Two in the Wild

A faraway friend got a thrill and texted me about it.

She was in the downtown area of her town, went into a gift shop, and was floored to see two pencil drawings of Mineral King. Upon recognizing them, she took some photos and texted me.

These were reproduction prints which used to be my “bread and butter” type art. It was almost automatic when I finished a new drawing to get it printed, sign, number, package, and sell it.

I guess someone who lives 700 miles away got tired of these two drawings and somehow they ended up in this gift shop.

This is Beulah, which was the historic name of Mineral King. The collage was done using historic photos, and these prints didn’t sell nearly as well as drawings of current scenes. It is priced at $295!!

That’s okay. I get tired of the art hanging on my walls and rotate it out. Unless it is my own painting. Wait, I do pull those off the walls if they seem appropriate for a particular show or a potential customer has expressed an interest.

This is my first version of Farewell Gap with the Crowley Family cabin. I’ve drawn it many times since, and if you look at the drawings in chronological order, the growth is evident. (The growth of the artist’s skill, not those trees, one of which is now history.) This is priced at $150 or maybe $195—my spy was so excited that she forgot the amount!

The shop owner was quite thrilled; having someone recognize the subject and the artist validated her selection of merchandise.

Thank you, ‘70s Ranger Daughter Mari for discovering this “vintage cabin art”!! And thank you for getting in touch to tell me the story and sharing your photos!

Mineral King Cabin Life

This could be cabin life anywhere, especially if your cabin is part of a community of cabins.

We often take walks to the bridge in the evening to enjoy the views, the light and one another’s company. My guess is that many cabin communities have gathering places and times in their own areas.

Sometimes we hike with neighbors and friends. Hiking is a main focus of Mineral King; not all cabin communities that I’ve visited have the kind of trails we have. Probably nowhere else has trails like Mineral King!

We talk to people who are wondering about trails, pointing out good places to go. The Park employees are often new and don’t have the depth of knowledge of the area that the locals do.

On Independence Day, we raised a flag together (and I read part of the Declaration of Independence to my hiking friends while at the Wildflower Cafe.) Flying a flag is a tradition when one’s cabin is occupied. There are a couple of cabins that don’t bother, and there are a couple that fly a California flag rather than the Stars and Stripes. (WHY??)

We share dinners, happy hours, extra bacon, kindling, marmot wisdom, and knitting knowledge. (There’s more, but I probably already have over-shared.)

Here is the classic view from the bridge of the Crowley Family cabin and Farewell Gap.

Your Central Calif. Artist Went to the Wildflower Cafe

Whatever does that title mean?

Glad you asked! The junction of the Farewell Gap and Franklin Lake trails is the best wildflower area in all of Mineral King, and its peak is always right around July 4. Well, okay, probably July 1, but July 4 is a significant day, and who actually knows the specific peak from year to year? It is 4 miles to the junction, and we often time the hike to eat lunch there; hence, “Wildflower Cafe”.

I finally remembered a dime, AND I had someone hold it for me so that I had both hands free to wrestle with the phone.

unknown
Felwort
Blue-eyed grass
unknown
Baby’s breath

Instead of chitchatting, I will just bombard you with photos.

weird-colored Indian paintbrush
Franklin Creek

Photos never do this hike justice. It certainly was a different sort of visit to the junction than last year’s exciting excursion.

Honesty, Diplomacy, and Wisdom

I have a wise friend who is both diplomatic and honest. She told me that a few of my paintings didn’t reflect my usual care, or perhaps she said they weren’t up to my usual standards— “lacking in detail and clarity”. (There were a couple of paragraphs so I’m summarizing here.)

I blamed the old scanner, but then decided to retouch the paintings after studying them in person. I can always add more detail to a painting! The difficulty is in knowing when to stop. Most painters say that they don’t stop soon enough; I say most painters need to keep going.

Sawtooth #68

Here are the old scanner and new scanner versions, both before retouching.

The scan was poor, and the painting could use more detail. Some people paint blurry, but I’m not in that club. Not on purpose, anyway.

Here is the do-over and the scan on the new scanner. Still doesn’t look as good as it does in person. You’ll have to trust me on this.

Maybe it’s more evident if I put old and new side-by-side.

The color and detail still aren’t accurate, but it is better.

Sawtooth #69

It was definitely time to replace the old scanner.

