Mineral King on Friday

Shall we conclude the tale of our White Chief hike?

Trail Guy thought it would be fun to go down on the other side of the canyon rather than follow the trail. I will now begin referring to him as Off Trail Guy. It was really hard. My hiking buddy and I got giddy silly, and I fell down laughing. Actually I fell because it is tricky to pick a route and pick footing, especially when there are long grasses covering the rocks. Off Trail Guy and my hiking buddy managed to remain vertical; my buddy’s husband fell once. He probably wasn’t laughing. If my buddy wasn’t with me, I might have been scared. She is very brave. We stopped several times to take cool pictures (and to regroup and perhaps to cuss Off Trail Guy).

Oh no. Not ANOTHER unknown yellow flower!
Pink leaves. A diversion.
Swirly rock. Another diversion.
We came down THAT, the left side of the canyon as one looks up. The real trail is on the right side.
My favorite Explorer’s Gentian is hanging on and looks striking among its frost-damaged yellow leaves.

Holy guacamole, it was a 9+ mile day, much of it off trail. My hiking buddy and I came up with a rating system, 1 being on a flat trail or maybe even a sidewalk, and 10 being not speaking to our husbands for a week. Off Trail Guy GUARANTEED this was a 5; it was 8.5. Hmmm. . .

Only 1/4 mile left to go. I love me some flat trail that pulls me along, and green might be my favorite color while hiking.

We learned that Off Trail Guy rates trails differently than we do. We learned that we can laugh our way through difficulties. We learned another way to not come home from White Chief. And we learned that we have a strong friendship, not bruised by difficult routes.

Mineral King on Thursday?

. . . the saga of a busy Labor Day weekend continues. “Saga” may be an overblown word, but it is fun to use.

There are never enough hiking days, nor is there enough desire to get my hiney moving every time I go up the hill. I feel the calendar shrinking, and decided it was time to fulfill my desire to see the upper part of White Chief this year. There were 4 of us on the hike; one had a bowl of Cheerios, another had a bowl of Crankios, 2 of us had normal food, and we set off.

Within the first mile, we encountered these energetic folks from Ukraine, now Los Angeles. They did Great Big Hikes THREE DAYS IN A ROW! That included climbing Mineral Peak. . . very impressive. They also taught us that our name, Botkin, is famous in Ukraine because jaundice is called “Botkin’s Disease”. Nice, eh?

Mineral Peak
These cabin ruins at the beginning of White Chief canyon had something to do with John Crabtree. I know a man by that name, but he’s not related. That’s okay, because I’m not related to jaundice either.
White Chief as it appears from my position of semi-collapse among the Crabtree cabin ruins.
This Lodgepole pine is leaning from an avalanche, and its branches look like little trees (with a little red fir showing 2nd from the left on the other side.)
Trail Guy went to the falls to refill our water bottles near where the trail crosses the creek. (We live dangerously and are probably overconfident about what water we drink while out on the trails.)
Looking back down over the lower canyon from the trail among the mines, caves and tunnels.
See? mines and tunnels and caves!
Yep, this is the trail. It isn’t scary to me, but I am better at up than down.
See? caves! Be careful. . . Yes, I know, duh.
Trail Guy shared a laugh with some Bay Area cavers who thought they knew secrets that Trail Guy didn’t about White Chief.
This is at the top of the canyon, a peaceful place I love when the mosquitoes aren’t around. They weren’t around on September 2.
I put my feet in the water and then looked down the line of my hiking buddies, as we ate our lunches together in this lovely hard-earned spot.
HEY! This is a miniature Grass of Parnassus!

To be continued tomorrow. . .

Various Things in Mineral King

Happy Birthday, Judy-o!!

This month I am spending a large chunk of time just goofing off instead of working. This means I don’t have much to post about in terms of my art business. But, does anyone care? And is it necessary to post five days a week, as is my habit?  It isn’t Friday, and yet I’m going on and on about Mineral King. Again, I ask “does anyone care”?

I do. I care. Been doing this blog for over ten years, five days a week, and not gonna stop now. Nope. Not.

So there.

