Lake 22 11-25-2018

I needed to get up into the mountains a bit to try to work off all the turkey and pie I ate over the Thanksgiving holiday, so we headed up to Lake 22.  I got there around 8:30 expecting to be lucky to get a parking spot and was pleasantly surprised that the parking lot was not even half full. 

The trail is wet, but if you wear your hiking boots and some warm hiking socks you'll be fine.  I thought my boots were just water resistant, but between those and some extra thick synthetic wool my feet stayed warm and dry.  It wasn't super cold, so Cedar and Luna enjoyed wading through the various stream crossings.

The sky was clear and sunny for most of our hike, and seeing the huge ent-like trees in the morning light made me happy.  I see most hikers smiling as they hike and think about the natural high we share when on the trail. 

The views once you get out onto the switchbacks/slide area were stunning with frosty peaks rising into blue skies.

There were a couple places where trees had come down that looked fairly new - a hemlock and a cedar.  Both were easy to get by.  There were a couple logs crossing the trail also, which were tougher to get by.  The first we all went under, where my pack full of essentials was a bit bulky, and then my adventure crew wanted to burrow under the second one too with maybe 1 foot of clearance, so I had to convince them we'd all be happier going around. 

About a half mile from the lake we started seeing more significant patches of snow, and then eventually the trail became packed icy snow.  It was really slick, so I put on my yaktrax.  What a difference!  I don't use poles since my hands have leashes in them.  : ) 

The lake was so beautiful in its snowy winter basin.  Most of it is now covered with a slushy looking layer of ice.  The trail around it was easily passable and packed down as well, so easy to find.  With the snow load being pretty light I didn't think the danger of avalanche was too high so I went ahead and continued the hike around the lake.  About 3/4 of the way around I discovered one of my yaktrax was missing!  I back tracked a bit but didn't see it anywhere.

I didn't build this whimsical snowman, but it was too cute not to photograph

We had a snack (almost broke a tooth because my "chewy" granola bar had frozen) and then wound our way back down to the car.  I was super stoked that someone had found my yaktrax and brought it down!!  Now I have one for each foot again.  : ) 

Have fun out there!