Lake 22 — Saturday, May. 15, 2021

First time hiking this gorgeous trail. Arrived at the trailhead just before 9am (and the parking lot was already full). The first portion of the hike up was pleasant and not particularly crowded; however, it was very busy from the mudslide to the lake. Once we hit the snow, we were in a long single file line. In the current condition, the snow is prone to punching through and patience was required to accommodate the number of hikers sharing the trail. It was single file stop-and-go by the time we hiked back out at noon. That being said, the thawing Lake 22 was a sight to see - especially with the gorgeous alpine backdrop. All the other hikers were in good spirits and there were many, many other friendly dogs. Speaking of dogs, the washout is a bit tricky. I did have to pick up one of my pups to make it through that part. While it was worth the waiting and crowds this time, I would recommend getting and even earlier start if I were to do it again.