More New Mineral King Wildflowers

Here are more of the unknown Mineral King wildflowers that have the author of Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names flummoxed. (That would be me, the author of this blog, AKA Central California Artist).

There was a ton of this. In spite of its ubiquity, I never did get a good photo.
See?
What is this almost invisible (and impossible to photograph well) thing?
Too tiny to bother with? Must be, because they don’t appear in any of my wildflower books.
This might be the same thing that I said yesterday reminds me of goatheads.
What is this white? It reminds me of bushy leptosiphon, but it is too early.
Another difficult one to photograph. Are these unbloomed blooms? Or is this a “flower” of white knobs?
This was unopened and a little fuzzy. Furry, although the photo is a bit fuzzy.
These are sweet. They deserve to show up in someone’s flower book, but don’t in any of the ones I own.
These tempt me to say that all yellow flowers look alike.
Another tiny yellow unknown. Again, it resembles the yellow Violet, but the leaves just look wrong, and the location is unusual.
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.

New Mineral King Wildflowers!

Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names was published in March of 2019. Now in July of 2019, I am finding so many new wildflowers in Mineral King that I am just flummoxed. Flummoxed, I say! (Not sure what this means exactly, but it feels like the right word for my troubled state of mind.)

What is this yellow??
What is this white? Looks like Knotweed, but it’s in the wrong place.
HEY! Who are you? Sort of looks like the yellow Violet, but the leaves are wrong.
Is this a flower or is it just greenish-yellow leaves?
Looks like Naked Buckwheat, but it is too early and too white.
No idea. Maybe when it is in full bloom I will be able to find it in one of the flower books.
This low-growing yellow reminds me of goathead, the most wicked thorn in the Central Valley.
This is a flowering shrub at the Cold Springs Campground. I saw it last year while working on the book and just ignored it.

There are just too many for one post. To be continued tomorrow.

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.

White Chief

Are you ready to see some Mineral King footage that isn’t a road report or a show/sale report? We had the pleasure of hiking to White Chief with Hiking Buddy and The Farmer on Sunday, July 1.

Someone moved White Chief farther away than last year. They also tilted the trail to a steeper angle. I hate that.

It was a perfect day for a hike.
The Languid Ladies/Sierra Bluebells were still thick, normally only seen in late May and early June.
The bitter cherry were thick.
Bitter cherry blossoms.
Spring Creek was roaring, and we were thankful the bridge had been installed.
This was one of the unknown blues in the Blue/Purple chapter of Mineral King Wildflowers.
One of the well-loved White Chief junipers.
Discreet Creek (who named it that?) was flowing steadily for a change.

Trail Guy and the Farmer were well ahead of Hiking Buddy and me.
Lots of water in the first level area of White Chief. My feet lasted about 15 seconds in it.

We love this place.
The pointed peak is Mineral Peak, AKA Sawtooth’s Shadow.

Mineral King Road

Road update from Sequoia Roads Supervisor:

The current plan is for the Sequoia Road Crew to return to maintenance on the Mineral King road as soon as the current road center and fog line striping project is completed through the Giant Forest area this week.
Mineral King road maintenance will consist of spot brushing priority areas, pothole patching, drainage maintenance, shoulder damage repairs and regrading of the washout above Cold Springs and spot grading of the remaining unpaved sections of roadway, not necessarily in that order. Tentatively starting date of 7/15.

Today’s post isn’t very fun, but it is informative if you or someone you know is planning a trip to Mineral King this summer.

I’ve been driving the Mineral King Road regularly for 35 summers, sometimes weekly. This year it is the worst I have ever experienced.

There is no attempt to smooth it, no pothole patching, no erosion control, and no brushing. None.

Several times I wondered if I should stop, get out of my car, and eyeball the route on foot to find the safest way through the obstacle course. Instead, I crawled along in first gear, sometimes riding the brake to go even slower, and I made it without breaking anything.

My non-objective view is that since Trail Guy (AKA Retired Road Guy) retired 7 years ago, there has been a cumulative effect of his not working on the road. The Park roads department is headed up from an office in Grant Grove, which is in Kings Canyon National Park rather than from Ash Mountain in Sequoia. When Road Guy was there, he made certain that the Mineral King Road was not neglected. As a retiree, he still volunteers many hours on a (borrowed) big yellow machine to clear away the winter snow to get the road opened sooner than if folks waited for the Park or for nature.

The Park’s view might be that the road will be redone in a few years. Do they think that it won’t deteriorate further until that time??

