Mirror Lake Redux

S. and I thought it might be a good idea to go to the real Mirror Lake since we went to the wrong one in our last adventure.  Surprisingly; two weeks in a row our schedules actually coincided enough that we were able to do it this week.

The drive up to the Uintah mountains was beautiful.  The more I'm forced to drive through pretty places the more I realize that it's much better to be a passenger. I miss so much of everything around me because I actually have to pay attention to the road. They need to hurry up and make those cars that drive for you.  That way I could enjoy the scenery around me.

Dad had mentioned that Provo falls would be a good place to stop over before getting up to the lake areas. He was right. I was surprised how extensive the falls were.  Instead of being one big fall they are a giant series of terraces.  You have calm, mostly shallow water alternating with 5-10 foot drops.  There was only one problem. In order to fully experience the falls you need to have two different types of shoes. One set to climb up the hill alongside the river; another so you can wade through the calm spots.  Surprisingly I thought ahead and brought appropriate footwear for wading. Unsurprisingly; I attempted to go climbing in the flip-flops that I brought along for wading..  My feet reminded me today why that was not the greatest of ideas. I have a lot of dings and scratches that weren't there yesterday.

After climbing through the river and the falls we both were feeling a little big hungry. According to the map we got from the nice lady at the entrance Trial lake was just around the corner from Provo Falls.  So we got into the car and started driving for the lake. It only took 15 minutes for me to realize that the lake that was supposed to be just around the corner wasn't appearing. I had taken a wrong turn out of the Provo Falls parking lot and we had been driving the wrong direction. My excuse is that I was distracted by the scenery, the conversation, and the rather cute girl in the seat next to me.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I realized my mistake, we turned around and made it to Trial Lake.

S. proceeded to take us on a "mile" long hike to get away from everyone else near the lake parking lot. I didn't really mind; I like having an area for myself also. The funny thing is; that as soon as we sat down an elderly couple in a paddle boat kept doing circles right in front of us. So much for hiding out.

I did rather regret lugging the cooler the entire way. In hindsight I probably should have just thrown lunch into a backpack and ditched the cooler.  It was not the only think that I probably should have done. Once we started eating I, with some little help from S., discovered that I had forgotten to change into my swimsuit, forgot the bug repellent, and forget my towel.   I proceeded to hike back to the car, leaving S. to entertain herself.  Which she had to do for a lot longer than anticipated.  I managed to change fairly quickly. I grabbed the mosquito repellent that I had bought earlier. It's a new product by off. It doesn't require you to spray anything on you or your clothes. It's like an air freshener with a battery powered fan that propels the repellent into the air as it's clipped onto your clothes or on the ground next to you.  With one problem; it appears that the one I bought was defective. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out why it wasn't working, gave up and headed back to our staked out area. Only to realize half-way there that while fooling around with the repellent I had left my towel.  Let's just say that after my various adventures S. spent far more time alone at the lake than she did with my company.

I finally got back. Ready and excited to go swimming. Only to have one of the Uintah Mountains afternoon storms suddenly appear and drop the temperature by 10 degrees or so.  Freezing water and freezing air. A wise person would just give up swimming as a lost cause.  S. was wise. I on the other hand, rejecting my inner King Solomon, still went out and swam. It was cold. :)

After a while S. pulled me out of the water pleading that she was cold and getting eaten alive. They seemed valid excuses so I forced myself out of the water. My teeth didn't even chatter; I was proud of myself.  At that point we headed home. The road trip demons couldn't resist making it rain as we were leaving. I personally have decided to never ever go anywhere that has any relation to mirrors with S. again. The name is cursed.

Yea for offloading debt to my kids.

Here's an absolute stunner related by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of Obama's debt and deficit commission, to the National Governors Association last Sunday: Every dime of current federal revenue is consumed by three entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That means all other federal programs, including the military, education and innumerable others, are being paid 100 percent by borrowing.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700048741/In-budget-battle-which-side-is-right.html

I've always known that Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid were monsters. I guess I wasn't really aware of how much of the federal budget they really consume.  You have to wonder how long the US can keep borrowing money until something collapses.

Where is Mirror Lake?

First off. I'm going to say that I really regret not pulling out my camera the entire time that we were on this day trip. There was so much nice scenery. I guess my memories will just have to suffice.

This past Friday when we were discussing things  to do my California friend (subsequently referred to by the pseudonym S.) suggested going to Mirror Lake down by Beaver.  Which somewhat surprised my family because the only mirror lake that we were aware of is in the Uintah Mountains on the East side of the state.  One also happens to be a 3 hour drive; the other an hour and half hour drive.  Me, being the trusting person that I am determined that despite being a Californian she actually knew what she was talking about. Appears my assumption was wrong. After the several hour drive we found what Google maps listed as Mirror Lake the signs all called Fish Lake.

She was disappointed.  It was beautiful but very mossy. She didn't want to go swimming in mossy and gooey water.  Now. Even though it was mossy it was water. Anyone who knows me knows that I will find a way to play with, fall into, or otherwise enjoy any body of water larger than an H20 molecule. I started off fairly tame. There were rocks and driftwood lying around the lake. So I introduced S. to the Stuart time honored tradition of throwing rocks at floating logs and twigs. I made the mistake of mentioning that when I was a kid I would pretend that the wood were Russian and or German warships attacking our shores. S. made the observation that it was lucky that it was just pretend.  If we were dependent on my shooting accuracy we might very well be speaking German or Russian in the near future.

I also discovered to my horror that my companion had never learned how to skip a rock.  I suppose it is somewhat understandable. Being from California most of her water experience has been from the ocean. Waves coming in make it a bit harder to skip rocks.  I spent a few seconds showing her the technique; then got distracted by trying to make sure that I actually succeeded myself. I managed to get a couple of good skips in.

At that point I decided to channel my inner Tom Sawyer.  Someone in the near past had put together a log raft and I had to try it out.  I poled myself into the middle of the lake and let the wind blow me across the lake. It was very relaxing. I probably could have floated on it for quite a while if not for one small problem. Nope; not the problem that I was wet. It was actually the opposite problem. All that water around me and I was not wet. That was just blasphemy. So I ditched my perfectly good raft and got myself nice and wet...and very cold.  The lake hadn't gotten the memo that it's summer and summer is supposed to be warm. I splashed around as long as I could stand the cold and returned the raft to the bank. S. entertained herself by walking around the lake then laying out under the sun reading. I joined her for a while but alas all good things must end and we had to return to the land of civilization.

We did decide however that we really should make an effort to visit the real Mirror Lake