August, 2012 | Cabin Art

The Best Flowers in Mineral King

It must be Friday because the California artist is talking about Mineral King again.

You can count on seeing the best variety of flowers in Mineral King in 2 places: along the Nature Trail and at the Farewell Gap/ Franklin Lake junction. The first week of July is when they are usually the most profuse. It is about 4 miles to the junction from the bridge at the end of the road, aka “The Mineral King Bridge”.

Crystal Creek, Mineral King — Crossing Crystal Creek is easy, thanks to a log-jam type bridge. It is one mile up the trail from the beginning of the hike.

along the Franklin/Farewell Gap trail, Mineral King — Trail Guy shows the way at this intersection. The sign also helps, but if you would rather go to Soda Springs, ignore the sign.

blazing star wildflower — There are 2 places I know to always find Blazing Star in Mineral King – the trail to Soda Springs and on the way to Franklin Lakes or Farewell Gap.

The sign says it is 4 miles back to Mineral King at the Franklin Lake/Farewell Gap junction, but I am always a little surprised that it is so far. This is because I love this hike!

Wildflowers of Mineral King — The flowers are this good in a not-so-good flower year at the junction. Last year was better. No, I’m not whining on the yacht.

This is off the trail, because I follow Trail Guy lots of places besides trails. He led me to the best larkspur I’ve ever seen – the boldest color, the tallest, the thickest blossoms on the stems, the biggest clumps I’ve EVER seen in Mineral King, and all this in a not-so-great flower year.

Leopard lilies are Trail Guy’s favorites. We often smell them before we see them. Most people call them “tiger lilies” but I associate tigers with stripes and these are spotted like leopards. Or giraffes. They are tall like giraffes, so perhaps it is time to rename them.

I love to put my feet in Franklin Creek on the way home. It makes them feel good for about 25 steps after putting my boots back on.

Mineral King

And Yet Another Post About Oregon

This time the post is about Salem, Oregon. There are 2 main reasons for going to Salem for me. Yes, it is the capital city, but I care little about that. My reasons are family and blueberries. Going in mid to late July means there are you-pick farms with the fabulous fruit just waiting for your labor. At $1/pound, it is hard to resist! We came home with quite a haul.

Here is an interesting factoid: when I visit one of my sisters, we often walk along the St. John’s River. When my family visits me, we often walk along the Kaweah River. When I visit my sister in Salem, we walk over the Willamette River. And, this trip involved the Sacramento, Rogue and Willamette Rivers. Didn’t know I was such a river rat, didja?

piano over the Willamette River in Oregon — Salem Oregon is having a piano event. There are 11 pianos scattered about town, painted up, and inviting anyone to just sit down and play. These strangers didn’t know a California artist was photographing them for her blog.

2 sisters picking blueberries — My sister is a great blueberry picker. I kept eating them, but it wasn’t stealing because I ate them off the ground. No one would be filling his bucket with blueberries off the ground, so it wasn’t stealing, but gleaning!

Picking blueberries is a-may-zing, as the youngsters say. (Have you noticed that the word has replaced “awesome”?) It wasn’t hot or dusty or sticky or thorny. That is unheard of in any sort of fruit gathering in California!

cute baby girl — This is the world’s cutest baby. Her name is Brooklyn and she is my grand niece. If I were going to name a baby after a bridge, it would have to be Oak Grove. Doesn’t quite have the ring of “Brooklyn”, but I think her dad chose it because the Dodgers used to be in Brooklyn.

Retired Road Guy holds a pink baby — Who knew? This is Retired Road Guy, aka Trail Guy. Babies like him. I’m still recovering from dropping my cousin when I was 8 and she was an infant, so I’d rather hold the camera. (She survived; thanks for your concern.)

Leaving California, Enjoying Oregon

Temporarily, of course. Although, whenever I visit the Pacific Northwest, I wonder why I have never moved there. Oh yeah, I’m never moving again. Sometimes I forget that very strong conviction.

The coolest thing I’ve done lately is to ride a jet boat up the Rogue River in Oregon. The company is called Jerry’s Rogue Jets, and it is The Best! Get your tickets soon, and request Kevin for your pilot. He is a grandson of Jerry and has been on the river since he was a wee lad. He knows everything about it, just everything. And, his dog Emma rode next to me the entire trip. Took the edge off missing Perkins, my sweet cat.