I got up and on the road early for this hike, but I was happy to learn that getting to the Mountain Loop Highway from Granite Falls is considerably easier than from Darrington. Even so, I was not the first hiker on this trail today. I met one man coming down when I still had about a mile to go before reaching the lake.

The Lake Twenty-two area was declared a wilderness area for research purposes in 1947 (I think that was the year mentioned on the sign at the trailhead). The beauty of that is that the clearcutting that can be seen from some of the vistas along the trail will not be hitting this area. Many huge old trees stand along the trail as well as many in various states of death and decay.

The trailhead is easily reached by car. It is only about an hour from my house in Seattle to the parking area, which is just off the highway. It is well maintained with crushed rock applied over quite a lot of the way. I was surprised to find that a trail is nearly completed that rings the entire lake. Much of this addition is being built on elevated timbers. It was a little weird to see all the materials that had apparently been deposited around the lake by helicopter. There was even a small excavator (trackhoe) wrapped up in a blue tarp.

I climbed a bit up toward the shear rock face that rises up behind the lake to sit on a large boulder and eat my brunch...3 hard boiled eggs and a Satsuma. Amazing views all around. I had hoped to take a few photos to display with this writing, but I was unable to locate the camera this morning. It had found its way into Ben's room and was not obvious at 5:30AM among the debris that is normal for his room. This lake deserves a return visit, so hopefully, I will be able to add some photos the next time.