I counted 60 potholes in the paved sections on the four-mile stretch between Silver City and Mineral King.

It would be easy to prune these cottonwoods that obstruct vision on this little stretch.
When potholes are full of water, it is impossible to judge the depth.
Just a random sampling of the potholes on the final stretch of road.

2019 was a real winter, which delayed the opening of the Mineral King road, campgrounds, and our own cabin. Atwell Mill Campground is open, but Cold Springs won’t be opened until July 10. (Most of the passes are snow-covered, but people are backpacking and day hiking anyway.)

Drive carefully. If you find the road to be a problem, it might not hurt to write a letter to the acting superintendent, whose name I do not know. (Woody is away, working at the Grand Canyon this summer.)

More Mineral King Wildflowers

Trail Guy went to Timber Gap. This is the view. Lots and lots of snow remains.
You can always find Phlox on the upper part of the Timber Gap trail in June. This year in July too. Sometimes they turn lavender, as you would know if you read the book, Mineral King Wildflowers, or hiked much in Mineral King.
I LOVE Five-spot!
Larkspur.
Languid Ladies are also known as Sierra Bluebells.
Jeffrey Shooting Star likes its feet wet.
This is a puffball, not a flower. I think it is a toadstool, or a lichen, or maybe a mushroom. Don’t eat it, okay?
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.

Mineral King Wildflowers

Mineral King Wildflowers is the name of the book I published in March of this year. In it, I said that most of the wildflowers in Mineral King hit their peak in July. This year it might be even truer, because the June flowers are still blooming in July. But perhaps the July flowers will not happen until August. More will be revealed in the fullness of time. Here is what was in bloom last week.

Lots of dandelions.
Unknown yellows.
More unknown yellows.
Sierra Star Tulip (overexposed photo doesn’t show the detail – might I suggest that you buy a copy of my book?)
Cow Parsnip.
Phlox, up on the Timber Gap trail.

Tomorrow is Independence Day. I will be silent on the blog, but will return for July 5, more Mineral King wildflowers.

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.

More Mineral King

Heading toward Crystal Creek (or Franklin Creek, or Franklin Lakes, or Farewell Gap)
That is high water for the East Fork of the Kaweah!
I missed my Hiking Buddy and The Farmer. Trail Guy got to hang out with them.
But, I got to be with Scout and Jackson.

There are always trade-offs in life. Tomorrow you get to see which wildflowers were in bloom in Mineral King last week.

P.S. When you comment on the blog, I have to approve the comment before it appears. This doesn’t mean that your comment didn’t “take”; it means I am not near a computer to release your comment. Thank you to those who go to the trouble to comment; I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

Mineral King, Finally

It has been an unusual year for Mineral King. Due to a heavy winter, a road trip to the Phoenix area, and a family emergency, I didn’t make it up the hill until last week. Trail Guy has been there and brought me his camera so I could experience Mineral King via photographs, the same way you get to experience it. (I think this can get stretched into several posts. Yea.)

The classic view from the bridge, complete with snow on Farewell Gap and high water.
Across the creek you can see a cabin, Empire, and Monarch Falls.
Sawtooth has lots of snow, lots and lots. The peak is hidden here, but you can see the ridge.

Back atcha, tomorrow. (I miss Cowboy Bert. He often ended phone calls with that articulate message, “Back Atcha”. Heavy heavy sigh.)

P.S. When you comment on the blog, I have to approve the comment before it appears. This doesn’t mean that your comment didn’t “take”; it means I am not near a computer to release your comment. Thank you to those who go to the trouble to comment; I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

Art Inspired by Mineral King

SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 10-2, SILVER CITY RESORT

Featuring the oil paintings and pencil drawings of Jana Botkin and the photography of Brett Harvey

Farewell Gap #4, pencil, framed to approximately 11×14, $400 including tax

P.S. When you comment on the blog, I have to approve the comment before it appears. This doesn’t mean that your comment didn’t “take”; it means I am not near a computer to release your comment. Thank you to those who go to the trouble to comment; I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

Mineral King Wildflowers Book

Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names arrived yesterday!

The cover photo is by Jessica Barr. All the interior photos are by me and Trail Guy.

A sample page from the blue and purple chapter
Every chapter has a few flowers at the end without names.

The price is $19.78, which includes sales tax. The odd number is because 1978 is the year that Mineral King became part of Sequoia National Park. If you order from my website, I’ll pay the shipping. If you order from Amazon, they will charge an additional $3.99.