Last week in Mineral King there was only a hint of fall color. Look what happened in one week’s time!
Labor Day Weekend
Turns out the Park Service granted permission for the show, but didn’t convey the message until I was already off in the Land of No Electricity for the weekend. Hmmm, good or bad? A little of both, but a great weekend was had by all (even those of us who made no $$) Michael and I hiked to the Empire Mine area to return something that was borrowed. We were just finished with the very steep first 1/4 mile of the trail when I heard an exclamation of dismay from my hubby. I knew instantly that he had forgotten something, so I simply responded, “That’s okay, I’ll just wait for you here.” You may recall that with me, waiting is rarely a problem.
Notice how nicely the colors blend with the sky and the green of the landscape.
When Michael came back with the borrowed object, we proceeded onward and upward. We followed the cable and stanchions of the tram line that carried ore buckets during the mining days in Mineral King.
The borrowed object was returned, but this time wasn’t placed in full view as it had been originally found.
We visited the bull wheel at the upper end of the tramline.
Michael explained how it worked – I understood most of it, and appreciated the history lesson.
Would you believe there was a road up there?? I wouldn’t either, if I hadn’t seen and photographed it myself!
This is the remains of the tram tender’s cabin, fully visible from the trail as one heads down (if the light is right and the hiker is paying attention)
A Quest
My maternal grandmother, AKA Grandma, was one of 12 children born to Martha Bob and Edward Elisha in the hills of North Carolina. Of the 7 girls, she was the only one to attend and graduate from high school, leave North Carolina, and eventually get her driver’s license! (Such a maverick, that G’ma of mine!) Last week I had the privilege and joy of spending time in the town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, where she went to high school. The natives call them mountains because it is high and cool for NC, but as a Californian who spends much time in Mineral King, I think of them as beautiful green hills covered in deciduous trees. The town was just wonderful – a Carmel/Mendocino type place whose population swells from 1500 to 20,000 in the summer. Every yard has flowers, every porch has chairs (usually rockers), and every person is as nice as can be. I loved the architecture, the lakes, the trails, the history, the learning of where G’ma grew up, and meeting my Mom’s first cousins.
The school that G’ma attended was only there from 1918 – 1927, so I had to be content with photos o the present structure.
The rock gymnasium was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Life at the Painting Factory
Didn’t want you all to think all I do is stand before an easel – I DO have a life. Sort of. Okay, maybe it is more of a Cat Disorder, but it is MY Cat Disorder and I am quite content with this state (even though I know I can’t just quit anytime I want.)
Kaweah Kitty hates it when I take a break and is always on hand to help me find my way back to the painting workshop. (try to be polite about her tail – she can’t help it)
She has a tendency to lie underfoot – obviously she feels quite safe despite the fact that I might accidentally squash her when I step back to view the easel contents.
Butch just hunkers down in the RV garage and yells when I walk past. Poor little guy is an orphan and we don’t know what happened to Cashmere and O’Reilly.
Sometimes he comes outside, but he is skittish in the extreme. We can pet him now, but only on his terms. It took from November until May – that is a record! (not a good one – no idea how we will get him “fixed”)
Check out that non-tail. It’s why we call him Butch. Looks like a Manx, talks like a Siamese, acts like a psycho.
Time in Mineral King (instead of just painting it)
A picture is worth a thousand words – here are 11,000 words for you to enjoy. Click on them to see them larger.
This is as far as we went; still much snow remains
The next day we went to Empire. This is an old road built by the miners and it is a great relief to find it after scrambling up a long steep slope.
Went high enough to see down into White Chief.
My goal was this nubbin at 10,500′. Michael went 200 feet higher, but my good sense (and lack of depth perception) caused me to wait. Waiting is seldom a problem for me.
We love this section of trail leading to Timber Gap (which you can see still has patches of snow). The phlox and blue lips were outstanding!
Because it was the Fourth of July, I looked until I found a patch of red, white and blue!
Long Walk, finale!
This marker let us know we had 1 mile to go (mile 20 for us 21-milers). Our feet were ready to stop walking in spite of all the fun.
2/10ths of a mile remaining as we crossed the Carmel Creek Bridge! We were really pouring it on in terms of speed, knowing we were going to reach our goal of 5-1/2 hours for the 21 miles!
This was our first view of the finish line.
The only time I ran (besides passing folks) was when I saw Michael on the sidelines! Nancy and I finished in 5 hours, 34 minutes, which translated to a 15.5 minute mile. This was our best time in any of our training walks together! It is quite amazing what momentum and adrenaline (plus training at a higher elevation) can do for one’s time!
After the walk, Michael and I retired to the beach at Asilomar. The sand and the cold water were exactly what my feet required. That’s my medal on my shoulder. (Yes, of course I knit at the beach! Doesn’t everyone??)
Poor Michael – the walk really wore him out!
Long Walk, part 3
Remember, today is First Saturday in Three Rivers!
There were peculiar sights along Highway One throughout our 21 Mile Power Walk. Check out these Shetland ponies!
And this guy with his old car, synthesizer/keyboard thing, and 2 flags, one that I did not recognize:
The views continued to be almost breathtaking (perhaps if we hadn’t been in such good shape they might have taken our breath away!)
The Carmel monastery is beautiful! Nancy went to Mass there the night before the walk and said it was jam-packed full of people. She also said it was as beautiful on the inside as on the outside.
Thinking like an artist
You know how you just cruise along, living your life, not giving any thought to how you measure up to anyone else? (Maybe you think about other people’s opinions, but I don’t very often.) So you’re just cruising along, doing what you do, doing what comes naturally, and BOOM! Someone tells you that you are weird! Weird? Nope, I’m just unique.
Here is an example: I just finished knitting a pair of socks for a friend. She chose and bought the yarn; I turned it into socks. While the socks were in process, I noticed that the colors on the Mineral King Road were the same as the yarn. That’s not weird, is it? (not that I care if you all think I’m weird – I’m just sort of wondering)
Time Out
In The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, she insists that field trips are very important to cultivating creativity. Yesterday, I took her advice (or was I using it as an excuse to mess around instead of work?) Have you ever heard of the Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno? I’ve been wanting to visit since 1978 but just haven’t. The gardens get closed from time to time for renovation, and when they are open, I am usually in Mineral King. Yesterday, I finally got to see this incredible place! http://www.undergroundgardens.info/ I can’t wait to go back (wish they rented it out for overnight stays!)
Gathering visual information
Michael and I hiked to the upper Monarch Lake. It is about 5.5 miles – the first mile and a quarter is steep and hot and dusty with giant steps up that just suck the juice right out of your legs. 
The Bigelow Sneezeweed are at their peak in August, as are the Gentian. 
The next 4 miles are on a beautifully graded trail with a flat trailbed; the trail actually has a few too many (unnecessary) switchbacks. It takes you well above Timber Gap, and it was a bit smoky from the California wildfires.
The last 3/4 mile is Find-Your-Own-Way.
Upper Monarch Lake is one of the four lakes out of Mineral King with a dam on it. It was constructed in 1905, well before the well-graded trail was ever built (but you can bet it was thought of with great longing by those hard-working men!) The peak is Mineral Peak; it is the one some guy kept trying to convince me was Homer’s Nose while I was painting the mural.
We went up one way from lower Monarch to upper Monarch; it wasn’t very easy. We came down a different way that included quite a bit of meandering and backtracking; it was much easier and rather interesting.
See what we found? We left it there. Pity the guy who had to hike down on a non-trail missing a sole!