Good News

Isn’t it a thrill to have good news? (Although “good” is a relative term these days.)

The Old Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King, 18×36″, oil on wrapped canvas, $1200

On Wednesday afternoon last week, we were told that there was a voluntary evacuation order for Mineral King. On Friday afternoon, the road was abruptly closed by the county to all traffic.

This struck fear in the hearts of all who love Mineral King. Uniforms (that’s what we have around here instead of Suits), barricades, and unknown reasons now prevent anyone from going up to check on cabins. Many of the owners live far away, unable to just show up at the drop of a Smokey The Bear hat. (I think his middle name is The, and I do realize he is a National Forest bear, not a National Park bear.) New info on Smokey here

Trail Guy and I have been faithfully (obsessively?) following the CalTopo fire map. There is no fire in or near Mineral King. Well, okay, how does one define “near”? We define it by listening to people who know the area and know how fires burn. None of those folks are worried or feel that Three Rivers or Mineral King is in imminent danger. Sure, if there was a catastrophic windstorm or more lightning strikes, it could get bad.

But neither of those things is in the forecast, so for now our beloved Mineral King doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy. That’s good news. 

 

Shutter For Sale

Trail Guy helps me with my art business in lots of little ways, and a few bigger ones too. He likes power tools, and by using one he was able to secure a wire to the back of the shutter so it can hang on a wall.

Will it hang on your wall?

For $250 plus shipping (oh my, it is heavy compared to my normal paintings) plus tax (welcome to California unless you live in another state, in which case I would advise you to count your blessings) this one of kind painting can be yours.

And remember, EVERYTHING looks better in person (except those aforementioned news babes – see the post titled “Farewell at Dusk” if you are wondering when they were mentioned “afore”).

Still Smoky

This is a long post. If it is a TLDR*, you can just look at the photos.

The smoky conditions varied widely over the past weekend in Mineral King, WHICH IS NOW CLOSED.

Friday, noonish
Saturday, about 10 a.m.
Saturday, around 2 p.m.
Sunday, around 11 a.m.

Now, let’s look at some other views in Mineral King. These first 2 are looking toward Farewell Gap on Saturday evening. (The weird grayish spots in the sky are just the mysterious moving spots on my camera lens.)

On Sunday, mid morning, we could see smoke moving up the canyon toward Mineral King, so we went for a walk while it was still relatively clear. First, we stopped on the bridge. Then Trail Guy encountered a Park mule that was out of the corral, but wanted to go back inside. There was smoke visible coming up from the direction of White Chief. We walked to Crystal Creek, which is hardly a creek. I found a few flowers still blooming, and we passed a hornet hole, AKA a wasp nest. I looked those critters up in a couple of books; although we call them “meat bees”, they are really just yellow jackets. Mean dudes, don’t mess with them.

Whoa. Is that from an existing fire, or is there one roaring up from Three Rivers? (It was from the SQF Complex and the Creek fires, not a new one.)
Blue sky directly overhead! Remember that? Thrilling (but fleeting).
Looking up toward Farewell Gap from the bridge.

One more pass over the bridge, then we packed up and headed down into the smoke of Three Rivers, talking about evacuation, thinking dark thoughts.

Please God, don’t let locusts come next.

*Too Long Didn’t Read

Farewell at Dusk

This year I have been painting larger, in between completing the commissioned custom work. Smaller paintings do well at shows, but all my shows have been cancelled. (By “shows” I mean arts and crafts boutiques, fairs, festivals, and other assorted events.)

My idea is to build up a body of larger works so that when a local gallery decides to give me an exhibit, I will be ready. 

In that vein, I recently completed a 10×30″ oil painting of Farewell Gap (in Mineral King, of course) at dusk.  As you look at the progression, remember that things always look better in person (other than the model-type news babes on teevee, because No One could possibly look That Perfect.)

Farewell at Dusk, 10×30″, oil on wrapped canvas, $500 (looks better in person, but everything and everyone does except those news babes on teevee, because NO ONE looks that perfect, ever.)

I photographed it while still wet on the easel, and then tried to duplicate the color on Photoshop Junior. It isn’t right, but it’ll do for now.

 

Another Smoky Stay

Labor Day weekend was smoky, but conditions kept changing. We only did a few short walks, not wanting to develop emphysema, allergic pneumonitis, or black lung.

The first batch of photos were taken on Saturday.

The smoky green tunnel.

An unknown yellow flower flourishes in the diminishing creek bed at Crystal.

Sierra Gentian can still be found.

