The privilege of having a cabin comes with missing home often in order to truly enjoy the cabin. After spending 4-1/2 months living in 2 places, it is a bit of a relief to close the cabin. This year we are so thankful to have had autumn in Mineral King, and it is sad to leave, but also good to be leaving on our terms rather than the terms of a wildfire.
Driving up the hill, we spotted a plume of smoke across the canyon. This is how last year’s wildfire began, so we didn’t like seeing this.
Atwell Mill Campground was closed, but there was a government rig there, so we stopped to make sure someone was aware of the fire.
While Trail Guy was talking to Campground Guy, I amused myself by taking a photo of some strange markings on the road. It has to do with Federal Highways and their plan to upgrade the Mineral King Road. The markings look as if they were made by a seventh grade girl, and I have my doubts as to whether road improvements will be made in the next decade, based on clues such as seeing only about 6 potholes get patched this summer (actually not until early October) while the number and size of potholes increased steadily.
Enough road blather. Time to get up the hill and see the fall colors.
The weather is still good, the colors weren’t finished on the cottonwoods, aspens, willows, and other unknown foliage, but the daylight hours are getting quite short, and we are ready to stop living a bungee lifestyle for awhile. (Up and down the hill)
The Honeymoon Cabin (a mini museum), the ranger station, and the two campgrounds are closed now. The road officially closes on Wednesday, October 26. The plume of smoke across the canyon was dealt with swiftly.
Mineral King is one of my main sources of inspiration; in non-Artspeak, this means I draw and paint Mineral King possibly more than any other subject. Thus, I will continue reporting to you on this important topic whenever there are items that might interest you.
4 Comments
Closing for the winter is always a sad time, more for us because we don’t have the privilege to hop up and down for the weekend. On the other hand, we don’t have to deal with that potholed road so often!
Dots on the road. Yes, definitely a children’s game on the school playground! Do you think this means the new road will be completely finished by next summer? (Ha Ha, I laugh at myself!)
I see you included your “tunnel shot.” Beautiful yellows this year, and you had lovely weather!
I’m glad you reported the smoke plume. “Catch ’em early” is the key!
Looking forward to any and all Mineral King related posts. And the others, too!
Sharon, closing is a mixed bag, as is most of life. And the road is Truly Terrible. Somewhere I heard that it might be fixed in 2027, but that could mean they’ll start in 2027, or perhaps start getting serious about the plans in 2027.
We hadn’t heard any planes or helicopters overhead dealing with the smoke, so they must have been attacking it from Porterville. They began on it well before we reported it.
Thank you for being such a faithful Blog Reader and Commenter!
I look forward to all your posts. Mineral King is a favorite.
Thank you, Nancy! I’ll do my best to not get boring.
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