Because yesterday was Independence Day, today’s post is a bonus. I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on a weekly Mineral King update!
“Hanging out” has ceased to be slang; what terminology did people use before this?
We don’t hike a lot anymore. Bum knee, numb feet. Walking is good enough for now. We headed toward the upper valley on this trail which was a road during Trail Guy’s childhood.
There were a few stray carrots lying on the ground, which Trail Guy retrieved to feed the stock.
A mule or two usually get out of the corrals. This causes many questions: 1. How? 2. Why? 3. Why just one? 4. Can’t some Park Packer Person make the fence tighter? (I’ve learned mules can leap pretty high, but I’m not convinced.)
We encountered some friends at Crystal Creek WITH A DOG. Everyone knows this is against National Park rules, or do they?? These fine folks were being very careful about it all, but if other people see them, they’ll assume dogs are okay if they are on a leash. Nope. It might be okay in the National Forest, but Mineral King is in Sequoia National Park, where dogs are not allowed on trails.
If you don’t want to get your feet wet crossing Crystal Creek, go a little above the trail and balance on those sticks. (I just walked through, as usual.)
My destination was Franklin Falls; Trail Guy’s knee along with his dislike of straight up-and-backs caused him to turn off the trail while I powered upward.
If you want to cross Franklin Creek, this is how the dry boulders arranged as stepping stones look.
I turned around and met up with Trail Guy just above Crystal Creek. The flowers were excellent, as one expects during late June, early July in Mineral King.
The rest of the photos are from meandering around, nothing noteworthy other than peak season in Mineral King.
So many shades of green.
This is sort of interesting: like beachcombers, we find all sorts of things while meandering around. This time it was a Benadryl Itch Relief stick, a blue carabiner, a fork, 3 grommets from tarps, and a large bottle of water sitting by the road.
6 Comments
What a wonderful blog you have! I loved all of it. I know how the bum knee thing feels, it feels old. I’m bringing up my metal and velcro strap knee brace next time. Will see how it goes. What is the name of the red flowers? They are lovely. Great pictures as usual, perfect in every way. Thank you Jana.
Melissa, thank you for your always kind words. The red flowers are columbine, crimson columbine as opposed to Sierra columbine, which are yellow.
It looks like something straight out of a fairy tale. What gorgeous colours and stunning landscapes! I can see why you return year after year!
Beautiful pictures! I think the flowers with the waterfall backdrop would look wonderful on canvas.
Thanks always for all the great photos! Sure wish we were up in MK! How’s the road work coming along? Glad you can be up there enjoying it. It was 58 here this morning, but it’s supposed to get hotter every day now for the foreseeable future. The coast and the mountains are calling, and we hope to go.
I hope you spoke kindly but FIRMLY to the ignorant dog owners about the rules!
Wow, lots of wildflowers out right now! Kathy and crew are up for a few more days–I hope they are enjoying at least a stroll along the Nature Trail.
And we could write a book about all the items found along the road and on the trails. I can’t think of the most unusual item I’ve found right now, but I’ve seen many! (P.S. What’s a carabiner?)
Comments are closed for this article!