Lake Twentytwo

Today a friend and I left straight from work and drove out past Granite Falls on the Mountain Loop Highway for a quick hike to get some exercise. Lake Twentytwo is a hike I've done a handful of times, and I like it because it's a beautiful mountain lake that you can swim in, it's easy to get to, it's an easy hike and you can be up and down it in 3-4 hours, including travel time.

We made our way quickly up the trail and made it to the lake in just under an hour, and since we were hiking so quickly we were drenched in sweat even though it was only 70 degrees. After we ran around the lake my buddy decided to clean the sweat off himself by jumping in the lake. He assured me the water was quite comfortable, but I didn't join him. I wasn't prepared to hike back with all my clothes wet. Next time I'll be prepared for that.

After his quick dip in the lake, we literally ran down the mountain taking extra caution on the rocky bits with substantial rocks and boulders so we didn't twist an ankle. Although there were a few close calls of trips and turned ankles we made it through unscathed. Again drenched in sweat my hiking partner decided he needed another dip, this time in the creek near the start of the trail. We made it back to the trail head after hiking up, around the lake and back down with a couple dips in the water in a little over 2 hours. It was a fun quick exercise and next time I'll be prepared to jump in the lake to cool off.

Region: North Cascades-Mountain Loop Highway
Distance: 2.9 miles
Elevation Gain: 1350 ft
Peak Elevation: 2400 ft
Difficulty: easy
Pass Requirement: Yes. All passes honored.

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.