Mineral King, Another Person’s Story

Today we have the pleasure of a guest post, something I have never had in 12 years of blogging! Sharon Devol is a real life friend, and the most regular commenter on this blog. She always has something interesting to add, and when I half-jokingly suggested she write a guest post, she was graciously eager.

This is Sharon’s personal story of her family’s Mineral King cabin.

My family connection to Mineral King starts in 1930 when my grandparents, Van and Mary Dixon, visited Faculty Flat (JB here – Faculty Flat is about a mile below the end of the Mineral King Road, so called because it was first settled by educators from Southern California) on the invitation of faculty colleague, Dr. Bates of the Bates-Bell Cabin.  For the next 20 years Van and Mary and their two daughters, Diane and Shirley, used the Bates-Bell Cabin until the cabin built in 1926 by Lou and Mary Lou Coole came up for sale. Despite its primitive condition, the daughters begged Daddy to buy it, and the Dixon family set to work to clean and improve the cabin.

I first visited our cabin when I was one year old, and time at Mineral King has been a part of my summer ever since. 

Coole Cabin as built in 1926
2020, same cabin

Quite an improvement made by a physics professor married to a home economics teacher with elbow grease provided by various family members.  And we descendants of Van and Mary Dixon so appreciate their love, care, and hard work to make our family a warm and inviting place to visit each summer.

P.S. by Jana – A few years ago, I got the chance to update the drawing I did of Sharon’s cabin in 1992, because I draw better now. Goodness, an artist would certainly hope so. (Nope, not going to show you the first version because I deleted it, so there.) 

Shutter For Sale

Trail Guy helps me with my art business in lots of little ways, and a few bigger ones too. He likes power tools, and by using one he was able to secure a wire to the back of the shutter so it can hang on a wall.

Will it hang on your wall?

For $250 plus shipping (oh my, it is heavy compared to my normal paintings) plus tax (welcome to California unless you live in another state, in which case I would advise you to count your blessings) this one of kind painting can be yours.

And remember, EVERYTHING looks better in person (except those aforementioned news babes – see the post titled “Farewell at Dusk” if you are wondering when they were mentioned “afore”).

Smoky Sierra

Of course I am discussing Mineral King here, but “Sierra” sounds better with “smoky”.

In a walk along the road, I saw something that can only be described as trust. Some hikers completely trusted the public when they left their belongings unsecured by their car. It is heartwarming to see this in our current era of highly uncivilized behavior.

I was tempted to park my patoot here and simply knit all weekend. You know, smoke and all.

What got me moving was actually two things: 1. Summer is winding down and I haven’t hiked much. 2. A long time acquaintance asked me to hike with her someplace she had never been. We discussed the Franklin/Farewell trail and also White Chief, and I described each trail and destinations as thoroughly and fairly as possible, leaving the decision up to her.

But first, we had to stop by the Honeymoon Cabin so I could show you the newly refurbished sign. I don’t know why it is also called the “Point Cabin” – can’t see the point there (but can see the smoke.)

Since we were at the base of the White Chief trail, the decision was easy. Besides, Trail Guy was also heading that way (at a much faster pace), and he took a photo of us together where the trail breaks into the lower canyon. My friend (because over the course of 2.5 miles of walking together we had become friends for sure) was blown away by the beauty of White Chief and stunned that in all her years of coming to Mineral King, she hadn’t been there. 

It was a pleasure and privilege to share this place with her, and as an added bonus, my favorite flowers Explorer’s Gentian were in bloom. (Do you have your copy of Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names yet?)

The light on the way back down the trail was weird and orange. Nothing quite like a natural smoke filter to distort the colors.

It was well worth hiking in the smoky hazy dirty air to make a new friend, see the Explorer’s Gentian, be in White Chief, and revisit the joys of hiking. 

 

 

Smoky Weekend

 

While up the hill, I repainted signs for 3 cabins. That counts as work, yes? Here is one of the befores (it was too smoky to care about photographing it afterward – how is that for an excuse?)

I took my baby pumpkin plants up the hill to babysit them. Here they are when we first arrived:

Here they are 4 days later: If they had been left at home, they would have shriveled and croaked, unless a deer ate them first.

We took one short walk. Look – a car with a man-bun.

Parking is at a premium and some people let their car stick out in the already precariously narrow road. People don’t know that by August, the car part eating marmot activity has ceased. Maybe they just feel safer wearing masks.

It was a thrill to be in the green.

Trail Guy said, “Hey Farmer, why are the aspen leaves sticky?” I think the answer was something that meant bug excrement. Trail Guy dropped the leaf and marched onward.

This is a peculiar sight. A smooth boulder is encased in the rough rocks. We didn’t go closer to investigate because this is the time of meat bees/hornets, very aggressively defending their nests in the ground. I do my best to avoid Hornet Holes in the ground.

On Sunday, the air was truly terrible.

It got worse as we headed down the hill.

And in case you are wondering, at the time of these photos, there were no wildfires in Central California. The smoky conditions demonstrate how the pollution travels to the Central Valley. We tend to have terrible air here and get penalized for it, in spite of it being generated by Northern California cities. Those folks love to blame the farmers. Hope they don’t do so with their mouths full.

