Here are some photos from a recent stay in Mineral King. I didn’t hike, so this is not a trail report. It was a social weekend, with lots of knitting, some wood splitting, a short walk, and lots of visiting with friends.
A friend stopped by the cabin. She is going through chemo, and her head gets cold. I remembered that I knit this cowl earlier this year and was just waiting for the right recipient. It was very satisfying to both of us!I finished this sweater for a neighbor girl.We had an afternoon thundershower, and it cleaned the pollen and dust off of everything.Just your basic Dudes On The Porch photo.Sierra Gentian are out.Goldenrod are early this year.
Can you read or understand this sign? Apparently very few other people can because there is a ton of dogs on the trails.Wild iris only appear in one place in Mineral King, and I missed them this year.This is a new-to-me flower.Some cars wear masks and some do not.
The Park will not be opening the Mineral King campgrounds this summer. In spite of camping being a healthy and low-risk activity, the main ranger is concerned about his employees who would be interacting with the public in the campgrounds, cleaning outhouses and emptying garbage.
When will the chaos and confusion and conflict end???
July is a busy month in Mineral King, when cabins are used, trails are full, and normally, campgrounds are full. This year the trails are getting more use than normal, since campgrounds are closed. This makes no sense to me, since camping is a very low risk activity – outdoors, spaced apart. (But no one who makes decisions has consulted me.)
I stopped to photograph the Oak Grove Bridge on the way up the hill. The view is getting more obstructed as the years pass.I walked to Franklin Falls with some cabin neighbor-friends. 2 of us in front sort of lost track of 2 of them behind for awhile.I love sitting by this creek where it cross the trail (or does the trail cross the creek??)We stayed closer together on the way back down.
The weekend was a little sad. Some friends have been coming to the neighboring cabin for 38 years, but had to miss the last 3 because one of their number got cancer. This year his friends brought him back to Mineral King in a box.
I didn’t participate in the ceremonies, but did catch up a bit with the Sawtooth Six Minus One. We observed our usual tradition of the photo on the porch before they all headed back down the hill.
There were more visits with other friends, a drawing lesson happened at our kitchen table, some serious knitting took place, but none of these events were photographed. Often it is better to be fully in the moment rather than behind a lens while documenting events.
The bridge is well lit in the late afternoon sun, but it would need some artistic license to become a good painting. (I felt compelled to mention that in case you think all I do is hang around in Mineral King and ignore my art business.)
Today’s post isn’t about a ranch, just about life around my home outside of my work. Sometimes I have things to show and tell you, things that are mildly interesting (or maybe boring) to you, but it is part of the complete picture of this Central California artist’s life.
I told you about letting our one lawn go wild to see if it would spread or thicken. Look – fescue DOES make seed heads.Green eyes in the green grass. . . Tucker likes our new approach to the “lawn”.In order to be able to protect anything from the deer, fencing is required. My fences are DBO, and nothing can stop Pippin.This is my herb garden on the opposite end of the property. I used to mulch it, but that only encouraged sow bugs, which are little bodies with giant jaws, for the purpose of consuming anything I wanted to grow.I have actually grown some food!! (but oh so thankful for farmers and grocery stores).
As promised on Friday, here is a little more about Mineral King. Tomorrow we will return to watching paint dry.
Great Whorled Penstemon in my cabin neighbors’ yard. (“Great” meaning lots of them, not that “great” is part of their name.)Our young neighbor believes that Mr. Botkin knows everything.One of this year’s batch of baby marmots beneath our cabin.
We walked down the road and back up the Nature Trail, which also did not have near the number of wildflowers that we have become accustomed to.
At the upper end of the Nature Trail, this is what people used to see. If it was their first time on the trail, they were confused.Now, first-time Nature Trail walkers can see that they are in the right place, in spite of it appearing to be a private road (which it is).
We didn’t need fireworks because we had friends with flags.
