The Party Place: Mirror Lake (7.24.24)

Mirror Lake, in the Uintah Mountains east of Salt Lake City, is one of David's favorite places. When in doubt about a fun afternoon getaway, he sometimes says, "Let's walk around Mirror Lake."  On July 24, 2024, Dave and I celebrated Pioneer Day by walking around Mirror Lake and then continuing through the mountains to Evanston, Wyoming.
 

Generations of our family have enjoyed Mirror Lake.  For Dave's and my 50th wedding anniversary, our children hosted a hamburger cookout at our nearby cabin, with a hike around Mirror Lake afterwards.

My dad took this photo in the early 1940s, as he and his friends partied at Mirror Lake before being disbursed far and wide by World War II.  I get my partying, friend-gathering spirit from my dad's family, the Calders.  When I see pictures my dad took of pretty women, I wonder if any of them are the "red-headed nurse" that my mom said my father preferred.

We were not the only ones partying at Mirror Lake on Pioneer Day.  We met our neighbor, Wilma Livsey, who was as interested in taking pictures of us as we were in taking pictures of her!  

We met Wilma's granddaughter, Rachel Hales, along the trail, with her boyfriend from BYU.  Rachel was a member of my Primary class years ago.  Rachel has recently returned from an LDS mission to Hong Kong and her boyfriend was in the same mission.  They hope to use their Chinese while working for international businesses.  

The hike around Mirror Lake was beautiful and calming.  It was a bite-size hike--just a mile or two.

We drove on through the Uintahs to Evanston, Wyoming.  We had driven through Evanston dozens of times on the freeway and thought of it mainly as the fireworks-selling capital of the West. This time, we wandered downtown, past quaint brick storefronts.  We expected a sheriff with six-shooters to appear at any moment, or a couple of cowboys to come rolling out of a bar.

We skipped the chain restaurants for homemade chili and cellophane packages of oyster crackers and Saltines at Mother Mae's Kitchen.  I sipped on a root beer float.