This is similar to the view I drew in pencil earlier this summer, but 30 years later.
Horses seem to be all about dust, flies, and manure.
Because of this guy, I began teaching drawing lessons in 1994. Thank you, Steven!!
Cabins require maintenance.
Standard scene. Yawn. Just another day in Paradise.
A juniper tree along the trail.
Ever heard of Western Eupatorium? Glad to be of service in enhancing your wildflower knowledge.
Weird horse (but at least it isn’t sticking out its tongue).
Who are these guys?? Some people work at their cabins; others just hang around waiting for Happy Hour. We love and appreciate our cabin neighbors.
That weirdness on the Red Fir branch is a type of mistletoe that grows on conifers.
We admired our neighbor’s radio because it worked beautifully, unlike the THREE that are in our cabin and HE GAVE IT TO US!!! See? Great neighbors all around. I’ve never heard of this brand, but wow, I am impressed! Talk radio, Giants baseball, and music all come in clearly.

Lingering Wildflowers in Mineral King

I’ve spent more time in Mineral King than home working in August so the subject needs Friday as well as Monday next week.

Mineral King’s wildflowers peak in July, but there are still beautiful sights in August.

This dude is too busy to notice the stellar jay feather. He is a Lodgepole chipmunk.
Trail Guy on the Franklin/Farewell trail.
Yo, Bucky.
The flowers at the Franklin/Farewell trail junction are fading, but Bigelow Sneezeweed is still going strong.
We accompanied our good friend on the first four miles of her week-long backpack trip.

This girl can step out, even wearing a backpack that probably tops 45 lbs. I had to focus to stay on her 6, carrying my 4 lb. day pack. How embarrassing. When we got to the Trail Junction (affectionately known as the “Wildflower Cafe”), we had a snack, and then I announced that I had gone as far as I wanted to go.

I came to see some Explorer’s Gentian, and they did not disappoint.

They make the Sierra Gentian look boring by contrast. (Or perhaps my photos do that.)

Crystal Creek is slow and low.

Eight was enough miles for the day. We got back to the cabin before the sky opened up, and I got more knitting done. (Our friend probably was at her destination, hunkered down in her tent.)

It’s getting wet out there.

Mineral King Wildflowers

Because I went coastal last week, I don’t have any new stories to tell about my crazy life in Mineral King. (not truly crazy, just me exaggerating. . .)

Instead, here are 10 photos of Mineral King wildflowers for you to enjoy.

Swamp onion
Penstemon
Crimson columbine
Indian paintbrush
Giant blazing star
Kelley’s leopard lily
Coneflower
Swamp onion again
Mountain Pride (or Pride of the Mountains, depending on which book you read.)
Pennyroyal

Do you have a favorite? Do you know any of these by different names?

Another Post About Mineral King

Perhaps I should only write about Mineral King because it is the most popular topic.

Nah. . . this website is expensive, so it needs to contain things about my business. But today is Friday, and Fridays are for Mineral King posts (when I have something to show and tell).

The reddish areas are not burned trees; it is borate, a fire retardant.

When I drove up the hill on Tuesday, July 24, there was a huge lit sign at the bottom of the road saying that there was a fire 15 miles up the road and that no backpacking permits would be issued. It looked like a nothing-burger, but I am very very glad that the Park was suppressing it with all their available resources, because who knows what those bad boy fires do when crawling along the ground, or smoldering in roots?

That evening, we strolled over the bridge and admired the evening light. 

The plan was to visit some neighbor-friends, and if we were lucky, maybe we’d get to hear them play some music. Jazz isn’t normally my musical choice, but these guys were magical together. This is a father with his 2 sons, and I was sure they were reading one another’s minds! 

This is how things looked on the stroll back home. 

A day or so later, we spotted this Model A in the parking lot, and turned out it was someone’s that we know. I took a few photos for him on the bridge, a tricky business with a little bit of traffic, plus the dark shadows and bright light in the background. This was the best of the bunch. 

Then, while visiting some other neighbor-friends, one of them pointed out that “Bearskin”, the patch of snow on the side of Vandever, is looking less like the skin of a bear and more like a rooster this summer. 

We hiked to the lower part of White Chief with some friends. One of them is an entomologist and pointed out this beautiful bug. I said that a pair would make nice earrings, and she said that some company actually does make earrings out of their wings! 

White Chief canyon, after the super steep climbing is over.
Swamp onion near the little pond, its glory fading. . .
Three hiking buddies, a privilege to share the trail with.
I don’t know why Trail Guy is sticking his hands in the water that is flowing toward the little pond.
Oh no! Another unknown yellow flower!
The tail end of the summer’s peak. There is plenty of summer left, but the flowers are over their stunning best.

More Action-Packed Mineral King Days

Last week in Mineral King, Trail Guy, 2 friends and I took a hike to a special place that I am choosing to keep secret. (You can ask me in private, but I’m not posting any details on the World Wide Web.) On our hiking day, we experienced fabulous wildflowers, tremendous views, hail, thunder, lightning and rain.