Three progress photos for you.

Let’s do a side-by-side before-and-after of this one. And again, the color isn’t coming through very well, so trust on your part is required here.

Thank you, my honest, diplomatic, and wise friend!

More White Chief in Mineral King

Today we will continue and complete our White Chief hike in photos. I always thought it was a short hike, but maybe someone moved White Chief, just like Franklin Falls got moved. My phone, masquerading as a camera, also told me that I went 7.5 miles and climbed the equivalent of 43 floors. Yes, indeed, it is a steep one.

That dark spot is a mining tunnel. There are natural caves up there too.

The clouds were building up back toward Mineral King, and although it was still sunny in White Chief, the wind was downright chilly. So, I headed back.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you a couple of pieces of cabin life.

A Hike to White Chief (in Mineral King)

Trail Guy and our friend K went to White Chief, and came back raving about the flowers. Two days later I went to White Chief and came back raving about the flowers. Our photos are intermingled on my laptop, so I’ll just post some many in today’s post and many more in tomorrow’s, keeping the chitchat minimal.

Super clear day, heading up the right (west) side of the valley.
The ferns along the trail are tall despite only being the end of June.
Spring Creek is running strong—thankful for that footbridge!
thimbleberry
collomia
penstemon

Entering White Chief, like a painting that sold earlier this summer, except the stream is dry now.

Pride of the Mountains was stunning!

The color clash was amusing to me. . . color combinations acceptable in nature would be weird in someone’s wardrobe.
Whorled penstemmon was profuse.
morning glory
sulphur flower
unknown

Come back tomorrow for more. The whole thing was stunning, and neither the camera nor the iPhone 14 do it justice.

Animal Thoughts

A city guy on his podcast went on and on about how much he loves animals. Too bad I couldn’t invite him over, because he could experience animals here in Three Rivers, in my yard and in my house.

  1. A giant black beetle in the kitchen sink (they’ve been in almost every room in the house lately).
  2. A lizard ran under the fridge.
  3. A little frog was in the shower and then hopped under the clothes hamper.
  4. A raccoon got into the garage, made his way into the workshop, and pulled the bag of catfood off the shelf, dragging it into the RV garage (yes, we have a three-in-one building where the cats are supposed to be safe at night.)
  5. Coyotes were howling at a siren passing by on the highway while I was walking in the morning.
  6. There are at least 3 new fawns in our yard, learning how to destroy our plants.
  7. Squirrels are now getting into the fenced off tomatoes.
  8. Turkeys are EVERYWHERE, in great numbers.
  9. A bunny was at the bottom of the driveway. Good thing they reproduce so abundantly, because everything wants to kill them.
  10. Another bunny succumbed to the vicious nature of our 3 cats; I had the privilege of scraping up and burying the remains after they had their way with it.

At least we don’t have any snakes right now. HOWEVER, some guests at a vacation rental accidentally transported a RATTLESNAKE home to Iowa in their luggage!!

The cats can’t keep up with the gophers and squirrels, but they are trying.

Beach Birds or Shore Birds?

I got to know someone from New Jersey when I attended college in San Diego. Most of us said “beach”, but our New Jersey suite mate said “shore”. Actually I think she said “sho-ah”.

The owners of my pier drawing asked me to draw some “shore birds”, but I think they are both native Californians. That’s okay, I knew what they meant.

I got ahead of myself, and stopped drawing to ask this question: “Do you want me to make them exactly the same as in the one you saw on my blog, or may I have freedom to move the birds around and add some more?”

The answer came back thus: “I didn’t save the picture from the blog, so I can’t answer you precisely- however I think the artist’s choice would be most satisfactory. Just not too busy – the wave action in the pier drawing is kind of serene, so the shore birds might reflect the same.”

So, I changed my drawing a bit by erasing a few birds from this first version:

Then I darkened a few things, added some rocks, and finished the wet sand.

This will look excellent with the pier. Let me demonstrate here for you to admire.

I sure have a hankering to go to the beach. Or the shore. Even the sho-ah would be amazing.

July is Here!

I don’t remember what pier this is. It is somewhere on the Central California coast.

I might be at jury duty today. After I got the summons, I sent in the excuse form which said that I am unavailable most months of the year except July, August, and December, when I am not teaching drawing lessons.

The county immediately sent me a summons for July 1. Oh boy.