grown closer through many years of occasional visits, layer upon layer.

Next Friday I will tell you a little bit about life as part of the community of Mineral King.