Wednesday/ hike to Lake Twenty Two

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The trail head sign in the parking lot off of Mountain Loop Highway.
Lake Twenty Two
Here’s a nice map of the topography of the area. The trail zig-zags across the water flowing down from Lake Twenty Two and the mountain slopes, and most of the trail is in a forest. The trail then lassos around the lake, after which the hikers take the same way down (the way they came up).
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On the way up, in an area where the forest is not very dense.
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Here is the view of the lake looking south. Part of the trail around it is a wooden board walk ! How nice after the tree roots and the rocks we had to negotiate on the way up!
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Lots of green – it is summer after all – and also some colorful flowers.
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We made it!  The obligatory ‘Summit Picture’ (taken with Dave’s camera on timer mode) : Dave, Bill and Willem with Lucy and Ethel in front.

I took a day off from work to go on a hike with my friends Bill and Dave. We hiked a trail up to Lake Twenty Two.  (I’m not sure why this lake has a number!  Most other lakes in the Mt. Baker- Snoqualmie National Forest here in Washington State have names!).   

The drive out there from the city is about two hours. The trail length is 5.4 mi (8.6 km) round-trip. Most of the hike is through forest, but some sections of the trail are out in the open.   The lake is at the high point of the trail, with an elevation gain of 1,350 ft (411 m) to the lake’s surface.   It’s a nice reward after some 90 minutes of trekking uphill !

Across from the lake is Mount Pilchuck’s sheer northern face. The peak is at 2,400 ft (731 m), so about 1,000 ft (320 m) above the lake surface.  Even at this time of the year, thin white waterfalls cascade down on the rock face, and two melting snow packs are still visible on the slopes south of the lake.  


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