Category: Mineral King

One day, a group of cabin friends went to Eagle Lake, the most popular hike in Mineral King. It has been 5 years since I went there, and I had an ominous feeling that this might be the last time I see it. Dramatic? Maybe, but that trail is TOUGH. (Trail Guy actually refuses to go there any more.)

Remember this little hiker from last year? (You can read about our hike here.)

This year Little Sis wanted to go to Eagle Lake. There was a bit of a competition going, since she wanted to go before turning 5, because her Big Bro had gone to Eagle before age 5. Eagle Lake is closer than last year’s hike, but oh so much tougher.

Big Bro studied the trail sign as we were heading out.

Instead of a cat tail this year, there were cat ears on a hoodie.

Whoa, Daddy, is that a flower in your cap?

What? We have to go up that?

Holy smokes, the trail is rough. However, I think it is a little bit improved over its 2017 condition. Maybe, maybe not.

The views are spectacular. With all the stopping to huff-and-puff, there are many opportunities to enjoy the view.

I probably have photographed this twisty tree (a juniper) every time I have gone to Eagle Lake.

Oh yeah! A break from the rocks and the climb.

This is a weird rock, a leverite, as in “Leave ‘er right where you found ‘er”.

AT LAST! The dam. We have arrived. 

You’ll have to return tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Here is the story from 2017: Part One and Part Two

One day I took a walk with two friends to Franklin Falls. This is a four mile round trip walk, fairly flat, a nice way to just meander along the valley floor in Mineral King for awhile.

We discovered a creature poking his head out of a hole, until he filled the hole with dirt. Guess he was shy.

We wondered what this little fern-like plant is that no one has seen previously but is very abundant this year. Maybe it will have flowers…

We meandered up the Franklin trail just to the falls. Not much water in late August/early September. (Look at the beginning of  this post from 2017 to see it roaring.)
This little flower has been hanging in there for awhile. I think it is a fuchsia, but I can’t quite tell. It is red, but the color fuchsia is bright pink. Anyone know of a good wildflower book?

I like this view of Crystal Creek, even when it is low and spread out, probably because I am just ravenous for green.

I considered posting a photo of my two friends at the falls, but since this is the World Wide Web, I decided to keep that one for myself. 

Tomorrow, Eagle Lake.

This is the classic view of Mineral King: Farewell Gap, the Crowley Family cabin, the creek (sometimes called “the river”, which would make people in wet places fall down laughing). I snapped this photo as we crossed the bridge at the end of the road. This is one of the easiest routes: down the road, up the Nature Trail.

Although this view from the top of Endurance Grade is gorgeous, the camera is often incapable of relaying that information to you.

Wait, I have a better photo from another day:

On this little walk, Trail Guy explained everything to us, starting with these giant nettles above the Tar Gap parking area. (It ain’t much of a lot, but it is a place to park.)

Do NOT touch that stuff. It will hurt you. We believe the seeds came with feed for the stock that used to be in a pack station that used to be at this site. (Burchell pack station)

These are tracks from a millipede.

This is the source of the cold spring that gives Cold Springs Campground its name. Wait—one spring, but Cold “Springs”? Looks a bit weak and tired, but it never stops flowing.

We also explored the walk-in campground sites at the lower end of the campground. They are downstream from the rest of the campground, farther than I expected. I’d never seen them before, nor had our hiking friends. Nothing much to photograph, but interesting to see in person. With the online reservation system now in place for the campsites, it is pretty difficult to discern how to reserve one of those walk-ins.

It was a hot day, so we abandoned the idea of heading out on the Tar Gap trail a ways.

Instead, we headed back up the Nature Trail. There is a clear sign stating no dogs, but it seems that there are many illiterate folks in Mineral King this summer.

Now Trail Guy is telling the story of installing the water tank that supplies the campground and cabins in the area (he was Maintenance Guy back then). The situation got a bit dicey, and there may be a dent in the tank, but none of us wanted to climb the hill to inspect it.

The Nature Trail deceived us and somehow we were on the mini loop that goes past the garnet mine. I didn’t see any garnets.

We stopped for some fuel at Iron Falls and were thankful that The Farmer carried enough food to share with us all, which made it a hike for him and a walk for the rest of us.

This is how Iron Falls looks when we were plunked on the rocks, looking downstream.

This is how it looks facing upstream, while practically sitting in the stream.

And this is how it looks in an oil painting. (Last time I did inventory at the Silver City Store, it was still there.)
This is some mine tailings.

Here is the site of an old ranger station. The Farmer is “walking up the front steps”. (Use your imagination)

A little ways past the ranger station is this weird bathtub. Looks scratchy and pokey.

And beyond the tub is another trough, or a something else?**Come back tomorrow for more Mineral King. I wonder if I can stretch it to a week plus a day. . . stay tuned.

**Trail Guy just explained this item. It was a place to cook, an outdoor stove that probably had a sheet of metal with removable plates on top and a chimney pipe at the back. 

Recently I spent a longer stretch than normal in Mineral King and now there are lots of stories to tell, hikes to follow, hanging out to see. Let’s call this one Chapter One, Clough.

“Clough”? William O. Clough spent a great deal of time in Mineral King in the early 1900s. He disappeared one winter, and now we like to go to a site where he had a cabin.

First, this is an example of how a bear marks a tree.

We took the Clough Cut-off trail (off the Franklin/Farewell trail) and started up. The trail isn’t maintained, and we were relying on memory. I was looking for the gnarliest red fir tree around, and when I saw this one, it looked right but the terrain was wrong and the surrounding trees were missing. I was confused.

Trail Guy was in front (as usual), and he found the correct tree. This time the light was wrong so you cannot appreciate the true gnarliness of this giant red fir. It shows up in this old post about Bill Clough.

There’s Vandever, the peak on the right side of Farewell Gap.

Those people think they are going to find gold up there in some mine tailings. I’m happy to just bumble around below, looking for the missing memorial sign on the giant red fir. 

The bear scratch marks showed up better on the way back down the Franklin/Farewell Trail.

Look at these guys. This view is common to me on our hikes. Makes me smile.

Monday, chapter two.

August is a busy month for cabin folks in Mineral King. The first weekend of the month is full of meetings and reunions. 

We also got rain, lots of wonderful soaking rain. Look how green it is!!

Since all the willows were pruned for fire prevention, I noticed new rocks that had escaped me for many years. This is Big Rock, so I guess that smaller one must be Little Rock. Or Small Rock.

The asters were thick along the road as I walked down to attend a meeting.

I saw a butterfly I’ve never noticed before.

I love this view at the top of Endurance Grade but either the water or the distant peaks are overexposed in every photo. This time I chose to let the water look all white so that you can see the peaks. Farewell Gap is out of the photo, to the right.

We listened to the superintendent of Sequoia National Park at the meeting. There were many many questions about fires. There were more people behind me and also to my right, but I like to protect people’s identities here on the World Wide Web. Some of these people we only see every handful of years, which makes it difficult to recognize faces and remember names. Good thing that Trail Guy and I never change, eh?

I rode up the hill with my friend Sharon, who drives fast, and down the hill with my friend Karen, who drives slow. Driving fast meant we got there sooner; driving slow meant we spotted scarlet monkey flower, something I’ve only seen once in memory. Both trips were fun, a time to visit with dear friends, friendships based in Mineral King which have grown closer through many years of occasional visits, layer upon layer.

Next Friday I will tell you a little bit about life as part of the community of Mineral King.