Yosemite 2007 June 7 - Yosemite Valley / Mirror Lake

Our destination today was the Mirror Lake Trail in the Yosemite Valley. This was an easy one mile hike to the lake and then we continued another three miles looping through Tenaya Canyon. On the way there we caught sight of another bear.


We saw these ducks on a pond off the trail. First they are swimming by themselves and then then all loaded up on mom.




A butterfly on the trail.




This picture of the stellar blue jay is one of my favorites for the trip.
























Mirror Lake is pretty small. We actually passed by it when we started the hike thinking the real thing must be further down the trail. Mountain lakes go through a natural process of shrinking and in spring and early summer Mirror Lake is a small lake, later in the summer it becomes "Mirror Puddle" and then eventually, "Mirror Sandbar". So after we hiked around Tenaya Canyon we backed tracked to see Mirror Lake. Here is the reflection it is famous for.














After the hike we took a much appreciated shower at Curry Village in the valley and had some pizza. Then we walked through the grand Ahwahnee hotel and grounds. When we arrived back at our campground we found that the winds had changed and we were getting some smoke from the prescribed burn in the area. It really didn't bother us, but we did a lot of cleaning and airing out of our gear when we got home.