MIRROR LAKE AT CHRISTMAS 

Mirror Lake Yosemite 

This is my last post for 2012 - I will begin again in January! -- I wanted to share with you a very special place we always visit in December in Yosemite - Mirror Lake! --- We have hiked to this magical place either at Christmas or Easter. - In December we always start our hike from the Ahwahnee Hotel parking lot. Basically if you stand on the red carpet of the entrance and head for the furthest right hand corner of the parking lot you will hit a trail that takes you all along the bottom of the granite cliffs to Mirror Lake. It is quiet in winter,  icy and snowy with plenty of deer! - The reason we always walk from the Ahwahnee is so that we can get some refreshment in the hotel bar after the walk back. The Ahwahnee Hotel is beautiful at Christmas time - decorated with multiple trees and pine cones. A great place to end up after a walk in the snow.... This will take you a couple of hours round trip, so be sure to give yourself enough time to get back before darkness falls. I have supplied another route below if you decide to hike the trail another way.....

Yosemite Valley Winter

Mirror Lake

Yosemite Valley Overlook.

Ahwahnee Hotel

On the Trail

Mirror Lake

Mirror Lake is a small, seasonal lake located on Tenaya Creek in Yosemite National Park. Situated in Tenaya Canyon directly between North Dome and Half Dome, it is the last remnant of a large glacial lake that once filled most of Yosemite Valley at the end of the last Ice Age, and is close to disappearing due to sediment accumulation!

View of Half  Dome from the Lake.

Maple Leaf