Today I finally found someone willing to go hiking with me. ""As long as we don't go to Mt. Si"" he said. He has some serious horror stories from that place including throwing his backpack down 1 or 2 or 5 switchbacks because he couldn't stand to carry it anymore. So we decided to do something a little less physically challenging and head up Mountain Loop Highway and see what we could find. I was hoping to repeat my December trip and go to Big Four Ice Caves and Lake 22. I found out at the Verlot Ranger Station that the road was still closed by snow at Deer Creek. (I swear the western sections of the Glacier Peak area get more low-altitude snow than just about anywhere else in the Cascades) We decided to just aim for Lake 22 and take our leisurly time at it.

I was more than a little shocked when I saw tiny patches of snow right next to my car in the trailhead parking lot. There was no snow there in December. Fortunatly, the snow was constricted to tiny patches for most of the trip. This trail goes through some of the most supurb old growth forest that I have ever traveled through. This is because of an experiment performed by the forest service in the late 1940s. They decided to leave the basin of Lake 22 and 22 Creek alone (except for the trail) and ""intensively manage"" (log and rape in every conceivable way) the basin of Heather Lake and creek which is directly to the West. This is one of very few logical and foreward looking experiments ever performed by the forest service. I hope you can guess which area turned out better in pretty much every conceivable way.

The trail passes by a number of waterfalls on the way to the lake. The best one is on a short side-trail just as you enter the overgrown rockslide area. The only beef I have about this trail is this rockslide area. There really is no tread for most of it. Just talus. The trail is easily definable but is definetly hard on the feet and thighs. It is near the end of this area that the snow starts in earnest. There has been a well worn trench beaten all the way to the lake. This snow is absolutly perfect for walking and despite its depth, I wouldn't recommend snowshoes. I beleive this area got at least a couple inches of new snow last Wednesday and Thursday. The snow is really deep in most spots as you near the lake. It is a little odd because there are spots of completly bare ground. I don't know how that works.

I think Dan and I set a new record for slowness going up this trail. We spent most of our time making stupid jokes and throwing snowballs at each other. It took us a solid two hours to do this two mile trail. That is way too long but who's counting. As soon as we got to the lake we were awestruck by the abrupt change in topography on the other side of the lake. A great cliff that formes a ridge of Mt. Pilchuck is what you see. The very second we got to the shore, we heard a disconcertingly loud crashing and rumbling coming from the cliff. We looked for a second and saw a large avalanch coming most of the way down the cliff, and it was moving fast. This wasn't just another one of the minor spring thaw snowfalls like I saw on Index last week, this was a real avalanch. This type of thing is really fun to watch when you know you are a safe distance away from the violence.

We spent about 15 minutes intently watching the ""living wall"" of the mountain and then we started down. We made it down in about half of the time we took to go up. We decided to eat in the McDonalds in Granite Falls. That place is quite the frightening freak of nature. As it is a combination Chevron/McDonalds. There isn't even a wall between the two!

This is about as close as you can come to a perfect hike for this time of year. The trail gains enough elevation to qualify as a workout but never really completly works you out. It never becomes monotonous drudgery but constantly entertains you with big scary trees, waterfalls, and views across the valley to other peaks. The snow on the trail shouldn't be a real problem to anyone who doesn't mind slipping around a little bit and the water is just the streams and mud that is to be expected.

We were hoping to snowshoe this trail but there isn't any snow on the trail until about the last 3/4 of a mile. There is lots of water falls along the way which is a plus and lake at the top is still frozen over and covered in so much snow that you can't even tell where the edge is. It's a short hike and well worth the short walk up.

We Started the Trail at 7:00 Am, a beautiful day dawning, the trail was wet and chilly but our exsertion kept us warm, just before the 1 mile marker lies a foot bridge with a stand of old growth trees, spectacular in girth and height the feeling of being in the presents of a living knowing entities fills you and the surrounding Green moss and hanging Moss and a beautiful water fall all contribute to a feeling of peace and serenity. The trail is full of knarly old trees one in paticular located at the current snow line about 2 miles or so stands one tree we called mushroom palace because of the pertrudeing woody knots shaped much like DAH mushrooms!The last 3/4 of a mile was snow covered and throughly soaked our feet, foot bridges of snow covered the switch backs accross the streams from the lake and I continually thought I'd fall threw, but the snow pack is 8-10 feet and I was far from to heavy for it, we reached the mouth of the lake at 10:00 AM ( We Took our time)The stream widens at this point into pools of log jamed water slowly seeping water down the mountain with a few hugh bolders packed high with winters snow, a few hundred feet from there lies the lake and surrounding mountains, words do little to describe the beauty of this scene,Awe inspireing! with the towering peaks 1500 feet above you 3/4 of the way around you and a frozen lake at your feet we witnessed a avalanche in the peaks that roared down the hills side with tremendous power and trembling giving us the natures complete experience. This was a well maintained trail with great views and a mellow atmosphere we loved it and plan to explore more of the mountain loop scenery. .

Do not let the flags at the bottom of the report fool you. This trail was not really in very bad condition considering it is late December.

After I came down from Big Four (read my previous report) somewhat disapointed, the Lake 22 trail was pleasently snow free at least for most of it. Take a right onto the short gravel spur road about a mile after Verlot on the Mountain Loop to enter the parking lot.

The trail starts off flat and what looks like a fairly fresh coating of gravel. The first bridge (just after the protected area sign) is very slippery; use caution. The trail then begins climbing moderatly and you come to the first of four recent blowdowns over the trail. It is a little hard to get over, but not too bad. Be careful to keep your eyes on the tread instead of on the impressive Red and Yellow Cedars that line the trail. You have to climb over three more blowdowns. The last one is somewhat difficult because it is a tangled mass of tree and branches. Don't try to go around, it doesn't work.

There is one point roughly halfway through the trip where you can lose the trail. If you find yourself face to face with a wide waterfall with no apparent way accross or switchback up, turn back and look for a switchback in 200 feet or so. For awhile the trail ascends a rockslide/avalaunch path where the tread is all rocks. This is not pleasent on the feet. You can see accross the Stilliguamish Valley from here to some pretty snowy peaks. Soon after the rockslide area, the trail enters consistent snow all the way to the lake. Fortunately, this is also where the trail flattens out so the snow wasn't a problem for me. There was a deep, dirty trench marking the trail. Finally, you come to the moderately sized lake. The snowy cliffs on the other side are impressive. The lake is completely frozen over, but looks to be thawing in the middle. Whatever you do, do not go walking on it. That would certainly not be safe.

I saw only two people coming down on the way to the lake and another couple at the lake. I saw four people and some dogs on the way down.

One thing I found very interresting while going down was the difference in temperature. It was very cold at the lake because it's in a deep rocky basin, but it warmed up after you got away. There is no frost on most of this trail until you get very close to the bottom where it gets noticably colder. This has been some messed up weather this past week and a half.