Mirror Lake is a seasonal pool of water on Tenaya Creek in Yosemite National Park. It is located at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley between North Dome and Half Dome. I read that Mirror Lake was once part of a large glacial lake that filled Yosemite Valley at the end of the Ice Age. However recent studies show that it was formed more recently when 11.4 million cubic feet of rock came down in an avalanche caused by an earthquake.
The Ahwahnechee Native American tribe called the lake “quiet waters.” When early settlers moved in they turned Mirror Lake into a tourist attraction with cabins, a boathouse and a dance hall. They gave it the name Mirror Lake due to the fact that they could see Half Dome and Mt. Watkins reflected on the lake's surface. In 1864 President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant to protect the area from logging, mining and over development.
Mirror Lake gets its water from Tenaya (Creek) Canyon snow melt. By 1884 sediment started to settle in and reduce its size. A dam of a few large granite boulders were placed into the narrowest points but this did little to reduce the silt problem. In 1886 another dam was built on Tenaya Creek above the lake. All this did was allow the sediment to back up farther upstream. The lake has been dredged many times, the last being in 1971. Today it is only full in early spring. By late summer it has been reduced to some small ponds surrounded by sand and tall grass. The park service has decided to let the sediment reclaim the lake and return it to a natural meadow.
With the invention of the camera in 1816 we are now able to look back and see photographic images of what Yosemite looked like before it became a national park. Taking photographs in a wilderness setting was not an easy task back then. It required mules to carry food, personal items, camping equipment, cameras, photo chemicals and glass for albumen plates to the location. Some of the early photographers were Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, George Fiske, Charles L. Weed and Charles Roscoe Savage.
Carleton E. Watkins was a photographer for the California State Geological Survey. His photos were recognized for their artistic composition. He also created many advancements in darkroom photo development techniques. Mt. Watkins, which is reflected in Mirror Lake, was named in his honor. Charles L. Weed first traveled to Yosemite in 1859. Many of his photographs were used to promote tourism. Weed’s albumen silver photographic print (1865) titled Mirror Lake and Reflections, Yosemite Valley, Mariposa County, California along with Charles Roscoe Savage’s 1888 print titled Mirror Lake, Yosemite Valley, California are both in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. In 1879 George Fiske became the first photographer to reside in the park year round. A young Ansel Adams admired his work and is quoted as saying “he has the better eye.” Unfortunately in 1904 three quarters of Fiske’s glass plate negatives and photo equipment were lost in a fire. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has 18 of his photographs in their collection.
Holbrook artwork of Yosemite National Park that is available for sale:
Mirror Lake with Cirrus 1994 40x27 oil/acrylic on paper unframed
Under Yosemite Falls 2013 32x23 oil on canvas framed
Royal Arches and Half Dome 2013 40x50 oil on canvas framed
Tenaya Creek 1995 lithograph # 6/7 27x18 Black ink lithograph hand colored unframed.
Sentinel 1995 27x18 oil/ acrylic on paper unframed
Boulders Like Boxcars 1991 40x27 oil/acrylic on paper unframed
See PeterHolbrook.net for all the images.