Socializing in Mineral King

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!)

Some weekends in Mineral King are just action packed, all about the people. Who has time to hike? Or just sit quietly while contemplating matters of consequence? Go home if you want solitude, you delusional creature!

It was the annual cabin owners meeting, which is traditionally the weekend when we see the most cabin folks. (Yes, I know, duh.) This year’s meeting was the most energetic, enthusiastic, and optimistic that I remember. The president of the board for the last umpteen years has stepped down, and a dynamic rock-‘em-sock-‘em git-‘er-dun woman is stepping into the role.

I walked down to the meeting, but accepted a ride for the final stretch because I was late. I left on time, but so many people stopped me to ask a question about this or that or something else that time got away.

Here’s only a few of the folks present. I chose this photo because it shows almost no faces, and I am a respecter of privacy.

Sarah read a beautiful tribute to the retiring president that made many of our eyes leak.
John has served us well. He wanted a plaque. (Please, NEVER give me a plaque for anything, please!!)

This is Eddie, our county supervisor. Three years ago, he told me that I could paint a mural on the Ivanhoe library. Then the bureaucracy kicked in, and after jumping through all the hoops, meeting all the deadlines, returning all the emails, and counting my chickens before they hatch, I gave up. After the meeting, without my prompting, he told me that it is almost time for the mural to happen. It began with a conversation about one, ballooned to a competition to paint two (which I was told that I won), and apparently is now back down to one. Until there is a signed contract or money exchanges hands, it is simply conversation. (Links to the posts about the library are below.)

This is a friend whom I have admired for many years. It was because of this hat that I went searching until I found my own version. I would like to draw this photo.

And this is me (wearing the straw hat based on my friend’s hat above) with my good friend Sharon, my most faithful blog commenter!!

Two different people approached me separately to say how much they enjoy my blog. That was my highlight of the day. (Hi Eliza, one of my tens of readers! Thank you, Glenn, you faithful reader!)

Here is some token scenery from an after-dinner walk to the bridge. I don’t think Bearskin will make it through the summer. (That’s the snow patch in the shade on the right side of the right-hand peak.)

Library of my Youth, Chapter One

Library of my Youth, Chapter Two

Library of my Youth, Chapter Three

Library of my Youth, Chapter Four

Mineral King Road (and Men at Work)

The road is under construction, and the schedule keeps changing.

The two men on Sequoia’s hazard tree crew came to do some work on the most recent red fir dropped by our place.

We always stop by the dumpster on the way down. Trail Guy rearranges the bags of trash so we can get the most mileage out of the dumpster, which is for cabin folks who live far away and don’t want to haul their trash back to LA or the Bay Area or the Fresno airport. It is a very fine service for our cabin neighbors, and I wish someone else would do it.

We waited for the pilot car for about 20 minutes, parked in the shade of course. Other people like to snuggle right up to the flagger, not minding the sun. They probably have A/C in their vehicles.

I just looked around, took a few photos, read my book, and waited until the uphill traffic came through.

There are so many shiny culverts along the road. Sometimes when we look ahead, we think a car is coming because of the metallic gleam.

The oaks providing shade were full of mistletoe.

Down in the heat and the dust, it is hard to imagine that we were just here:

It is always worth the drive, even without A/C in the old Botmobile.

Odd Sights in Mineral King

This first one isn’t odd. I’m just warming up here. It is a plant called Coulter’s Fleabane, which I misidentified in Mineral King Wildflowers as snowberry. Maybe. Still trying to figure it out.

The cottonwood was prolific, abundant, and fascinating. Very soft to the touch, but elusive when one tried to gather it.

Once again, I failed to put a dime or a quarter in my pocket so that you can appreciate the teensy size of these daisies.

What is this? We don’t know, so I sent the photos to the local historian.

What is this on the trail??

Oh, just a little changing booth for a bride. Check out those heels on the bridesmaid. That’s an unusual sight in Mineral King, especially on a trail.