We took a walk to the Franklin/Farewell Gap junction, a place that usually has the best wildflowers, almost always at the beginning of July. Not so this year. We’ve been spoiled by several great wildflower years, lulled into thinking that was normal.
It was fun anyway, because there is always good scenery and interesting things to see, even if you walk with your head toward the ground so you don’t fall.
The circle is around a bear track.I’ve never seen such short Mariposa Lilies, and saw quite a few like this, just popping up right on the trail.Striped rockCOOKIE?? Nope. It’s a rock.
I did look up, don’t worry.
This last picture is my favorite one of the day. We were off trail (of course), following a little loop-ette, devised by Off Trail Guy. After recrossing the stream, The Farmer offered to pull me up on a bank of snow which was the next step. Before accepting his kind offer, I said, “Thank you – first I need to take a picture!”
A popular radio show talker once advised his callers: “Before you pick up the phone and dial this show, ask yourself the important question: Does anyone care?”
Eh, well, it’s my blog, and I know most of my readers as friends in real life, and know you all would be polite if I rambled about these things in person.
I won a book for the first time in the GoodReads give-away. This is after about 4 years of trying. The book is Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly by Evy Poumpouras, a former Secret Service agent to 3 presidents. If you are on Goodreads and want to follow me or (or be followed by me), I am simply under my name, both first and last.
If I had to eat only the food I was able to grow, I’d starve to death. But I will never stop trying!
I wouldn’t be very successful if growing to supply florists, but I won’t stop trying to grow flowers either.
Pippin is so appealing. The cats found a way to sneak out at night, but I think I have stopped that rebelliousness.
Tucker, before the grass got really tall. (You should see it now!)
Dang, a card game – when a certain friend comes to our cabin, she forces us to play games. She taught it well, but without practice, I’ve already forgotten how. It might have been fun. Being with her is the fun part.
Yahtzee research – while she was there, I got curious. How many times does one need to roll to get a Yahtzee? We did it with 3 rolls per attempt, like in the game. Several times it happened in just the first three attempts; one time it took 63 turns. The average was about 17-20 tries, and the game of Yahtzee only provides 13 turns (maybe it is 15). We also tried it with rolling as many times as necessary. This was entirely random, and I have forgotten the results, although the number 94 seems relevant.
Borgi – a neighbor had a weird little dog. I said, “What is that? A cross between a Border Collie and Corgi?” She said, “Yes, it is a Borgi.” WHAT? In spite of my cat preference, I guessed this. (Gold Star for me.)
Transplanting grass – Our one remaining lawn is sparse and spotty. I have been transplanting clumps of grass from the back side of the house where the lawn was wrecked 21 years ago in the remodel of this place. I have requested that Trail Guy not mow in case these clumps will produce seeds, or perhaps spread by root growth. The cats are loving the tall grass. Will Miracle-Gro help? More will be revealed.
I need a reason to paint – When work ceased to come in, I lost interest in producing. This is mostly due to an aversion to excess stuff, whether paintings, drawings, or one-function kitchen items. I like painting, but not when it just builds up my inventory without hope of showing or selling.
“My choices are not a commentary on yours.” I read this somewhere, and it seemed appropriate after I talked about all the things I like to make from scratch. It might have made some of my readers feel inadequate. No reason for this, because my choices are NOT a commentary on your choices. Really. Just be you, and I’ll be me. It will work out just fine.
“Prone” means face down; “supine” means flat on one’s back. I didn’t know this until a lengthy conversation with a doctor friend who went into way more detail than I could comprehend – hence, I came away with 2 new vocabulary words instead of whatever else he was saying.
1996 Honda Accords are no longer the most stolen year and model of car – Fernando is safe! (Safer. Besides, can the bad guys drive a stick shift??)
Stand up paddle boarding is FUN! There is nothing athletic about me, and I have zero interest in sports of any kind. Stand up paddle boarding is a way to motate on a lake in a quiet manner. I probably won’t pursue this in any large way (as in buy the equipment), but it was quite thrilling to realize that this is a sport that I can do.
