A return to Lake 22 Hike

A raging waterfall, seen through the trees.

The hike toward Lake 22 wasn't a lot like I remembered it. It's probably been five years since I made the hike with Mary Jane, a photographer and hiking buddy at the time. The weather was dry and the road was rocky. But I don't remember it being this rocky, or tiring. But now I am five years older, the weather was cold, the waterfalls were vigorous, and there was water on the trail. At the point where Tammi Hermann and I turned back, we met a young man who had a Garmin on his wrist and told us he had come about 1.8 miles. The trail one-way is 2.7 miles and a 1,500 foot elevation gain. Most people we ran into said we had a mile to go to reach the lake, and given the rocky ascent and time of day, we decided it was time to retrace our steps. It was 3 p.m. It had taken us 3 hours to gain probably 1,000 feet and we didn't want to be on this trail in the dark. It took us 90 minutes to get back down to the car.

The photos that follow tell the story of the hike.

Tammi, ascending the trail

A spooky critter we met along the way, its limbs sun bleached and dessicated

Tami, right, on a bridge over a crashing waterflow, left

The 3-hour, 1.5+ mile terminus of our hike

Creek 22, aiming to pass beneath the bridge as it heads to join the river

Stats for the day:
Distance: At least 3 miles
Conditions: Overcast, snow on trail
Load: 13 pounds
Elevation gain: 1,000 feet, at least

Statistics, year to date:
Distance: 236.1 miles 
Elevation Gain: 73,178 feet