These dressed up gentlemen were receiving instructions. I think they were waiting for the bride, rumored to be an hour late.

And there are the guests, waiting for the action to begin. We didn’t bushwack down to investigate.

Let’s just end with a calming, more usual type of sight. These are penstemon, but the name escapes me at the moment. Besides, since discovering that snowberry is really Coulter’s Fleabane, I’ve lost confidence in my flower identifying abilities.

Ten New Things Learned in July

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

1.Tales of TB, available at the BookBaby Bookshop, got a publicity boost by one of the few remaining newspapers in the area. OF COURSE I THINK YOU SHOULD BUY A COPY! (But go to the BookBaby link because Amazon always says “temporarily out of stock”.)

2. A gift shop at Hume Lake had some marvelous little workbooks for learning pretty lettering. Have you noticed in the last ten years or so that “everyone” seems to know how to make very attractive signs for coffee shops, weddings, and restaurant menus? Apparently you can learn to do this by following a workbook. If my life wasn’t full of painting and drawing already, I’d be tempted to take this up.

3. How does one NOT get attached to a car after driving it 24 years? Especially if it is a body shape, color, and transmission that one loves to drive, has a leather interior, sunroof, Yakima rack, very cool tail lights, and a spoiler… Pete, the new owner, said I can borrow it any time I like. I’ll be seeing it around town. It was a real blessing to have Pete want the car—no advertising, no dickering over price, no fuss over the things that no longer work (he already has the same year/model except that his is automatic and really really worn out.)

4. People die. Often. When I received 25 postcards to mail to people about my upcoming art show, first I sent an email newsletter. Next I had to decide who to mail real postcards, so as I compared the email list to the postal list, I was sadly surprised by all the names and emails I had to delete. STOP IT!

5. The older I get, the less inclined or able I am to tolerate or ignore listening to people who pepper their sentences with unnecessary “like”. Podcasts that might have interesting content get shut off after about the tenth “like”; interviewees who cannot speak without “like” “like” “like” —Nope. Not listening. Don’t have to. Also, if they end every other sentence or interrupt sentences with “right?”, then I am gone-zo. Buh-bye.

Me too.

6. June in the Garden by Eleanor Wilde is an excellent novel about an autistic woman named June who gets into awkward and difficult situations because of her literal interpretation of almost everything. It got so uncomfortable that I had to stop reading at times, but then I gave it 5 stars on GoodReads because it was that good! (5 stars is the highest rating).

7. “Ninety years ago, the Forest Service decided to “improve” the watershed by installing forty-one dams and deflectors in the valley on both the East Fork and some of the tributaries. Some of the structures were dry stacked rock, some were masonry with cement, some were dirt, some were logs, and one was a board. The apparent goal was to create deeper pools. The river and creek channels have shifted considerably since then, and I suspect you found the remains of one of the log dams.” (From Laile Di Silvestro)

8. Have you ever heard of The Jesus Prayer? I hadn’t, but stumbled across this on the World Wide Web (The Brighton Jotter) and looked it up. Here is what I learned: “The Jesus Prayer is a simple, easy prayer to recite and remember: “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It is also sometimes abbreviated to “Lord Have Mercy” as is used in liturgical services of Orthodox Christianity.” It is supposed to be helpful if you find your mind wandering while you are praying (You mean some people DON’T find their minds wandering??)

9. A friend gave me a copy of a new book, The Mules of Mineral King, by Kevin Alltucker. Why had I never heard of this?? Why have I never met Kevin, a cabin neighbor? What a great book! Here is the link to Amazon for you. (K&TC do NOT buy a copy because I won a copy for you on Saturday!)

10. A friend told me about a thing that makes bug bites stop itching. Because we have mosquitos at home and up the hill, and Horrible Biting Flies up the hill, I bought one. It is a battery-operated gizmo that applies heat directly to a bite, and WHAM, just like that, it stops itching. Here is the link to the big A: Beuer Insect Bite Relief Pen.