Upper-middle-aged non-athletic chubby chick, zig-zagging her way across Hume Lake and NOT FALLING IN THE WATER!
Last week I had the privilege of spending several days at Hume Lake with my friend and a new friend at my friend’s cabin. (Friend friend friend – just wrecked that word for myself.)
This is the 4th summer that she has invited me to join her, and through the times spent together, I have come to know and love her cousins, gotten reacquainted with Hume (worked there the summer of ’78), and become quite close with my old friend from childhood.
Rather than go into a bunch of personal blah blah blah, let’s do our usual thing with photos.
Look on the lamp table. There is my oil painting, cleverly titled “Hume Lake I”.“Hume Lake II” was very well received, as was “Hume Lake III”. (Most of the birthday party attendees began shouting their birth dates at me.)So calm in the evening.Wild Azaleas were in bloom.Because there were no campers around, we got to go places that are usually not open to cabin folks.One of the places that we explored was the children’s camp called “Wagon Train”.Instead of cabins, the kids sleep in these covered Conestoga wagon replicas.The lake was so serene without the hundreds of camping kids present. This is sad, unless you view it as a temporary condition.This wildflower is new to me. I don’t have to know the name because it isn’t in Mineral King.We ate way too much, so I force-marched my companions around the lake one evening after dinner. One of them had a Fit-Bit that recorded 26,400 steps that day. (Those steps didn’t counteract all the ice cream,)I went to Inspiration Point in search of a red Mariposa Lily. Guess I was too early this year, because all I found were Farewell-to-Spring and profusely blooming Bear Clover.I drove home a different route and saw Hume from an overlook.
There are so many options for coming and going, unlike Mineral King with one road in and out. Hume Lake also has electricity, wifi in some cabins, many many cabins, and provided the best summer of my life (1978) until I worked in the Mineral King area (Silver City Store) in 1985. (And I thought that BEFORE I met Trail Guy at the end of that summer, so there.)
We had the pleasure of witnessing the baptism in the lake of 3 terrific kids.
Another distinct pleasure was renting stand-up paddle boards. We almost opted out, but I remembered our decision last year that we would do this, combined with the fact that the day was hot, there wasn’t much traffic on the lake, and that “everyone” knows that people regret what they don’t do more than what they do. (My sister and I often remind one another to “Do It Anyway”, in spite of our reservations, fears and doubts.) It was great fun, and I didn’t fall, but I would like to learn how to paddle without the zig-zag effect, which greatly impedes forward progress.
Oh – ice cream. Did I mention ice cream?
Someone needs to cut off my end of the table.
P.S. I have FOURTEEN books on hold at the library. WHEN WILL THEY OPEN AGAIN??
Last Friday, I had too many photos from our cold weekend in Mineral King to put them all in one blog post.
Yep, dandelions.Paintbrush, formerly known as Indian Paintbrush.PhloxBluelipsLanguid Ladies, also known as Sierra BluebellsA different view of the Honeymoon Cabin. Tiny in the distance – can you spot it?This is a flowering shrub that I don’t recognize.This is looking out the kitchen window. Brrr.We took a short walk. Very brrr. Where is Farewell Gap??Current bushes in bloomSomeone went barefoot on the deck last night.The sun finally emerged, and it was still cold, but oh so very beautiful.
Most of the flowers in today’s post are identified in Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names.
100 page paperback, flowers in photos, common names only, lots of chatty commentary, $20 including tax. Available here Also available at the Three Rivers Historical Museum, Silver City Store, from me if I put them in my car, or Amazon.
The weekend was a little sad. Some friends have been coming to the neighboring cabin for 38 years, but had to miss the last 3 because one of their number got cancer. This year his friends brought him back to Mineral King in a box. 
I love the morning light coming into the cabin.