This is the Honeymoon Cabin, AKA Point Cabin from an angle that is rarely noticed.

These next photos were taking on Sunday, which was hot hot hot. Yes, I know, not compared to down the hill, but in the 80s and smoky in a place without electricity is not what we expect for Labor Day weekend. There has been snow on some Labor Day weekends in the past. 

Sort of a hood ornament.

OF COURSE I stopped to put my feet in.

The last two photos are how things looked when we left around noon on Monday. Nope, not sepia photos, just the normal kind.

May God have mercy on us all.

Smoky Sierra

Of course I am discussing Mineral King here, but “Sierra” sounds better with “smoky”.

In a walk along the road, I saw something that can only be described as trust. Some hikers completely trusted the public when they left their belongings unsecured by their car. It is heartwarming to see this in our current era of highly uncivilized behavior.

I was tempted to park my patoot here and simply knit all weekend. You know, smoke and all.

What got me moving was actually two things: 1. Summer is winding down and I haven’t hiked much. 2. A long time acquaintance asked me to hike with her someplace she had never been. We discussed the Franklin/Farewell trail and also White Chief, and I described each trail and destinations as thoroughly and fairly as possible, leaving the decision up to her.

But first, we had to stop by the Honeymoon Cabin so I could show you the newly refurbished sign. I don’t know why it is also called the “Point Cabin” – can’t see the point there (but can see the smoke.)

Since we were at the base of the White Chief trail, the decision was easy. Besides, Trail Guy was also heading that way (at a much faster pace), and he took a photo of us together where the trail breaks into the lower canyon. My friend (because over the course of 2.5 miles of walking together we had become friends for sure) was blown away by the beauty of White Chief and stunned that in all her years of coming to Mineral King, she hadn’t been there. 

It was a pleasure and privilege to share this place with her, and as an added bonus, my favorite flowers Explorer’s Gentian were in bloom. (Do you have your copy of Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names yet?)

The light on the way back down the trail was weird and orange. Nothing quite like a natural smoke filter to distort the colors.

It was well worth hiking in the smoky hazy dirty air to make a new friend, see the Explorer’s Gentian, be in White Chief, and revisit the joys of hiking. 

 

 

That Old Shutter

There were lots of cute suggestions for what to do with that old shutter.

Being the Central California Artist, I decided to simply use it for a painting.

Because it obviously came from an old cabin, I decided to paint a cabin on it.

Because I try to be businesslike, I decided to paint the most popular cabin* from the most popular place** on it.

That is one rough surface. Who thought this was a good idea, anyway?? Lots of layering ahead to get this up to snuff, whatever that weird little saying means.

*The most popular cabin I paint is the Honeymoon Cabin.

**The most popular place I write about is Mineral King.

P.S. The blue is tape, and the white is primer where it overlaps the tape.

Smoky Weekend

 

While up the hill, I repainted signs for 3 cabins. That counts as work, yes? Here is one of the befores (it was too smoky to care about photographing it afterward – how is that for an excuse?)

I took my baby pumpkin plants up the hill to babysit them. Here they are when we first arrived:

Here they are 4 days later: If they had been left at home, they would have shriveled and croaked, unless a deer ate them first.

We took one short walk. Look – a car with a man-bun.

Parking is at a premium and some people let their car stick out in the already precariously narrow road. People don’t know that by August, the car part eating marmot activity has ceased. Maybe they just feel safer wearing masks.

It was a thrill to be in the green.

Trail Guy said, “Hey Farmer, why are the aspen leaves sticky?” I think the answer was something that meant bug excrement. Trail Guy dropped the leaf and marched onward.

This is a peculiar sight. A smooth boulder is encased in the rough rocks. We didn’t go closer to investigate because this is the time of meat bees/hornets, very aggressively defending their nests in the ground. I do my best to avoid Hornet Holes in the ground.

On Sunday, the air was truly terrible.

It got worse as we headed down the hill.

And in case you are wondering, at the time of these photos, there were no wildfires in Central California. The smoky conditions demonstrate how the pollution travels to the Central Valley. We tend to have terrible air here and get penalized for it, in spite of it being generated by Northern California cities. Those folks love to blame the farmers. Hope they don’t do so with their mouths full.

Sold!

In spite of the slow start to the summer season in Mineral King and the closed campgrounds (WHY?? Do “They” think that camping is more dangerous than shopping at Costco??), Silver City Resort is going gangbusters. These are the paintings that have sold so far this summer.

Now if you will please excuse me, I need to get out to the easels!