As planned, we all got on the same bus at Happy Isles and got off again two minutes later at the Mirror Lake trailhead – for some reason, we were expecting this hike to be in open sun for most of its one-mile length (wrong) and completely flat (also wrong). Right away, we were presented with a choice of staying left on the paved bike path or going right on a dirt foot trail. A hiker passing the opposite way advised staying left as the foot trail did not connect back to the bike path side until far beyond Mirror Lake, making the round trip five miles instead of two – we went left. Despite the day warming into the 90s in the late morning, the heat was quite bearable in the shade of the trees lining the path – however, the last few hundred yards of the trail involve an 80′ ascent, not a real big deal but enough to warm us up and make us hungry. Most of us had never been to the lake before – Chris recalls just seeing a mud hole on his one visit here as a kid, and the lake does tend to dry out even in the early season. This year, that’s not the case at all – a beautiful still pool about two feet deep beckoned to be stepped into, and many there ahead of us were taking advantage of the opportunity. We plopped down on some nearby rocks and ate a leisurely lunch we had packed in from the cabin, and the boys all shed their shoes for some wading of their own. After lunch, we decided to split up, Barbara and the Arredondos all heading back the way we came to catch the shuttle over to Yosemite Village, the rest of us choosing to hike there instead on the Valley Loop trail. GPS noted 1.2 miles from the bus stop to our lunch spot at Mirror Lake.