Hiking the Mirror Lake Area
Uinta Mountains
September 2013 - 72 photos
Uinta Mountains
September 2013 - 72 photos
This hike was around the Mirror Lake area, hiking to Emerald Lake, String Lakes, Bonny Lake, Blythe Lake, and more.
On Sept 7th, 2013, Cheryl, Marlene, Bill and I went for another hike up in the Uinta's. We did this hike around the vicinity of Mirror Lake. The forecast in our home area was for mid 90's but only mid 70's up in the Uinta's, so we decided on going up where it was cooler. We had a pretty good day until towards the end of the hike, when it hailed a little for about 6 minutes, then just as we arrived back at the Mirror Lake Campgrounds it started raining. We put on our windbreakers and within a few minutes it stopped raining. Typical for us. Put on the rain gear and it stops raining. Anyway, it was a delightful day, and a fun hike.
On Sept 7th, 2013, Cheryl, Marlene, Bill and I went for another hike up in the Uinta's. We did this hike around the vicinity of Mirror Lake. The forecast in our home area was for mid 90's but only mid 70's up in the Uinta's, so we decided on going up where it was cooler. We had a pretty good day until towards the end of the hike, when it hailed a little for about 6 minutes, then just as we arrived back at the Mirror Lake Campgrounds it started raining. We put on our windbreakers and within a few minutes it stopped raining. Typical for us. Put on the rain gear and it stops raining. Anyway, it was a delightful day, and a fun hike.
We started by checking out Emerald Lake, a small lake at the base of Bald Mountain. I had seen this lake from the top of Bald Mountain, and decided I wanted to check it out. Emerald Lake is located in a large open meadow surrounded by evergreens. While walking around this area we found a spring and a pipeline that probably ran down to the old Forest Service Building, which used to be on the Highway above Mirror Lake. That old building is gone now, but the spring is still running fresh and clear.
After checking out Emerald Lake we drove down to Mirror Lake and began our hike around the west side of the lake.
Mirror Lake is one of the larger lakes and the main attraction in the Western Uinta Area. There are 64 camping sites on the east side of the lake, which can handle about 700 people. There is a very nice trail running all the way around the shoreline as well.
Many visitors to this website have been looking for the length of the trail around Mirror Lake. I have not measured it, but would guess it to be about 1.4 miles.
Mirror Lake is one of the larger lakes and the main attraction in the Western Uinta Area. There are 64 camping sites on the east side of the lake, which can handle about 700 people. There is a very nice trail running all the way around the shoreline as well.
Many visitors to this website have been looking for the length of the trail around Mirror Lake. I have not measured it, but would guess it to be about 1.4 miles.
We hiked up to the north end of Mirror Lake, then left the trail to check out a bunch of small lakes and ponds below Pass Lake. I call these the String Lakes. They are strung out along the stream between Pass Lake and Mirror Lake. Very rugged country and it didn't look like many people ever venture in there. Interesting, because it's quite beautiful and so close to the the campgrounds. I guess most people don't know about it. While there we saw a couple of deer, but they quickly disappeared into the forest.
After checking out the String Lakes, we went cross country looking for the trail to Bonny Lake. Using my GPS we found it and soon arrived at the Lake. We had lunch there, then followed the stream that empties from Bonny Lake. This stream has many wide spots along it, creating small lakes and ponds. We got to see another deer in that area.
Using the GPS we hiked down over a hill to Blythe Lake, a very beautiful lake east of Mirror Lake, one that few people visit. No trail to it. We took a route probably never used before. It was a route I decided on after looking at Google's Satellite view, but it turned out to be very rough and steep. Probably won't go that way again. Glad it was down hill.
Leaving Blythe we hiked south looking for a large meadow we knew was there, found it, crossed it, and ended up back at Mirror Lake. That's when the rain hit, but it didn't last long, only about 5 minutes.
Adding the distance we walked for the day gave us 5.4 miles. 0.6 for the walk up to Emerald Lake, and 4.8 for the rest. Overall we dropped and climbed about 375 feet. Between the 4 of us, we managed to take about 600 photos. It was a challenge for me to pick through them and make a story. I wanted to use them all.
Adding the distance we walked for the day gave us 5.4 miles. 0.6 for the walk up to Emerald Lake, and 4.8 for the rest. Overall we dropped and climbed about 375 feet. Between the 4 of us, we managed to take about 600 photos. It was a challenge for me to pick through them and make a story. I wanted to use them all.
you can view our photos by clicking on any of the pictures here
or the 'View Photos' button
or the 'View Photos' button
Mirror Lake is located 32 miles from Kamas Utah, along State Highway 150, called Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, running from Kamas Utah to Evanston Wyoming.
CLICK for GPS map of our hike
- 72 photos -
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click 'View Photos' button
Related Photos
Other hikes in the area
Mirror Lake 2011
Bald Mountain 2012
Clegg & Notch Lakes
Fehr Lake Trail, 2009
Uintas, early spring
More Uinta Hikes
My photos were taken with a small Canon Powershot, SX280, 12 Megapixel Camera which has Image Stabilization and optical lens from wide angle to 20x zoom. Some of these photos were taken by Bill Joy with his Olympus E620 SLR and lens assortment. Marlene used a Canon Powershot SX260 with optical lens from wide angle to 20x zoom. Cheryl took some of the pictures shown here with her Cell Phone.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.
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to look at these photos
click 'View Photos' button
Related Photos
Other hikes in the area
Mirror Lake 2011
Bald Mountain 2012
Clegg & Notch Lakes
Fehr Lake Trail, 2009
Other hikes in the area
|
Mirror Lake 2011
|
Bald Mountain 2012
|
Clegg & Notch Lakes
|
Fehr Lake Trail, 2009
|
|
Uintas, early spring
|
More Uinta Hikes
|
My photos were taken with a small Canon Powershot, SX280, 12 Megapixel Camera which has Image Stabilization and optical lens from wide angle to 20x zoom. Some of these photos were taken by Bill Joy with his Olympus E620 SLR and lens assortment. Marlene used a Canon Powershot SX260 with optical lens from wide angle to 20x zoom. Cheryl took some of the pictures shown here with her Cell Phone.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.
These photos are set to lower resolution and compressed 10:1 for faster loading. You are welcome to look at or download any of the photos. If you use them on any other webpage, please give credit and refer back to me.