Mirror Lake

Today is my Blogiversary! Two whole years and what a fun couple of years it’s been. There have been good times (rolling in the mud, for one…) and there have been some bad (my poor Toby—I do miss him), but with the help of all of you, it’s been worth every minute. My Aunt Sally came to visit all the way from Texas and Mom said “Let’s go hiking!” There’s no better way to commemorate my blogiversary, at least that’s what I say.

Off we went. We stopped at the Ranger Station near Mt. Hood and got some trail maps (are more hikes up there in my future?). Mirror Lake was our destination and is a fairly easy hike off the highway. We started here…a raging river coming out of the forest. I wasn’t allowed to go into it, but I really didn’t want to.

We hiked into a gorgeous forest. It was a little eerie with the fog hanging almost right over us. We saw lots of downed trees that are composting in the forest. Mom says it’s food for the soil. I practiced my agility and did a little rock sitting.

And walking over a bog bridge.

We found a stream where I got my furs wet, even though it’s not hot (maybe 60 degrees F. (15 degrees C.))We finally got to the lake. The fog was really low.

We walked around it and came to a spot where I could go swimming for a bit. The fog was even rising off the lake! If it hadn’t been so foggy, this is what we’d have seen. That’s Mt. Hood. Mom says we’ll just have to go back…

We did see some pretty flowers. We weren’t sure what this was, but this lily was stunning!Mirror Lake is a glacial lake at the foot of Tom Dick and Harry Mountain. That’s it in the distance. Beyond the fog….there’s 3 peaks that are part of a 2-mile long volcanic mountain and is only about 5,066 feet tall. Because of this, it’s considered a foothill of Mt. Hood. On the way back, I checked out a hollowed-out stump. There were lots of stumps in the forest, but this one was particularly interesting. Maybe there was a treat inside!