And that’s all. There will be more posts about Mineral King this week, which is also the week of the reception for my art show, August 7, 5-7 PM, Tulare’s Heritage Gallery (in the museum, 444 W. Tulare Avenue).

Meandering and Socializing in Mineral King

Mineral King is very social for this pair of introverts, Mr. and Mrs. Trail Guy. This is how it goes: any trail we walk includes running into people we know. Sometimes we run into people we know in the parking lot, then other people are waiting for us back at the cabin when we’ve been out and about. While we are visiting with those folks, others stop by to check in. Most people only come up the hill a handful of times a summer, or maybe only once, and they are very understandably excited to be there, and want to say hello and catch up. Trail Guy has a buddy about 1 mile down the road who invites him to his birthday party every summer, and I have a friend directly across from us who wants to be with me every moment she isn’t chasing her brother around.

Thank goodness we don’t have a phone at the cabin any more.

This is my friend holding the birthday present for Trail Guy’s friend. We decorated some scrap paper using 45-year-old crayons and used a bit of yarn from my current knitting project for the ribbon. My little buddy went through the odd assortment of cards I had on hand, and we found an envelope that matched our wrapping paper.

Brother didn’t want to go to the party. He is single-minded about baseball (New Yank Yorkie fan), and the party was decorated with San Francisco Giants stuff. He chose to stay back and play catch with his dad.

We played one game at the party. The birthday boy sat in a chair, trying to hold still, and everyone had 5 minutes to draw him. He then chose his favorite drawing, and it just wasn’t very fair for all the others to have to compete with the Central California artist. (Of course he chose mine—did you doubt?) I took it home and finished it under better light and while wearing glasses. He thought it looked like a fat girl face. (I didn’t photograph it for you, not wanting either to expose his identity or put a dent in my professional reputation.)

Let’s look at a grouse instead. No wonder the miners ate these birds. . . they are fearless, slow and easy to pop on the head. (Fear not, no head-popping took place, and the only shots taken were with my camera).

I walked down the Nature Trail to the little footbridge to see if the Monkshood had bloomed. It has been many years since I’ve seen it, although I look every year.

Yippee skippee, here it is!!

Felwort, another one that I have only seen in this one place along the Nature Trail is also in bloom, although there was only one.

Twinberry is another one I have almost seen no place else except by the footbridge on the Nature Trail.

There will be more about Mineral King, but it is now August, which means Monday is time for a Learned List.

See you Monday!

No, not literally.

White Chief Again, continued

Yesterday’s post was stopped when my friend and I crossed the creek in the middle part of White Chief canyon.

It’s been awhile since I’ve gone further than this, but my friend was very interested in seeing the mining tunnel.

We didn’t go inside, and we didn’t go a whole lot farther because we were slow, just enjoying being there without a particular schedule other than getting back in time for a cabin friend’s 9th birthday party that evening.

Besides, I just wanted to soak in as many wildflowers as possible. The rocks, caves, and tunnels are interesting, but it is green and flowers that float my boat.

Sierra columbine
We are overlooking Timber Gap in the distance.
Larkspur, monkeyflower, Indian paintbrush
This lupine has leaves best described as “gurple”. (That’s Hoope’s Sneezeweed in the yellow.)
Everyone’s favorite juniper
So verrrrry green on the way down.

About 1/4 mile to go, and now Timber Gap is above us in the distance. It was a terrific day of hiking to White Chief, steep trail but short and very well worth the effort.

White Chief Again

White Chief is our favorite destination in Mineral King. Most people want to go to a lake, and they are welcome to struggle to Eagle up that lousy trail. We’ll wave goodbye as they turn that direction, and then head up the steeper but shorter trail to White Chief. It’s hard to calculate the distance, because sometimes we are happy to just break into the canyon, which Trail Guy calls a “dry lake”. You can go as far as all the way to the head of the canyon, which might be 4 miles one way. Just guessing. . .

