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Almost Mineral King

One day last week, Trail Guy and I drove up to the Conifer Gate (the upper gate) on the Mineral King Road so he could replace the combination lock that allows cabin folks to access their cabins in the winter. That is the elevation where the black oaks are, and they can be so glowingly gorgeous with sunlight coming through.

But first, we passed the Eden Creek fire, a lightning strike across the canyon. Because the relative humidity (what?) and the moisture content of the plants are up and the some-big-word-I-only-guessed-at-and-then-forgot is down, this isn’t considered to be the big threat that the summer’s Horse Creek lightning strike fire was.

Now for some bright leaves: 

The leaves aren’t as pretty on the ground.

And a little tree lesson (both are little – the tree and the lesson).

White fir: these grow at a lower elevation than red firs and the needles lie flat on the branches instead of sticking up.
Trail Guy had to explain some things about the lower gate to Ranger John.
Road closed; Ranger John looks kind of happy about it.

Remember to contact me if you bought a 2019 calendar in person – if you bought it through the website, I have your info already.

 

2 Comments

  1. Do you know if John will be back next year?

    • Probably will, Dan, because he will be living at Lookout this winter.

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