My perfect Saturday morning: I'm up the Mirror Lake Highway, popping on and off the road to and…read morefrom a fishing hole, or perhaps a special little hike with someone. I'm camping, or just up for the morning after a pancake-packed breakfast, or perhaps I've taken the week off and we're camping up here in the forest. At any rate, I'm driving along the MLH and there's no agenda. Just mountain air, sunshine, pine trees, aspen, and the highway with its many forks and dirt road diversions.
To me, this is the gold (but achievable) standard of Saturday mornings. How many times have I lived this in my head? It's countless: I lay there in bed and think about that morning. Every time I do, I have more resolve to do what it takes to make that a reality. There are dreams, and there are plans.
Last weekend I went to wander this highway and think about it, to check the snow levels, to check in on the river and look at runoff, and to put my feet on the trail.
Now, I've driven the highway here on dozens of occasions. I've known about this turnoff at the Provo River Overlook for at least ten years. But for some reason, I don't think I've ever stopped here. It's just a simple turnout on the south side of the highway, so I usually peer over the cliff from the road and look at the Provo River below. But Saturday I felt like taking a closer look, so I pulled over.
There are spaces for maybe 5-6 cars to park, and no real assigned parking spots per se, just a turnout. Next to the turnout is a simple vault toilet, with one door/bathroom, but to my surprise it was already open this early in the season. Behind the restroom is an asphalt walkway with a railing, and it descends a little to a viewpoint to look out on the Upper Provo as it tumbles down the canyon. There's a sign holder on the railing about halfway down, but the sign is long gone. The small wall at the end is crumbling and the walkway has eroded a little as well, and you can tell that people have used this as a takeoff point to pick their way down the cliff to the river below. It's a few hundred feet down and do-able, but not advisable.
The view is nice. Not other-worldly, but nice. I'm so very in love with everything that has to do with the Mirror Lake Highway, so I'm biased, but even this long stretch of the river, its constant flow, and the steep canyon walls it carves out holds a beauty and special place in my heart, so I think it's worth the stop. But if I'm being objective, you might find the potty the most useful part. I look at that river and I see unending flows; a river that is always flowing and feeling the rocky bottoms and the soaring splashes. It's powerful, lifegiving water can't and won't be stopped until it reaches its inevitable destination. You can dam it, divert it, or try to dry it up but water eventually finds a way to be where it belongs. We can learn a lot from that, take courage, and follow the course of our own river.