Lake 22 — Wednesday, Jul. 17, 2013

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

Since the kids were at camp, I took the opportunity to do something a bit longer than the 3 miles max that they will go. I took snow dog with me. Arriving at the trailhead at approximately 8 am there was only 1 other car in the parking lot. This trail is beautifully maintained. However, pack your waterproof shoes or boots. There are many small creeks/streams that cross this trail. The hike up is along the roaring waterfalls that I so wished were a bit clearer to see and take a picture of (darn trees were in the way). We got rained on a bit, but nothing too major. Breaking out of the forest and up/across a rocky meadow of sorts. This is where I ran into the one other person that was in the parking lot. Clouds descended and raised as we made our way to the lake. When we got there you could not see the other side, but as we started to hike around the sun came out and the clouds parted. We got 50% around the lake and ran into the snow. I was not confident enough about where the trail was to try and cross the snowfield to finish circling the lake. Also want to note that it looks like some of the supports for the boardwalk along the back wall by the snow have collapsed. You can still walk on them, but is not for the faint of heart. I am sure they are fine, but in a couple of places the water running under was probably knee deep and it would be a cold and wet hike back. We stopped and had a snack while snow dog played on the snow. After snack time the clouds started rolling back in and it was time to leave. Passed about 8 groups on the way down who were on the way up. Many didn't have boots on and had some pretty wet looking gym shoes. All in all about 4 hours hiking, which for my first hike this season after spraining an ankle in the off season, I didn't think that was too bad.