Mirror Lake Day 1

We were so busy with New Zealand and other vacations last summer that we never managed to go camping. We decided that we would pack up and visit one of our favorite places, the Mirror Lake Highway. We always enjoy the high Uintas, and since the weather was predicted to be a steady stream of 100 degree days, it seemed like the right time.

Our campground was right by the lake, so we would walk down each evening.

For the first time we would be staying at Mirror Lake, which is really busy, but we chose a time early in the week, so it wasn’t quite so bad. We packed up Glen’s truck on Sunday morning. With the truck, we could take all three kayaks and spend some time on the lake. We could also visit a waterfall in the Murdock Basin that requires a high-clearance vehicle. Unfortunately, due to a wildfire, the Murdock Basin turned out to be closed!

 

We arrived at Mirror Lake around two o’clock and got camp set up. The boys were really good helpers, and the work went fast. By three-thirty we were ready for a hike. We decided to drive a little farther up the road and try a new hike behind the north ranger station called Lily Lake. 

There were plenty of Clark's Nutcrackers around, which was cool.

 

Along the way we spotted three bull moose out on the flat. Mom got some pretty good pictures with her long lens, but they were moving fast and pretty far away. Still, it was exciting because they were all bull moose.

One of the moose that we spotted.

They were moving so fast, Mom had to capture pictures between trees.

Here are two of the three bull moose!

We had the hike to Lily Lake all to ourselves, which was really rare for a Sunday afternoon in the Uintas. At all the trailheads there were vehicles double parked, yet we saw no one along the trail. It was a mile and a half up the hill to Lily Lake, and when we arrived there were a lot of people who had driven there, but we still enjoyed throwing some rocks before hiking back down.

We were grateful for this bench after we climbed on the hike.

Mom and Dad pic!

Mark is such a great hiker!

Lily Lake was beautiful.

 

We didn’t get back to camp until after six, so we started up a fire and got our tinfoil dinners going. They were delicious, and Mom and Dad had squash, chicken, and mushrooms, while the boys went with carrots and potatoes with their chicken. Then the boys had s’mores. 

 

It was getting late by that time, but we still played cards until well after dark. Then we read scriptures by flashlight. We went to bed wondering why we don’t do this more often, because it was such a perfect day!

We played lots of card games and had a blast.

Seth had never eaten a s'more all together, but we got him hooked this camping trip.

The boys hopped around on these rocks all weekend.