Lake 22 Hike

Yesterday as an alternative to our normal Friday off cycling adventure Jenny and I decided to go hiking. There is a nice trail about 30 minutes from our house called Lake 22 that we went to. I’m not sure where the name came from but I’m guessing a government accountant named it.

We’ve hiked this trail before but that was about 8 years ago and that trip ended up so bad that we haven’t gone back since. This time things went much better, thank heavens.

The trail up to the lake was very scenic so we stopped to take picture a lot. That’s one of the nice things about hiking as opposed to cycling is I’m not so worried about how fast I’m riding and what kind of time I’m making for training reasons. Since I wasn’t training I didn’t mind stopping for photo opportunities at all. Here are some of the great pictures we were able to snap.

Lake 22 is located at the end of the trail at the top of the hill. When we got there we noticed that there was a wooden walkway around most of the lake. I’m not sure how they got all of the wood all the way up there but it’s really nice not to have to walk through the mud around the lake.

Our original plan was to have lunch by the lake somewhere but when we arrived and saw the walkway we decided to make a loop around the lake first. The lake was covered by a layer of fog so we couldn’t see the other side of it even though it isn’t very big.

After we walked for a while we ran into some snow. I was really surprised that there was still snow up there since the elevation is only 2500 feet. A section of the wooden walkway was covered by what looked like pretty unstable snow so I was thinking about turning back but Jenny being the trailblazer that she is just went through a snow tunnel to the other side of the trail. Reluctantly, I followed her through the tunnel.

After getting lost for a second we were able to make it around the lake. Before we headed down we took a break and had a bite to eat. Meals while you’re hiking taste the best for some reason. Also, it’s a lot easier to carry food in your stomach than in your backpack. Bonus all the way around.

The hike down wasn’t a workout on the lungs like the hike up but it sure was tough on the knees and leg muscles. It felt a lot like I was riding the brakes all the way down the hill. If I had a choice I would rather climb than descend any day. To my surprise it took just about as long to hike down as it took to hike up.

It was really nice to go hiking yesterday at Lake 22 and I’m glad it turned out much better than the fateful trip we made there 8 years ago. If I had my choice I’d choose cycling over hiking any day though.

Stats:
Distance 5 Miles
Elevation gain 1200 feet