A short 1-mile walk passed a Yosemite campground brings you to one of the valley ground marvels of Yosemite: Mirror Lake.
After doing a lengthy 10-mile hike on Panorama Trail that started at 10AM and ended at 5PM, Pat and I thought are legs wouldn’t be able to do anymore. But the adrenaline we got from seeing all those spectacular views on Panorama trail gave us the boost we needed to go the extra mile (literally) and tick one more gorgeous place off of our list: Mirror Lake. After all, we were only in Yosemite Valley for a day and half and we wanted to see as much as possible.
Panorama Trail had a lot of hills, so we decided to take on a flatter 1-mile trail for sunset. Rather than join the crowds at Glacier Point we decided to walk to Mirror Lake. The walk is very easy. You can either walk on the paved road for cars or inside the more forested area. If you choose to walk in the forested area, beware of mountain lions and their cubs. Mountain lions seem to like this area due to the topography and can be very protective and aggressive if their cubs are around. Pat and I chose to walk on the paved area to save our legs anymore pain.
The hike is about 1-mile there and 1-mile back. We went in September and there had been a drought for about 3 months. It had rained for the first time in 3 months the day before when Pat and I were there for an hour. Little did we know that this would have an impact on Mirror Lake…Mirror Lake is famous because when you look in the reflection of the lake you can see the beautiful pine trees, Tenaya Canyon, Mount Watkins, and Washington Column reflected in the lake, giving it this jaw-dropping Mirror effect.
We arrived at the lake, but couldn’t see it. Is it farther down? Past the pine trees? What are we missing? Little did we know that we were actually standing in the middle of the lake! The drought had caused the lake to disappear. It reappears later in October, but during dry summers disappears. Upset that we wouldn’t get to see this stunning Mirror phenomenon for sunset, we were still super surprised at how beautiful the sun hit the canyons and glaciers surrounding us. It looked like something out of a Macbook Desktop computer. We stood in the middle of Mirror Lake and captured some stunning photographs before the sun hid behind the Canyons.
Ever notice?
Did you notice that some of Apple’s iOS systems are in fact named after Yosemite Valley landmarks. El Capitan, Yosemite, Mountain Lion..ring a bell? I know, interesting observation!
On the way back to the parking lot, we came across our second black bear sighting in 2 days! This black bear was casually walking alongside the paved road with us. He would occasionally stop and turn to look at us, and then continue walking. These beautiful animals are harmless when unprovoked or threatened, in fact they look super cute person. Just remember to keep your distance and don’t make it feel like you’re cornering it. If you can put enough distance between you and the bear, you’ll get to enjoy one of the rare sights of a black bear in Yosemite!
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