Mirror Lake - Tom and Dick not Harry 12/13/14

[kaltbluter]

The Mirror Lake TH parking area has 'no parking - tow away zone' signs up. I decided to park in the chain-up area just up hill from the trailhead.

There was the barest sprinkling of snow at the starting elevation.


It wasn't quite cold enough to freeze the lake but the snow wasn't exactly melting in there either.
There were a couple of guys on the South and West shores with their tripods set up and waiting for a break in the clouds (I presume). I didn't want to spoil their shot so I took a quick picture and moved along.


The fog kept coming and going as I hiked on. I crossed my fingers and hoped for clear skies.




Well, crap...


Patches of blue would show up just often enough to give me hope.




But then the fog would roll back in.




There were a bunch of these wandering around on top of the snow. Tiny little things, hardly bigger than a plump mosquito.


I decided to walk to the next summit to give the weather some time to cooperate. Someone built this lovely shelter up there.



I took my time, wandered around, ate lunch, visited briefly with a trio of fog-hating hikers. But the fog only got thicker. I decided to call it a day and head back down. Here is my parting shot of Mt Hood. Some imagination required.


One of the streams feeding mirror lake.


No TR is complete without at least one pano.


I kept trying to get a good picture of the falling snow but dark backgrounds where hard to find. This one finally worked.



On the way down I started passing a lot of people. The field guide doesn't lie, this is a popular place. I'm guessing saw about 60 people. When I got back to the trailhead the entire parking area (right behind all those no parking signs) was full. And there were only a few spots left in the chain up area where I had parked.

I have never seen so many people on the trail before..well, maybe at Silver Falls..maybe.

[forestkeeper]

Nice photos and TR! I thinks it's weird how there's not a whole many hikers that begin in the morning, but you see the most of them two or three hours before nightfall. I was telling that to my buddy Glenn as we were hiking out from Frustration Falls. From 9 am to 1 pm, we didn't see anyone, but on the hike back to the TH, people were hiking towards the falls. When it gets dark at 4:30, that can't be enough time to go explore, but who knows, maybe they walk fast. Thanks for sharing!

[retired jerry]

I don't think that's wise parking in the chain up area. If it's full of Mirror Lake people, then there'll be no place to chain up. And Mirror Lake is popular so there could be lots of people.

It's probably marked that you can't park there? And they'll probably ticket or tow you?

A lot of people park at the ski area and walk over, but maybe that's just when there isn't skiing?

[Splintercat]

Nice report! Looks a lot like my trip to Bald Mountain yesterday..! I'm surprised the regular trailhead wasn't full of cars -- the "no parking" signs don't seem to have much effect there!

Thanks for posting -- and good to meet you in person on Saturday!

Tom

[mjuliana]

Too bad Mt Hood did not make an appearance but it's nice to see some snow on ground.

[kaltbluter]

I don't think that's wise parking in the chain up area. If it's full of Mirror Lake people, then there'll be no place to chain up. And Mirror Lake is popular so there could be lots of people.

It's probably marked that you can't park there? And they'll probably ticket or tow you?

A lot of people park at the ski area and walk over, but maybe that's just when there isn't skiing?

There aren't any signs where I parked. I'm assuming it is intended as a chain area, not sure though. I would have kept going to ski bowl if there was snow on the road at the trailhead. But it was raining and the forecast freezing level was 4400 ft (I think) so I decided to park close and make it an easy day.