Tag: Lake Kaweah

Fascinating and Ugly

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You may recall that there was some serious rain this winter in Three Rivers. I was fascinated by all the rushing water and posted a few times about it in March. March 11, March 12, and March 13. (Probably posted in January and February too, but who wants to chase down all those links?)

One result of that enormous amount of water is that Kaweah Lake filled up very quickly. Now, the Army Corps of Engineers is letting water out as fast as possible to make room for the large amount of anticipated snowmelt. This means we can now walk down at the lake bottom again, and wow, is it ever fascinating and ugly.

Looking upstream from the Slick Rock parking area; Alta Peak is visible with snow on it and Blossom Peak has three points on the far right.

Normally when the lake is this low, this gate is open and we drive farther down. Not this time.

There’s a culvert beneath our feet here. It had to be roaring through to create this canyon.

The water is still flowing through the culvert; that is Highway 198 above.

Somebody was here when the mud was still squishy.

Driftwood galore.

So many layers of different types of dirt: silt, fine sand, coarse sand, all so thick.

It started getting a little squishy.

Look how deep this stuff is!

Too bad backhoes and trucks can’t come get this for fill on all the washed out roads, for future sandbags, and just to allow the lake to hold more water. But this is owned by the government, which isn’t exactly known for practical thinking or helpful practices.

Weirdly fascinating, definitely ugly. Life in Three Rivers can be so varied and interesting; if one must live in Tulare County, I vote for Three Rivers (although Exeter is an awfully nice town if you like town living, I dearly loved living in Lemon Cove, and Springville is quite beautiful in springtime.)

Tomorrow we will wash our eyes out with some wildflowers.

A post about walking on the lake bottom in March of 2020 is here. . . scroll down for the lake pictures.

Kaweah Lake Lake Kaweah

Sunny Afternoon

Sometimes, I just take time off. In spite of the upcoming art show Still Here rescheduled from January 2022 to April 2021, it was too clear and beautiful to just stay indoors to work one afternoon last week.

Trail Guy and I headed to Lake Kaweah on the lower end of Three Rivers or the upper end of Lemon Cove, which is still very low and not very green. However, it is spacious, outdoors, and not crowded. Sometimes I engage in the pointless mental exercise of trying to decide if it is an ugly beauty or a beautiful ugliness down there.

Across the river there were 3 cowboys on horseback with a dog, all trying to convince a big black bull to get out of the river and go back to his home on the range. I was slow on the shutter so you’ll have to take my word for the bull.

This is Slick Rock.

Mustard in bloom and cockleburs up close; Alta Peak in the distance with new snow.

We often find a peculiar sight or two on the lake bottom.

What? Let’s look a little more closely.

PVC pipes, with holes in them, spray painted with brown and green, with a concrete weight on the bottom. I give up.

If we could tip this upright, you could see it is some sort of a pedestal. There used to be homes and a motel down here, so there are all sorts of leftovers from that era.

Enough! Back to work, Central California Artist.

Lake Kaweah Three Rivers

A Day of Variety

Sometimes it is a little hard to work from home. There are many other things requesting attention, opportunities to be productive in other ways, chances to just lollygag around or find other occupations. Last week I had such a day.

It began with wandering outside while drinking coffee and seeing a bit of pruning, and then finding Tucker in my herb garden.

See why I want to be outside this time of year?

Notice that these flowers are in the primary colors.

Next, I made plans with a friend for a walk at the lake early in the afternoon, and that made me willing to dive back into work, knowing my time was limited to paint. Sometimes deadlines help me to focus.

This was dry enough to begin detailing until it was time to gather up my friend and head to Kaweah Lake. (Oh-oh, I can’t remember if it is Kaweah Lake or Lake Kaweah again; what’s with the mental block on this subject? This may be why we’ve always called it “The Lake”.) We just walked in the lake bottom, not close to the lake except where it covered the pretty bridge.

The lake level is rising slowly. We walked to beneath the Horse Creek Bridge, and the mustard was striking.

After our walk, I was able to paint a bit longer on the Mineral King cabin oil painting commission. I think I can get even more detailed on this, but it needs to dry a bit more.

And thus we conclude a day of work combined with distractions.

cabin painting Kaweah Lake Lake Kaweah Mineral King oil painting Three Rivers

Kaweah Lake Oil Painting

Yesterday I doubted whether anyone would be interested in oil paintings of Kaweah Lake, which led to an email correspondence with a friend who has a friend who just might be interested. I sent this photo to her of the most recent (and only) painting I have of Lake Kaweah, Kaweah Lake, or as we say around here, “The Lake”.

The Lake, oil on wrapped canvas, 4×6″, $50

While looking for my photo of The Lake, I realized that I’ve painted it quite a few times. Why didn’t I remember? Because I have so many other subjects crowding it out of the limited space in my top-of-mind memory.

P. S. It’s official – Lake Kaweah, not Kaweah Lake. Thank you SD!

Kaweah Lake Lake Kaweah

Field Trip

Last Sunday afternoon, we drove down to Lake Kaweah to go walking among the cockleburs. I think the dam was built in 1962 or ’63, so I don’t remember a time when it wasn’t there.

It is sort of ugly, but interesting at the same time. There are nicer places to walk in Three Rivers, but variety is a good thing. Keeps you and your brain from settling into a rut, something my paternal grandmother preferred to call a “groove”, which she said made for smoother travel.

There are old home sites and even a former swimming pool. A metal detector might yield some interesting results.

The bridge is interesting with its styling in the concrete. It crosses Horse Creek.

We followed Horse Creek for awhile. Not much to it, but it became messy, so we went back to the road and followed it into a flock of red-wing blackbirds. Raucous critters. The mallards and snowy egrets are quieter. We encountered another bridge across Horse Creek and headed back. The flower is mustard.This was a field trip just for fun, not for work. I don’t think there is anything pretty enough down there to paint, although a view of Alta Peak and Moro Rock with the lake in the foreground might appeal to a few folks. Minus the cockleburs. . .

Kaweah Lake Lake Kaweah

‘Sploring

Sometimes I am just amazed (there’s an overused word!) at the places there are to discover here in Three Rivers. Today Michael and I parked at the uppermost marina on Kaweah Lake (or is it Lake Kaweah?) and went walking upstream. This is an area that only recently became part of the lake, due to the raising of the dam about 4 years ago. There were profuse yellow flowers, most likely mustard.

Looking downstream toward Slick Rock.

Mustard?

The elephant was visible. This might make a nice painting.

That is some tall mustard!

Looking upstream toward Blossom Peak and Crystal Hill might also make a nice painting.

This would make a nice painting. I might use this foreground and substitute Blossom or Alta in the background.

This is cool but makes me sad. Wouldn’t it just be the worst to lose your home? All the area where we were exploring used to have homes, and they got eminent domained for the raising of the dam. Sigh.

Kaweah River Lake Kaweah Three Rivers

The Canoe and The Elephant

This is our view when transporting the canoe. Can you see the elephant in the distance?

We put in at Slick Rock and paddled upstream awhile for a better view of the elephant.

Ever wonder what Slick Rock looks like up close? (Sorry, no elephant in it)

The reason we were able to put in at Slick Rock is because the recent storms raised the level of Lake Kaweah significantly. (The elephant is behind us now.)

That is the Horse Creek Bridge in the background. We’ve never paddled up Horse Creek before, because normally we only have the opportunity to canoe when the water level is too low for that area.