The Mineral King official season begins around Memorial Weekend each year. The gate was unlocked and opened to the public on Wednesday, May 23. Since at the time of this blog post I haven’t yet been to Mineral King, I will show you some photos from years 2007 forward. Why 2007? Because that is the year I first used a digital camera. The weather varies tremendously from year to year.
It is almost cabin time in Mineral King. The road will open on Wednesday, May 23. Trail Guy was there last weekend, and these are his photos. The browns and grays are still dominating the greens, and there is some snow on the peaks but not in the valley. The last mile of the road is kind of messed up, but I haven’t driven it so can’t give you any specifics as to whether or not 4WD is required. I guess it all depends on how highly you regard your vehicle.
I went to Mineral King. Literally, this time. It was interesting to see in person what I have been painting, the winter version instead of the summer scenes.
Back to the easels. . . thanks for stopping by this week!
P.S. Last year at this time I was repainting the Mineral King mural and it was HOT out after a very wet winter; this year winter didn’t arrive until March. Weird.
Trail Guy has made 2 more trips to Mineral King, AFTER I posted “Final Mineral King”. Before there is snow, when the weather is balmy and the air is clear up the hill, it is possible to still enjoy Mineral King (if one is retired).
On the first visit, he found penstemon in bloom!
He went again on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, when I was at the Arts Center having a boutique. (It’s okay – I love what I do; no need to express any sympathy here.)
Being Trail Guy, he headed up the Timber Gap trail (that’s the same one that takes you to Sawtooth, should you be so inclined.)
He didn’t go the whole distance; the days are short, and he is very faithful to help me break down, load and haul my stuff back home after my shows, so he was back in Three Rivers by 4 p.m.
This may be the second most photographed cabin; it is near Cold Springs campground and gets great sun in the fall and winter. (Probably in the summer too, but we are further up the road, taking pictures of the first most photographed cabin instead.)
These two were below Redwood Creek, above Slapjack. First sighting of the year in late November!
One last visit was made by Trail Guy; I was in Visalia at a backyard boutique. He had some final things to finalize, finally.
Here are his best photos from a very clear and sunny morning.
Samson didn’t think it was such a great summer. Don’t worry, Little Buddy. We’re home now for a long long time.
This will be a long post with lots of photos, and then I might run out of things to post about Mineral King for awhile.
It didn’t have to be the final Mineral King weekend, because the Park gates stay unlocked until October 25. But, life down the hill beckons, fall is very full of events for us, and we need to close things up when the weather is still good during a season of unpredictable weather.
We have taken on the responsibility of closing the Honeymoon Cabin for the past several years. This is a little cabin left after Disney destroyed the resort in advance of building their ski resort, which never happened. The cabin is now a mini museum of Mineral King history, open all summer to anyone who wanders in. It is at the beginning of the Eagle/Mosquito/White Chief trail.
This is the interior. It is about 10×10′.
After our chores, we had time for a final walk.
And then we made time for one final pass down the Nature Trail. It goes through so many changes in such a short season. . . in July it was packed with all variety of wildflowers. Now, just look at this:
This was an unusual summer in Mineral King for several reasons. Perhaps I’ll make a list for you next Friday.
The rock section of the Eagle Lake Trail is very challenging if you were just expecting a little walk in the woods. Sometimes you have to wiggle your feet between some boulders, sometimes you have to just guess where the trail might be, sometimes you walk on a slab of granite, and none of it is very easy.
There are rewards: this is “Heather”.
After the rocks, there is another section that I forgot about. It isn’t too hard, but you have to watch your step because of all the roots. Trail Guy said there needs to be more “trail checks”, which are things that catch rocks and dirt when water is flowing down the trail; otherwise, all the fill dirt washes down the trail, exposing the roots of the trees (none of which show in this photo- you’ll have to trust me on this.)
Eagle Lake is one of 4 lakes dammed by the Mt. Whitney Power Company so they could control the water flow for producing electricity. Trail Guy is heading out over the dam; doesn’t it look like a lovely inviting path?
Welcome to Eagle Lake. Wish I’d brought some M&Ms. We earned them.
Trouble is, now we have to retrace our steps.
I think of the Eagle Lake Trail as “roots and shoots”, because there are zillions of roots to trip over, and all those rocks required lots of shooting with explosives to make the trail. The evidence is in those star-ish shaped dealies on the rocks.
The vertical meadow below the sinkhole and above the trail junction to White Chief was still full of a variety of wildflowers.
So interesting that Eagle Lake is the most popular Mineral King hike destination, and it is probably the very worst trail. Our conclusion is that people like the name, have no idea what they are getting into (it’s only 2.4 miles one way – how bad could that be?? Try 2+ hours to walk it and then decide for yourself!), and most people want to go to lakes.
Remember that I said the last time I saw Eagle Lake it was empty because some stupid hon-yock opened the dam? I didn’t want that to be my last view of the place, so I told Trail Guy I wanted to go there, and I hoped he would join me.
He consented. I asked why he dislikes that hike so much; his reply is that the trail bed is horrible.
As usual, he was right.
This is the prettiest area of the trail – flat, usually full of wildflowers, running water alongside the trail, shade, and TONS OF MOSQUITOES! So unfair. . .
Was it just 2 weeks ago that this meadow was completely full of Jeffrey Shooting Star? Now it is full of knotweed, but it is white so makes no impression in a photo.
We climbed through an area I had completely forgotten about. I knew the rocks were coming, and forgot about this buffer zone.
After I navigated over/around this big boy, I caught up to Trail Guy standing by this:
I said, “WESTERN EUPATORIUM! I haven’t seen this in years, and the last time was on the Franklin Lake trail!”
Trail Guy probably thought I was a little delirious.
To be continued. . .
Sometimes I have to be down the hill, feeding Samson, watering the yard, blogging, drawing, taking care of business, fulfilling promises. Meanwhile, Trail Guy the Retiree is in Mineral King, hiking and taking photos for me to put on my blog.
His favorite place to go is White Chief. Mine too, unless it is the junction of the Franklin/Farewell Gap trails, or Farewell Gap itself. The lakes might could be, but we don’t go there much so I can’t remember. (I might could go there, but I’ll prolly be down the hill at the liberry instead.)
And sometimes Trail Guy comes home, especially if the Giants are on teevee.
Not the Giants; Samson wants to know why the Giants’ games are blocked out in our zip code.