5-31-24
Xfinity
emailed me a week earlier to say that my Internet would be down the
next Friday for major upgrade work. I am out of work without it. I
decided to take of Friday and go hiking. Gary was free and a few days
before John joined in. We have been doing long drives for
great wildflower hikes. We felt it was time for a closer in trip. After
a discussion we settled on a two hike day. First Lake 22 and then
Heather Lake. The two trailheads are just a few miles about. The lakes
are on opposite sides or a ridge. They are short hikes on rocky trails.
Last weekend we did a 17 mile hike with 3700' of gain. This trip would
be lesser in both areas but hard on the knees when descending. We had
to deal with Seattle area traffic and chose to meet at Ash Way
P&R at 7:00 am. Hopefully early enough to avoid the worst
traffic. I picked up Gary and we arrived a little before John. I was
very surprised to see the lot barely half full. We headed north and
then east to almost Granite Falls and the Mountain Loop Highway. It was
clear with the temperature in the high 40s when we arrived. The lot is
full early on weekends but we found it more than half empty at 8:15 am.
By 8:22 we were on our way.
I had done this trip 27 times before today. I had not done it since 2019. The crowds are just hard to handle. Having a Friday off was really nice. We set off at a good pace as we needed to warm up. The trail is rocky and after recent rains it was very wet. I took high top waterproof boots and had not problems. We saw a few wildflowers early and more higher up. It was not a great wildflower hike but not a bust either. We stopped on the bridge over Twenty-Two Creek for photos of the creek. Lots of whitewater. After that the trail starts climbing. The big trees are really big. That is one of the highlights of the trip. Gary has done the hike fairly recently but it was a first for John. That was also true of the second trip of the day, to Heather Lake. I remember when there were just a few turnpikes. Now there are more steps than I recall from 2019. They are probably needed for all the boots that hike the trail each week. We found a few trees down that should be cut out soon.
At the switchback for the twin falls we went over for a look. There was plenty of water coming over the falls. It made for good photos. After than we headed out into the open rock field. The direct sunshine made it feel pretty warm. We were already seeing hikers coming down. We went back and forth up the two sets of switchbacks. The higher we ascended, the better the views to the north. Three Fingers and other snowy peaks were in sight. By the last switchback we could see the top of Glacier Peak and Mt. Dickerman. I did not realize that until using an app to point them out. I was ready to go back into the shad. The upper trail had water running across and down it. The trail seemed rockier than I recalled. Coming down the rock steps were felt by my knees. There was no snow left at all. Often it hangs on in the last section above the outlet creek. We arrived at the lake at 10:07 am. The backdrop looked great as usual in the spring. We could see snow and some very long waterfalls coming down the steep wall. We soon headed around the lake clockwise.
Going to the left put us in shade. The rest of the lake was entirely in sunshine. So far, we had seen yellow violets, a few trillium, some spring beauty, and a good display of bleeding hearts. I mentioned early in the hike that I had not seen any marsh marigolds yet this year. The snow soon began. There were some long mash marigolds and some very large patches of them. A very good display overall. We started on boardwalks then onto dirt and blasted rock trail. Near the end of the lake we went back onto boardwalks. Much of the far end of the lake is marshy in the spring. Part way along we found some big almost flat rocks just off the trail. That proved to be an excellent place for a brunch break. We arrived at 10:28 am. Snow was piled up at the base of the wall behind the lake. There were only a few small patches where the trail goes through. Our brunch break turned into a long "just lay in the sunshine" break. It was not hot in the sunshine but not cool either. It was just about perfect.
Our break lasted until Gary finally decided it was time to get moving. A few minutes later I left at 11:15 am. 47 minutes is a nice long break. Reflections in the lake and the big boulders along the trail were interesting photo subjects. We could see over the outlet and across the valley to the north. As we moved along Three Fingers Mountain came into view. With my old phone camera it would be a tiny blot of white. With the new 10x zoom I could almost make out the lookout on top. Continuing around the lake we found some big patches of yellow violets and some salmonberry flowers. We made it back into shady forest before finishing our loop around the lake. At 11:46 am we started down. We did not see many hikers going around the lake but did see several groups heading down around the time we left. Before long we started seeing more parties coming up. We would see a steady stream of other hikers though not even close to the weekend crowds that are normal.
We had all the streams crossing and running down the trail once again. We also had all the steps in the boulder field and even more man-made ones on the way down. It was more of a knee cruncher than I recalled. The trail definitely had even more steps than I recalled. The big trees were fun to see again as we came down. We chose not to stop at the twin falls again. We reached the trailhead at 1:25 pm. The lot had only a couple of open parking spaces from hikers who left just before us. We had decided on one of two second hikes. Heather Lake if we felt good and the Old Robe Trail down to the old RR Grade in the SF Stillaguamish Canyon if we felt less good. The latter trail is much easier.
Though our knees were feeling all the rocks and big steps on the Lake 22 Trail we chose hike to Heather Lake.
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larger pictures.
