Mineral King, (But it’s not Friday!)

Sharon, I scooted over so the small red fir doesn’t block the gap, but then the boulder is centered. (Paintings fix these flaws.)

In order to do my August calendar picture post and the Learned-in-July-List in a timely manner, this week’s Mineral King report is landing on the wrong day. Flex with me, Readers!

It was a time of many people in our neighborhood, with much socializing and renewal of friendships. I felt as if I fit in, never mind that my buddies were 8 and 10.

I did no real hiking, only walks. It is weird to me that I resist going on something as pleasant as a walk with friends. . . cue the whinging. . . it’s too hot, I want to knit, this is a good book. . . When I push myself to get off my duff (what’s a “duff”? Dunno, it came from my dad’s vocabulary), it is always worth the effort.

These guys were tired. Horses and mules don’t often lie down. I wonder if the one on the right is named Spot

The destination was Soda Springs, about 1-1/2 mile from the bridge, an unmarked trail known to locals but occasionally frequented by other folks. It is a spot where we often take visitors when we want them to actually enjoy the walk instead of dragging them straight up one of the other trails or hauling them behind us for long distances to lakes.

The flowers continue to amaze and delight this year with their profusion, abundance, and variety.

Soda Springs is a peculiar little spot of water bubbling out of the ground. People swear that it is carbonated; I think it tastes like the drinking fountains at Hartland Camp when I went to summer camp there. Ick. Metallic.

The flowers!! Looking upstream:

Looking downstream:

Let’s end with an evening shot of Farewell Gap with the Crowley Family Cabin.

Dadgum giant boulder hogging the center foreground. . .

The Mules of Mineral King

Book

This is the title of a very good book about Mineral King, written by a cabin guy who began working at the pack station at age 12.

Last Saturday Kevin Alltucker spoke at the annual Mineral King Preservation Society’s Picnic in the Park. Great storyteller, excellent speaker, knew how to reach the crowd and handle a microphone. He took lots of questions, and he quit before we were tired of hearing him. (The bulk of the crowd was behind and around me.)

I think you ought to buy a copy of the book. Really!

It is published by Riverfeet Press: The Mules of Mineral King

It is available on the big A: The Mules of Mineral King

Too bad you weren’t there in person; it was $15 that day, instead of $18. No problemo—I’m confident that you can afford the extra $3.

Wildflower

Meanwhile, I continued to wrestle with my iPhone14 and got these photos of a flower that was at the end of the Blue/Purple chapter in Mineral King Wildflowers (sold out, so sorry, but not terribly sorry because there might be another book coming next summer…)

P.S. It is item #9 in my list of things learned July 2025.

Your Central Calif. Artist Went to the Wildflower Cafe

Whatever does that title mean?

Glad you asked! The junction of the Farewell Gap and Franklin Lake trails is the best wildflower area in all of Mineral King, and its peak is always right around July 4. Well, okay, probably July 1, but July 4 is a significant day, and who actually knows the specific peak from year to year? It is 4 miles to the junction, and we often time the hike to eat lunch there; hence, “Wildflower Cafe”.

I finally remembered a dime, AND I had someone hold it for me so that I had both hands free to wrestle with the phone.

unknown
Felwort
Blue-eyed grass
unknown
Baby’s breath

Instead of chitchatting, I will just bombard you with photos.

weird-colored Indian paintbrush
Franklin Creek

Photos never do this hike justice. It certainly was a different sort of visit to the junction than last year’s exciting excursion.

Trail Guy Went to White Chief

Look at the fancy road! (For my far-away readers, that’s Sawtooth in the distance.)

Trail Guy, being retired, spends more time in The Land of No Electricity, Internet, or Phones (unless one has StarLink, which your Central Calif. Artist does not—surprised by this?) than I do. He actually had time to hike, working around all his obligations/helpfulness to neighbors.

You can tell he took these photos by the spots in the upper right of many of them.

White Chief peak has a flat top.
There is a pond, if you know how to find it. (It’s there even if you don’t know how to find it.)
Everyone’s favorite juniper tree.

When I made it up the hill, I spent some time contemplating wildflowers. A plan is beginning to formulate, but it isn’t ready for public consumption just yet.