Is that a white blooming bush ahead?
Nope, just bright sunlight hitting glossy leaves.
We shouted this back to our friends who turned back at the junction (the kids were just taking a morning constitutional while wearing pajamas).

I saw a new flower in the middle part of the canyon, where the trail crosses over the creek. It was very hard to photograph, and the best I could do is this, barely adequate for identifying. However, I concluded that it is Little Elephant Head, very similar, as one would suspect, to Elephant Head. Weird.

The flowers were terrific as we approached the place where the trail crosses the creek.

This might make a good cover photo if I publish a second edition of Mineral King Wildflowers. No promises.

We crossed the creek, and tomorrow I’ll continue this topic.

All About Mineral King

This time of year I spend lots of time in Mineral King, AKA The Land of No Electricity or Internet (unless you have StarLink, which we do not). So, my posts might be a bit erratic. Today’s post is simply photos from a walk down the road to Cold Springs Campground (now open after several summers of closure) and back up the Nature Trail.

Fireweed is prolific along the road above the Ranger Station.
Yeppers, aspen along the Nature Trail.
Sharon, my most regular commenter, named this Iron Falls.
You can count on seeing Indian Paintbrush along the Nature Trail near Iron Falls.
Walking on rip-rap is the worst part of the trail.
Sawtooth is the signature peak in Mineral King, although it can be deadly. RIP, Drew.

Tomorrow we’ll go to White Chief again.

In case you were wondering, I am working a little bit. I stop by the Silver City Store to check inventory and sometimes I hand out business cards to people I meet along the trails. (Hi Walt and Steve and the other guy from Hanford—hope Steve made it home without any more altitude discomfort.)

Busy Weekend in Mineral King

Sometimes I need to leave Mineral King for the peacefulness of Three Rivers. MK is a very social place, and although I have decent social skills (please allow me this illusion), I am an introvert who needs a copious amount of solitude.

The hazard tree crew has been working in our neighborhood.

I love the evening light coming through to the corn lily and grasses. It is especially nice when these folks are present and have their flag flying. I’ve drawn that a couple of times.

I called the drawings “Dawn’s Early Light”, because most people won’t be familiar with the direction of the cabin or the lay of the land. The first one was done long ago when my web designer put watermarks on my art (as if anyone would want to steal it, or as if we could prevent such a catastrophic occurrence.) I think I used the same photo for both drawings.

There was no time for hiking, but Hiking Buddy and I took what we shall refer to as two different “morning constitutional walks”.

First one: Timber Gap/Monarch junction

On the way up
On the way back

Second one: White Chief/Eagle/Mosquito junction

Heading up
Heading back (Timber Gap in the distance)

July and August are busy in Mineral King, particularly among the cabin folks.

Mineral King, Just a Few Photos

Today’s post is just a handful of photos in Mineral King. I recently went to Hume Lake instead of Mineral King but understand that my audience prefers seeing and reading about Mineral King. No offense to Hume Lake people—just accepting the identity of my blog readers. The first best summer of my life was 1978 at Hume Lake. Then my first summer at Silver City (4 miles below Mineral King) in 1985 became the Best Summer of My Life (and that was even before I met the love of my life.)

Mineral King has rustic and unique cabins. I recently had the opportunity to spend time at almost every one. It was a work thing: another cabin owner realized the need for propane tanks to have their cabin numbers visible on the tanks. We discussed press-on numbers and stencils; hand-painted numbers were the simplest solution. Nope, no photos of the numbers, just two photos of things that struck my fancy.

Rustic, but undergoing a few repairs. Those stone steps really grabbed me (not literally—don’t worry!)
Unique—the light was uncooperative but if you study this, you’ll see that the chimney was built to abut this boulder.
Why is this horse standing with his front feet in the trough? Some questions just don’t have answers.

This road leads to the pack station, then becomes a trail. In the olden trails (when Trail Guy was just a boy), people could drive past the pack station and even go up to Crystal Creek and cross it! In their cars!

Maybe I’ll do a post on Hume Lake. . . more will be revealed in the fullness of time.