During a mostly overcast weekend in Mineral King, we had a few moments of sun. A standard simple walk is to go down the road and back up the Nature Trail (Yes, I know it is a stupid name – “Wildflower Walk” seems more appropriate once summer arrives.)
The summer season has begun in Mineral King. Normally I post about Mineral King on Fridays. This week, I am beginning Mineral King on Wednesday.
Why? Because I am the boss of my blog.
There are formulas for “successful” blogging. I ignore most of them. I don’t know how to measure success on my blog other than by hearing from people who say they enjoy reading it. I don’t know how to find the stats and would rather blog than figure that stuff out.
Let’s just go to Mineral King and forget that techie stuff. Mineral King – Land of No Electricity or Internet (unless you pay for the password at the Silver City Store)
Thus we conclude today’s tour of an overcast day in Mineral King in late May.
Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
This week Trail Guy went to Mineral King to see how things look in early spring. Yes, I know May is not “early spring” down here in Three Rivers, but things are different at 7800′.
These folks have some melting and shoveling to do.
The classic view of Mineral King, probably the most photographed, and definitely the most drawn and painted scene by this Central California artist. It looks wrong to me with the tall red fir gone. That remaining tall tree is a cedar juniper (Thank you, Trail Guy. The reason I mix these 2 up is that those are the names of 2 similar green colored pencils.) Farewell Gap is more visible this way.
Daffodils are not native flowers, but they are a welcome sight.
These folks have some melting and shoveling to do.
They can use the door on this side of the cabin instead of fighting all the snow off their deck.
The sunny side of the valley is where Trail Guy spent many an afternoon when he wintered in Mineral King. (I didn’t know him then.)
There is plenty of snow in the shade and on the north facing slopes. It just makes it fun for kids to make snowballs, and slippery for adults who want to walk a bit.
More daffodils. Thanks, Van and Mary, for planting these. Isn’t this a cute cabin?
Thanks, Trail Guy, for your early spring reconnaissance trip.
The road will be open to the public on Memorial Day weekend.
While I was painting a mural, Trail Guy (AKA RETIRED Road Guy!) went to Mineral King for a day. Every time he does that, he says, “This is weird. You’re going to work and I’m going to play.” I say, “It isn’t weird. It has been normal since you retired.”
Do not feel sorry for me. I LOVE what I do and will only retire when I can no longer paint or draw or teach people how to draw. (Or edit. Have I told you how much I love to edit?)
I know. Shut up and show us some Mineral King. I can read your minds – does this make you squirm?
Retired Trail Guy and a friend went to Mineral King in Winter. This week. Yes, winter is really happening this year!
Nice light on this cabin. People ask “How much snow?” The answer is “Depends on where you are.” Snow piles up or doesn’t pile up in different depths in different places. The best way to see how much is to check the Mineral King webcam. In the 2nd photo, taken toward Timber Gap, the striped stick is 10′ tall, and every stripe is 1′. Click here to open the Mineral King webcam in another window.
This is The Trackster. It is more reliable than a snowmobile. This is not Retired Trail Guy. It is Retired Mailman.
Retired Mailman is very tall, and he shoveled off this part of the roof.
Then he photographed Trail Guy, AKA Shoveler-on-the-Roof. Our cabin is over 100 years old, and it has survived many heavy winters. Still, it takes a load off our minds to take a load off its roof.
This is a neighboring cabin. The snow is “bridged”, so the weight isn’t as heavy on the roof.
And a view of Sawtooth on the way back down the road. It is the tiny point on the far right of the whiteness in the distance.
We spent our last weekend of the season in Mineral King over Columbus Day weekend. The weather was beautiful – about time, after all the smoke this summer! It really seemed weird to shutter things up for the winter when we were running around in shorts and sandals, but it certainly is better than closing in a cold storm.
There hasn’t been very good color this year. It could be due to the drought, although there were 15″ of precipitation this summer (mistakenly reported in an earlier post as happening in July – thank you, Trail Guy, for keeping me straightened out on the facts!) The leaves mostly turned brown early and then fell off. Just turned brown and fell off! Sigh.
Hey! I painted this scene a few years ago. I sort of lost track of the painting – did it sell? Who bought it? Or is it in one of the places that sell my work and I forgot to list it? (Sounds like someone needs to pay closer attention to her business. . .)
This is the part of the trail that looks like a yellow tunnel in some years. These are cottonwood trees. The aspens are further up the trail, but we had work to do instead of popping around chasing colored trees. Such responsible adults.
This was in 2010.
The grasses were sort of yellowish. This coming winter will be a big one, it will end the drought, put lots of white in the mountains and water in the rivers and the lakes and the aquifers and green on the hills. (You listening, God? That is actually a request, not a demand. Amen.)
I believe that cabin communities are a true treasure of Tulare County, here in Central California. I love to draw cabins. Don’t believe me? My business has been called “Cabin Art” since 1987.
As a studio artist, I work from photos. There is no way to get the level of detail I like while sitting outside. Besides, I’m oldish now, and need a giant magnifying light, along with cheater magnifier glasses.
So, here are a few photos of Mineral King cabins for you to enjoy. Sometimes the light is just right, so I take the same scenes over and over and over.
Trail Guy has really become quite the Mineral King photographer. He was back in the olden days of 35mm SLR cameras with film (remember those??). After we married, I stole his camera because I needed 2 going at all times. (black and white in one, color in the other, or prints in one and slides in the other) He didn’t mind, but I sort of wished he’d take photos too.
Now he carries a little digital camera with him on his hikes. Without my hogging all the good scenes, he is finding his own photographs of Mineral King and the surrounding trails.
If you want specifics, you can ask in the comments or email me using the contact button under the About the Artist menu item.
White Chief is my favorite place to hike out of (in?) Mineral King. So far this summer, it has rained often, I’ve been preoccupied with family matters, and often I only want to sit, knit and/or split (wood) while in Mineral King.
We have a tradition with a friend who spends time with us at our cabin each summer. This was summer #13. Our traditional visit includes barbecued pizza, Yahtzee (I may have one once in 13 years), M&Ms, and a hike to White Chief. There are other traditions, but they aren’t quite as sacred as our White Chief hike.
White Chief can be 4 miles round trip or it can be as long as 9. No matter how far you choose to go, it is always beautiful, always interesting, and always challenging.
I’ll refrain from further chatter. If you have questions about any of the photos, ask in the comments or use the contact button under About the Artist to ask.