Sold!

In spite of the slow start to the summer season in Mineral King and the closed campgrounds (WHY?? Do “They” think that camping is more dangerous than shopping at Costco??), Silver City Resort is going gangbusters. These are the paintings that have sold so far this summer.

Now if you will please excuse me, I need to get out to the easels!

Mellow in Mineral King

Something about arduous hiking is not ringing my bell this summer. When I am in Mineral King, I am opting for quiet time knitting, sitting (to read, visit, or knit), and splitting (wood), or easy walks with friends, alone, or with Trail Guy. (He does his hiking when I am working.) This summer is especially mellow because all the regular events have been cancelled and suddenly, we have reclaimed many days that used to be scheduled for us. I confess to feeling relief at being released from the mandatory activities.

 

The Honeymoon Cabin is the museum of the Mineral King Preservation Society.
Trail Guy found this along the road several years ago and we tried to put it in the Honeymoon Cabin museum but alas, the key to the case didn’t fit. (Have you noticed that when you get a new key made, you often have to get it remade?)
Felwort is bluer in real life than in this photo
This large dual trunk is a Jeffrey pine along the Nature Trail. If you stick your nose against it, you might get a hint of a vanilla scent. There used to be signs along the trail. The Park made replacements but got sidetracked by a virus; now the trail needs signs and to be brushed.
This might be a nice trail painting, especially if I add in wildflowers.
For fun, I took 6 different photos of Sawtooth to paint from next year. This is number one as you walk up the Nature Trail.
view #2
#3
#4
#5
#6
Evening light on the bridge is magical. We like to sit on the railing and watch the light change.
Is this a flower??
Glacial daisies look like bigger, fuller, white asters.
New (to me) flower
There were good gentians (Sierra like this one and Explorer, my favorite) along with many other flowers at Soda Springs.

Thus we conclude our tour of a mellow weekend in Mineral King. (Not lazy – I made great progress on a sweater, split a pile of kindling, finished 2 books and started a 3rd, spent great time with cabin friends and took 2 walks. So there.)

Hanging Around in Mineral King

July is a busy month in Mineral King, when cabins are used, trails are full, and normally, campgrounds are full. This year the trails are getting more use than normal, since campgrounds are closed. This makes no sense to me, since camping is a very low risk activity – outdoors, spaced apart. (But no one who makes decisions has consulted me.)

I stopped to photograph the Oak Grove Bridge on the way up the hill. The view is getting more obstructed as the years pass.
I walked to Franklin Falls with some cabin neighbor-friends. 2 of us in front sort of lost track of 2 of them behind for awhile.
I love sitting by this creek where it cross the trail (or does the trail cross the creek??)
We stayed closer together on the way back down.

The weekend was a little sad. Some friends have been coming to the neighboring cabin for 38 years, but had to miss the last 3 because one of their number got cancer. This year his friends brought him back to Mineral King in a box. 

I didn’t participate in the ceremonies, but did catch up a bit with the Sawtooth Six Minus One. We observed our usual tradition of the photo on the porch before they all headed back down the hill.

There were more visits with other friends, a drawing lesson happened at our kitchen table, some serious knitting took place, but none of these events were photographed. Often it is better to be fully in the moment rather than behind a lens while documenting events.

The bridge is well lit in the late afternoon sun, but it would need some artistic license to become a good painting. (I felt compelled to mention that in case you think all I do is hang around in Mineral King and ignore my art business.)

More Mineral King

As promised on Friday, here is a little more about Mineral King. Tomorrow we will return to watching paint dry.

Great Whorled Penstemon in my cabin neighbors’ yard. (“Great” meaning lots of them, not that “great” is part of their name.)
Our young neighbor believes that Mr. Botkin knows everything.
One of this year’s batch of baby marmots beneath our cabin.

We walked down the road and back up the Nature Trail, which also did not have near the number of  wildflowers that we have become accustomed to.

At the upper end of the Nature Trail, this is what people used to see. If it was their first time on the trail, they were confused.
Now, first-time Nature Trail walkers can see that they are in the right place, in spite of it appearing to be a private road (which it is).

I love the morning light coming into the cabin.

Mineral King over the Fourth

We didn’t need fireworks because we had friends with flags.

We took a walk to the Franklin/Farewell Gap junction, a place that usually has the best wildflowers, almost always at the beginning of July. Not so this year. We’ve been spoiled by several great wildflower years, lulled into thinking that was normal.

It was fun anyway, because there is always good scenery and interesting things to see, even if you walk with your head toward the ground so you don’t fall.

The circle is around a bear track.
I’ve never seen such short Mariposa Lilies, and saw quite a few like this, just popping up right on the trail.
Striped rock
COOKIE?? Nope. It’s a rock.

I did look up, don’t worry.

This last picture is my favorite one of the day. We were off trail (of course), following a little loop-ette, devised by Off Trail Guy. After recrossing the stream, The Farmer offered to pull me up on a bank of snow which was the next step. Before accepting his kind offer, I said, “Thank you – first I need to take a picture!”

More about Mineral King on Monday.