LensFocus: Mirror Lake: Isolated, But Known

Two fishermen fish in a canoe (right-center) near the shoreline across Mirror Lake, in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on May 11, 2012.

"The universe is no narrow thing and the order within it is not constrained by any latitude in its conception to repeat what exists in one part in any other part. Even in this world more things exist without our knowledge than with it and the order in creation which you see is that which you have put there, like a string in a maze, so that you shall not lose your way. For existence has its own order and that no man's mind can compass, that mind itself being but a fact among others."

-- CORMAC McCARTHY

A bald eagle flies over Mirror Lake. May 11, 2012.

My dad, Jesse, and I hiked in to Mirror Lake for a day adventure. It was the first time I'd ever been to Mirror Lake, an elongated body of water with two fingers of land jutted into the water.

It's a body of water one would never know existed unless one looked closely at a map of one of the most isolated areas in Michigan. Local residents know of it, but few know exactly where it is and how to get there. But of course, to know where all lakes and rivers sit and wind through the nearly 60,000-acre Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park would require extensive map studying and hiking.

Jesse Niemi on the Mirror Lake Trail. May 11, 2012.

It was about 60 degrees (F) during our hike and arrival to the lake. Over the course of the four hours we were there, the temperature dropped 10 degrees and brought with it rain clouds that dropped occasional sprinkles. It felt like dew falling off a tree in a breeze.

A swamp we walked by during our off-the-trail hike on our way to the fishing spot on Mirror Lake. May 11, 2012.

It's a 2.5 mile hike to Mirror Lake from the parking lot, which takes about an hour to accomplish. The first half-mile of the hike from the parking lot is uphill -- hiking up the same escarpment that makes up Summit Peak, the highest point of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Even on the trail to the lake there are hills to ascend and descend.

In essence, the hike is literally a grandpa's saying -- uphill both ways.

Because we heard before we left that there were already people staying in a cabin on the lake, we planned to go off the trail and fish from somewhere across the lake from the cabins. This part of the hike led us into swamps and muddy terrain. It was about 60 degrees (F) during our hike and arrival to the lake. Over the course of the four hours we were there, the temperature dropped 10 degrees and brought with it rain clouds that dropped occasional sprinkles. When the warm weather left, so did the bugs. I would always rather deal with the cold than to deal with the bugs.

Dad wouldn't like if I disclosed the specific spot he cast from. He did say that he never saw the lake conditions that we experienced -- waves -- which are usually small on Mirror Lake, if any develop. The waves in the late afternoon were cresting, or "white capping." Usually the lake is near flat, like a mirror.

It was a great way to experience the start of summer, despite catching a splake too small to keep, and getting nothing beyond bites after that.

GETTING TO MIRROR LAKE

From Silver City: Highway M-64 turns into 107th Engineers Memorial Highway. Turn left onto Forest Highway 117/South Boundary Road for about 12 miles. There will be a sign for Summit Peak and Mirror Lake.

From Wakefield: Turn onto Thomaston Road, which eventually becomes County Highway 519. Drive about 16 miles and turn right onto Forest Highway 117/South Boundary Road. Drive about 13 miles. There will be a sign for Summit Peak and Mirror Lake.