Thus we conclude another photo tour of Mineral King.

Seeking Wildflowers in Mineral King

If you cannot see the photos through your email subscription, you can see them by going to the blog on the internet. cabinart.net/blog.

The trail to Franklin Lakes and Farewell Gap has terrific wildflower variety this summer.

Mariposa lilies are like polka-dots over the landscape, among the sage. Very prolific this year!
This is a juniper tree. It isn’t a wildflower. I just wanted to show you the bark.

This is the weird view of Farewell Gap with all the overlapping ravines.

Flax were plentiful along the trail, and the red ones are Indian paintbrush. The white ones? Meh. But I love seeing red, white, and blue together, so I took this shot looking down into the canyon.

There was a tremendous variety along the trail to the junction.

The pennyroyal were very thick and fragrant, as always.

I guess you had to be there to get a feel for all the variety along the trail. 

Sometimes Pride of the mountain grows on rocky ledges that don’t appear to have enough dirt for anything to grow.

Same for this penstemon, the variety which I have forgotten (did I ever know it?)

This trail junction was our destination, and it is usually solid with a zillion different flowers. This year it wasn’t special, but the trail getting to the junction was simply amazing with the variety.

This is looking back down at those overlapping ravines in the canyon.

Angelica was very impressive. It looks like cow parsnip, but its leaves are lacy rather than solid. Maybe that’s why it has a prettier name than cow parsnip.

Franklin falls is quite impressive in spite of the low water year. That is arrowleaf groundsel in the foreground.

Let’s end our tour with a rainbow.

I have about 4 copies of Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names remaining. Want one?

Mineral King Wildflowers

I finished 8 little oil paintings of Mineral King wildflowers and realized that every single photo I chose to paint from was from the same trail. Well, duh. That trail, the Franklin/Farewell Gap trail, is always the best place to find reliable wildflowers. There are other places that are off-trail, but I don’t want to put that type of information on the World Wide Web.

Okay, time for painting #1, titled “Mineral King Wildflowers 1” (Clever, I know.)

6×6″, $60, oil on wrapped canvas, ready to hang

 

Mineral King Wildflower Quest

A friend told me about a new wildflower by Crystal Creek, so Trail Guy, The Farmer, Hiking Buddy, and I went to see.

When she described the flower, I said, “Sounds like Nettleleaf Horsemint”. But she didn’t remember a serrated leave edge, and I can rarely resist the call of a new flower.

it is on the left side of this picture and I KNOW it is Nettleleaf Horsemint.
Taller than last year’s model.
Brighter, too.
Still so many flowers in September, still so green! (This was a week ago, so it may have changed.)

Crimson Columbine in September?! Yeppers. (They are small – can you see them?)
And the Bigelow Sneezeweed are still going strong.

I dragged my hiking partners along for a quest that ended in nothing except a good time in a beautiful place on a great day. Well, wah.

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.

Hiking to the Flowers, Part 2

Trail Guy and I parted ways at the junction. He wanted to go off-trail, and Prudence told me to stick to the trail. (I do best when I listen to her.) These are his photos from across the East Fork of the Kaweah, on the north-facing slopes of Farewell Canyon.

That’s not a wildflower!

Tomorrow I’ll show you photos of my hike the 4 miles back to Mineral King, on the trail.

Secret Walk in Mineral King

I mentioned a friend in a recent post, someone I have mostly known through email correspondence. Last week she showed me a trail I have never heard of, and it seems to me that it might be very localized secret. So, out of respect for people’s privacy, I will simply show you photos but keep the identifying information quiet.

Wooly Mullein is not a native but grows along the Mineral King Road above the ranger station. I saw this on the way to meet my friend.
This is new to me – soft and furry like Lamb’s Ears (the plant, not an actual animal’s ears).
Our view.
Another unknown yellow.
An unknown little pink.
This is my first look at a Lewis Monkeyflower AND IT IS BLURRY!!
On the way back up the Nature Trail, I stopped to admire the aspens (and rest a little.)
Felwort is in bloom. I first saw this with another cabin neighbor/friend 2 years ago. It was A Moment To Remember. In real life it has more intense color, so much more that the first time I saw it, I thought it was lupine.