This will be a long blog post in two or three parts, because there is much to show and much to tell. The main thing you probably want to know is if you can drive to Mineral King. If you have a cabin at Silver City or Cabin Cove and have a smallish vehicle and are a careful driver, then yes. Otherwise, no.
On Friday, June 9, Trail Guy (currently Road Guy), the Farmer, Hiking Buddy, and I went up the Mineral King Road. Road Guy and the Farmer spent 3 days working on the road, and they invited The Wives to accompany them to see how things were progressing.
The assignment for these two determined and intrepid volunteers was “passable and marked”; this was a little hard on Road Guy who took pride in keeping that road in top shape before he was retired. However, the road. . . sigh. Never mind. “Passable and marked” is a tremendous improvement over washed out, collapsed, piled with boulders, tree messes, mud slides, etc.
They couldn’t begin until the County had the lower parts passable. Once that was done, the Farmer and Road Guy made their way up to the rented backhoe which had been stranded at Lookout since the February storms.
Lest you forget, Road Guy and former roads supervisor volunteered the first 2 weeks of February working with that backhoe to clean out culverts, establish some berms, and get the road somewhat passable. Then the February and March storms came, and it was a very good thing that they had done that prep work. It saved the road. (DO NOT TELL ME I AM EXAGGERATING—instead, pat those guys on the back!)
Alrighty then, let’s begin our tour.
The County Section
Remember the blowout at mile 4.5? It now has a wall and a bridge of planks.
Here is the second washout at SkyHook. The fill has begun; those are gabion baskets on the left and the road will be filled up to the level of the top of those.
The Park
This is above Lookout: passable and marked.
Road Guy said they had been watching that boulder above the road for many years, speculating that all it needed was a little nudge to drop to the road.
See the notch where it was?
Narrow and scary but passable and marked.
It rained very hard the night before and there were new deep mud slicks across the road. Road Guy had his doubts for a brief moment about whether or not we would be able to cross those messes. The trick was to lock in the hubs, then keep rolling, don’t stop.
Narrow, but passable and marked.
A closer look.
Coming to Redwood Canyon, narrow, passable, marked, and look at the next mess!
A “tree mess” is a tangle of multiple trees and roots, unlike a single tree lying across the road.
The creek at Redwood is roaring. First time I remember ever actually hearing it.
These are redwood cones (not to be confused with pine cones or traffic cones.)
Look how many trees were involved in this tree mess.
The mountains beyond, in case you were wondering how things looked.
It is rare to see what the needles of a sequoia tree look like because they are usually many feet above one’s head. (Sequoia=redwood=Big Tree)
We finally made it to the backhoe where it was parked the day before at Cabin Cove. Fancy!
And I got a little demonstration of all the levers and tricks. Road Guy is skilled, experienced, knowledgeable and capable.
Of course I climbed up and sat in the throne. Intimidating piece of equipment.
This has gone on long enough. Tomorrow I will show you what this impressive machine did under the guidance of the very capable Road Guy, all for no pay, all to serve the needs of the Silver City Store and all the cabin folks, and we hope (but do not know yet), the public.
24 Comments
Thankyou Jana, Road Guy and Farmer. Your dedication to the Mineral King experience is very much appreciated and the information is priceless. Looking forward to your next posting and hoping that access to the MK valley and cabins will be in the cards this year by Labor Day this fall.
Bill, thank you for checking in. I am unsure about further postings on Mineral King this summer while it is closed to the public.
I’m sorry that the Mineral King campgrounds are unlikely to reopen this year. At least I have your Mineral King calendar to remind me of the beauty of Mineral King until I can return!
Thank you, Mark. I too am sorry. It seems that “stay safe” is what rules most decisions these days instead of allowing folks to make their own decisions to assume a risk.
Oh so many thanks to Road guy he has been a wonderful help always and thank you to Farmer also! Mom and Dad would be fascinated by the damage this last year and your wonderful report Jana! Thank you so much! Jeanne Sandidge Moye
Jeanne, seeing the damage was weirdly fascinating. I also have enjoyed seeing the extra wildflowers, the odd phenomenon of grass growing through asphalt, and water flowing in every drainage the entire way up the road. Thank you for checking in!
Loved reading this!
Thank you, Barbara! Your guests on Thursday stood your cabin sign back up.
This visual aid helped me come to a decision to cancel my 8/11-8/13 backpacking to Franklin Lakes. NPS SEKI wilderness office sent an email to permit holders hoping Mineral King Road will open sometime in July. After looking through your photos, it doesn’t seem possible. Besides, Cold Springs and Atwell Mill campgrounds are not taking summer reservations due to the winter storm havoc. Let us know if you the extent of damages to these two campgrounds. I may attempt to reschedule in fall season. Very much appreciate all involved to the clean-up and rebuild. Thanks!
Phuong, thank you for reading and commenting. The last word we have on the campgrounds is that they will not be open at all this year. Your best bet is to keep reading the NPS site, since they will know their decisions quicker than I will.
Thank you Jana for this update. And a super shout out to Road Guy, Farmer, and Hiking Buddy for all their hard work and effort.
JERE! Hi. Welcome. Thank you for commenting, and I will pass along your shouts.
Thanks for the update.
Thank you for commenting, Lori. I will try to keep people current.
Jana this is priceless! Road guy is a great asset to us all! He has helped for as long as I can rremember and was a favorite person of my Papa Harvey. As always many thanks!
Aw shucks, thank you, Anonymous! Road Guy is truly an asset to the community, with his skills, work ethic, connection to the Park, and love of Mineral King.
Yay for Road Guy and Crew! Love and appreciate the pictures. I posted a link to this Part-1-in-a-series in our Facebook Group and website, as I know many people are anxious to know how things are progressing.
Now, on to Part 2!
Thank you, Sharon! Might bring me a handful of followers who only want to learn about Mineral King. Maybe they will eventually want paintings of the place.
Thank you!!! And thank Road Guy for his extraordinary efforts (love) for Mineral King.
Donna, thank you for reading and commenting!
Thank you for the road tour! Best news I have had in a while. I look forward to the next installment!
Kristina Roper Graber
Three Rivers
Kristina, you are most welcome! This was a three part series, but today I accumulated new photos and information for new developments to the story.
Thank you for this. Michael must be in heaven!
Brad, once Michael is settled into the cabin, he will be almost in heaven. When I am able to join him, then he will be. 😎
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