Tuesday Afternoon Hike To Lake 22

I hiked Heather Lake a number of times last year and even once early this year but this is the first time I’ve journeyed to her sister Lake 22. The trailhead is just a mile or so farther down Mountain Loop Highway and I’ve heard it was nice but crowded on the weekends. I usually try to work weekends and hike weekdays for that very reason. Today I was done in the office about 11 AM (easy to do since business is in the crapper these days) and headed out for this rather short 5.5 mile round trip hike.





The parking lot at the trail head is much larger than for Heather Lake and the trail is very well maintained. It isn’t too strenuous at all but a little rocky in places. A number of waterfalls to see on the trip up and I imagine there are twice as many in the early springtime (when this trail is usually recommended). Particularly at the bottom and the sound of the many smaller waterfalls is a bit relaxing. There is even a small spot where you can see a little bit of the Cascades mountain range.




You come up on the lake out of nowhere and it looks much like Heather Lake. It is supposed to be much larger (and deeper by the way) but it actually looked smaller to me. There is a boardwalk that goes almost completely around the lake (just like Heather) and there is some small snow pack on the edge.

I was drawn to these three columns that look almost like long faces that overlook the lake. If this was a fantasy movie, this would be where a huge rock troll would come up out of the ground.


Anyway, this was a short little hike, I was back in the home/office by 5:30 PM and may actually try to scrounge up some business ... or ... maybe I'll just drink a beer or two and think about scrounging up some business (grin).