This will be a long post – might want to refill your coffee cup.

View back down toward Mineral King about 2.5 miles up the Franklin Lakes/Farewell Gap trail.

My favorite flower was out in abundance.

Explorer’s Gentian

It was a bit of a challenge to keep marching forward while surrounded by this.

Franklin Lakes – You can see one of them here, and sort of see the shelf where the upper smaller lake is above (if you know what to look for).

We got back home to great light, rain, and news that lightning had sparked a wildfire about 14 miles down the road (but on the other side of the canyon), called the Horse Creek Fire.

Big puffy clouds made for good photos at the end of the day.

The next day we only managed an easy sort of walk. Limp. Shuffle. (Me, not Trail Guy, so that would be the “royal we”.)

The East Fork of the Kaweah, near Cold Springs Campground.
Penstemon, possibly “showy penstemon”, but I haven’t learned the varieties yet. This is a close second to Explorer’s Gentian in my hierarchy of favorite wildflowers.

The annual Mineral King Preservation Society (MKPS) “Picnic in the Park” happened for the 33rd time. Our speaker was the wife of a former packer who worked for a private pack station, as a contractor, and later for Sequoia. She was outstanding!

The picnic was held by the Honeymoon Cabin, a little museum put together by the MKPS, and painted and drawn by me more times than I can remember.

The door is almost always open on the Honeymoon Cabin, AKA the “Point Cabin”, although I’ve never noticed any point, other than a museum is a nice thing.
‘Splaining things to the folks.
‘Splaining things to the ranger.
Listening, ‘splaining, knitting, chest beating? and watching the knitter

It was a day of much weather variety, sometimes in pounding sun, ending in large raindrops.

I drove down after dark that night, a different way to experience the road.

The Horse Creek fire as seen on Saturday, July 21, around 9:30 p.m. Doesn’t look very threatening, but one never knows. The Park has chosen suppression as the best method for this fire, and I am very glad they have.

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.

Variety in Mineral King

My recent time in Mineral King was varied. Have a look:

The art show and sale, “Art: Inspired by Mineral King” was a hit! 

Some of my paintings on the display screens; everyone else’s were on the other side.
Botanical watercolorist Joan Keesey demonstrated.
Watercolorist John Keesey told another disappointed potential customer that the piece they wanted was not for sale. . . sigh.

Trail Guy couldn’t get out of the driveway to come help me bring the show home and I couldn’t get in with all my stuff because 2 cars parked directly at the end of our road.

If you recognize either of these cars, please explain to the owners that it is a bad thing to block a driveway.

We enjoyed a bonfire with our neighbors (and we were a bit short on sweets so I went to them a-beggin’).

We shared our roasting forks and they shared their marshmallows.

We walked the 4 miles to the Farewell Gap/Frankin Lakes junction. It felt like 6. Who moved this spot that we call “The Wildflower Cafe”??

It was worth 8 miles round trip to enjoy the wildflowers.
Franklin Creek was crossable – Trail Guy rock-hopped, and I walked straight through.
I learned a new (and difficult to photograph) flower called “Blue-eyed Grass”.

I had some fun going to Soda Springs and then to a swimming hole above Soda Springs with some friends/neighbors.

This is how a crazy 7 year old enjoys cold water with his grandma, who is not very traditionally grandmotherly!

When we could exit our driveway, we went to Silver City to retrieve my display screens and were happily surprised by dear friends/neighbors, who helped Trail Guy rehang our wedding photo. (We were the first to go on the wall, because the former owner was a great romantic and felt she had a hand in our meeting and marrying.)

Just a few of the many wedding photos, 2 couples with whom I worked at the store and married the same year.

Another hike ensued, but you’ll have to wait until next Friday to learn about it.

 

 

Mineral King 2018

Opening weekend in Mineral King in 2018 was cold, drizzly, foggy and not conducive to any photos. Besides, my camera battery was dead.

The skies cleared briefly on Sunday evening. I borrowed Trail Guy’s camera for this:

Monday was glorious, sunny, bright, and warm(ish). I took this from our friend’s porch

The little cabin is actually an outhouse. It is where I found that gigantic snowball in March. Wow, 2-1/2 months later, and now the snow is only on distant peaks.

Finally, here is the classic photograph.

Would this look like camera distortion if it was painted in oil?

And thus we begin another summer season in Mineral King.

Painting Drawing of the day:

Farewell Gap #4, pencil drawing, framed to approximately 11×14, $400 including tax