July 15: Big Sandy Opening to Mirror Lake
 |
| Yumi feeling better and ready to hit the trail at Big Sandy opening. |
I was very excited when we finally were able to get out of the truck and begin packing. There were only a few clouds in the sky and the temp hovering in the mid-80's. I knew that I’d be able to take the Vapor Trail for this trip and packed it almost to its full capacity while Yumi was about to make her first extended trip with her Z-Pack. I took careful note of the many black and horse flies at the trailhead---this might be too good for Yumi. By 12:45 we shouldered our packsand began what we thought would be a short 6 mile hike to Dads Lake.
The trail was dry, dusty and much rougher than Yumi was expecting. It was also mostly uphill. Looking back, it would have made much more sense to spend a day acclimating to the higher altitude, but I underestimated the toll the long drive out from Wisconsin had taken on us physically. After 45 minutes we were both ready for a break and did so just outside the Bridger Wilderness boundary near Meeks Lake. After another hour and 15 minutes of hiking we arrived at the southern end of Fish Creek Park and caught our first glimpse of the Winds. It was also time to start thinking about our first night’s camp as we were both exhausted after only 4 miles of hiking. I briefly thought of heading off trail to the east to find Divide Lake but wanted to get a little further north than that
 |
| A calm Mirror Lake showing how it got its name. |
By 3:40 we arrived at tiny Mirror Lake and decided to quit fir the day---about 45 minutes short of Dads Lake.
|
|||||||||||||
We found a sheltered, albeit not that level, site on the western shore and began setting up camp and filtering water while being tormented by mosquitoes and flies. My new Cloudburst 2 set up quickly and we hastily retreated to its safety to escape the bloodthirsty insects. Both yumi and I took a short, much-needed nap before making dinner, and then retired for good by 8 PM. It had been a long day and tomorrow would probably be just as tough as we'd have to deal with Hailey Pass.
I found it incredible that just 24 hours earlier we were driving through Iowa and now we were in position to cross the Continental divide after a few miles of hiking.
