Lake Twentytwo - Lake 22

Lake 22 is one of my favorites, and it's my go-to hike for taking out of town visitors. I went with my friend Mike, who was in town from Chicago and had literally never been on a hike in his entire life. He definitely got some funny looks on the trail -- he was in khakis, a button up blue cotton oxford, sharp black glasses, and his winter boots. Other folks joked that we were headed to a board meeting up at the lake.

The trail is in good shape, much less water on trail than I've seen at other times. In the first mile, the blueberries and salmon berries are ripe. Most of the wildflowers have gone by, but I did see a bit of creeping dogwood and a few bleeding hearts. The snow is largely melted out at the lake. We made it all the way around to the far side and had planned to go all the way around, but there are some dicy snow caves developing under the far snow field. I saw other people crossing them, but decided that Mike probably didn't need that kind of adventure, should something go wrong.

All in all, a great day, and I think I've made a new convert! We finished our day by having a leisurely snack of chocolate and cherries at the Big Four picnic area.