Trips - 2024
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I had done this trip 27 times before today. I had not done it since 2019. The crowds are just hard to handle. Having a Friday off was really nice. We set off at a good pace as we needed to warm up. The trail is rocky and after recent rains it was very wet. I took high top waterproof boots and had not problems. We saw a few wildflowers early and more higher up. It was not a great wildflower hike but not a bust either. We stopped on the bridge over Twenty-Two Creek for photos of the creek. Lots of whitewater. After that the trail starts climbing. The big trees are really big. That is one of the highlights of the trip. Gary has done the hike fairly recently but it was a first for John. That was also true of the second trip of the day, to Heather Lake. I remember when there were just a few turnpikes. Now there are more steps than I recall from 2019. They are probably needed for all the boots that hike the trail each week. We found a few trees down that should be cut out soon.
At the switchback for the twin falls we went over for a look. There was plenty of water coming over the falls. It made for good photos. After than we headed out into the open rock field. The direct sunshine made it feel pretty warm. We were already seeing hikers coming down. We went back and forth up the two sets of switchbacks. The higher we ascended, the better the views to the north. Three Fingers and other snowy peaks were in sight. By the last switchback we could see the top of Glacier Peak and Mt. Dickerman. I did not realize that until using an app to point them out. I was ready to go back into the shad. The upper trail had water running across and down it. The trail seemed rockier than I recalled. Coming down the rock steps were felt by my knees. There was no snow left at all. Often it hangs on in the last section above the outlet creek. We arrived at the lake at 10:07 am. The backdrop looked great as usual in the spring. We could see snow and some very long waterfalls coming down the steep wall. We soon headed around the lake clockwise.
Going to the left put us in shade. The rest of the lake was entirely in sunshine. So far, we had seen yellow violets, a few trillium, some spring beauty, and a good display of bleeding hearts. I mentioned early in the hike that I had not seen any marsh marigolds yet this year. The snow soon began. There were some long mash marigolds and some very large patches of them. A very good display overall. We started on boardwalks then onto dirt and blasted rock trail. Near the end of the lake we went back onto boardwalks. Much of the far end of the lake is marshy in the spring. Part way along we found some big almost flat rocks just off the trail. That proved to be an excellent place for a brunch break. We arrived at 10:28 am. Snow was piled up at the base of the wall behind the lake. There were only a few small patches where the trail goes through. Our brunch break turned into a long "just lay in the sunshine" break. It was not hot in the sunshine but not cool either. It was just about perfect.
Our break lasted until Gary finally decided it was time to get moving. A few minutes later I left at 11:15 am. 47 minutes is a nice long break. Reflections in the lake and the big boulders along the trail were interesting photo subjects. We could see over the outlet and across the valley to the north. As we moved along Three Fingers Mountain came into view. With my old phone camera it would be a tiny blot of white. With the new 10x zoom I could almost make out the lookout on top. Continuing around the lake we found some big patches of yellow violets and some salmonberry flowers. We made it back into shady forest before finishing our loop around the lake. At 11:46 am we started down. We did not see many hikers going around the lake but did see several groups heading down around the time we left. Before long we started seeing more parties coming up. We would see a steady stream of other hikers though not even close to the weekend crowds that are normal.
We had all the streams crossing and running down the trail once again. We also had all the steps in the boulder field and even more man-made ones on the way down. It was more of a knee cruncher than I recalled. The trail definitely had even more steps than I recalled. The big trees were fun to see again as we came down. We chose not to stop at the twin falls again. We reached the trailhead at 1:25 pm. The lot had only a couple of open parking spaces from hikers who left just before us. We had decided on one of two second hikes. Heather Lake if we felt good and the Old Robe Trail down to the old RR Grade in the SF Stillaguamish Canyon if we felt less good. The latter trail is much easier.
Though our knees were feeling all the rocks and big steps on the Lake 22 Trail we chose hike to Heather Lake.
 Getting Started |
 Twenty Two Creek |
 Big Trees |
 Many Steps |
 Logs On Trail |
 Bigger Tree On Trail |
 Bunchberry |
 More Steps |
 A Big Cedar Tree |
 Twin Falls |
 Portrait View |
 John & Big Cedars |
 Bleeding Hearts |
 Spring Beauty |
 Liberty Mountain |
 Ascending Talus Field |
 Top of Three Fingers |
 Shade In Trees |
 Last Switchback |
 First Marsh Marigold |
 Skunk Cabbage |
 Trillium |
 At Lake 22 |
 Boardwalk Around Lake |
 Wall Of Mt. Pilchuck |
 Peak Marsh Marigold |
 Big Waterfall |
 At Back Of Lake |
 Looking To Outlet |
 On The Boardwalk |
 Break Time |
 Snowfield |
 Snow Alongside Trail |
 Snowy Ridge |
 Rocky Shore |
 Three Fingers Over Lake |
 Three Fingers Zoomed In |
 John & Gary On Trail |
 Gary At Work |
 Yellow Violets |
 Salmonberry |
 Back Near Outlet |
 Glacier Peak |
 Unfurling Ferns |
 Another Big Cedar |
 Trail Is A Creek |
 John At Work |
 Final Boardwalk |
Trips - 2024
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