Lake 22 with Anna, Pierce, and lots of Smoke

I took a hike with Anna and Pierce on Sunday to Lake 22 which is near Granite Falls. It is a fairly short drive from home, only about 35 miles, but the roads are slow and it took us nearly an hour to get there. There were already lots of hikers on the trail and the parking lot was looking a bit full. However, we found a parking spot and started our hike soon thereafter. The forest was beautiful, of course, this being wilderness in the Puget Sound lowlands, with a healthy mixture of Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, and Western Cedar with a few Bigleaf Maples to add interest. We saw lots of ferns too including many deer ferns, one of my personal favorites.

Several streams crossed the trail

The forest was beautiful and the trail was at times steep and rocky

As soon as we gained some elevation and found a viewpoint, the smoke from the fires in Eastern Washington became very apparent. In fact, we missed out on some wonderful views because of it. Oh well, a degraded view is better than your house burning down. #perspective

We arrived at the lake after encountering many hikers and dogs along the way. This is a popular hike. Sadly Mount Pilchuck was shrouded in smoke but, in spite of that, we enjoyed the view and our lunches on the lake shore. Afterwards, we circumnavigated the lake just for fun.

Lake 22, with Mount Pilchuck

Such a serene setting except for all of the other hikers

We walked around the lake. Here, Mount Pilchuck is behind us. We arrived through the gap in the distance.

My wonderful hiking companions

We walked back down the trail (there was about 1500 feet or 450 meters of elevation gain) without incident and arrived back at the parking lot to find it full to overflowing and cars parked for about a quarter mile along the highway shoulder. This is a very popular hike.

On the way home, we stopped in Snohomish to pay Pierce's grandparents a visit. I was very happy to meet them and see their beautiful lakeside home. I could tell that they have an excellent relationship with their grandson which is so good to see in one's future son-in-law.  They were very hospitable, and we had a delicious dinner with them including an especially memorable vegetable soup. They are both former teachers and they had a great time talking to Pierce about their profession, especially since he is about to embark on a teaching career.

This was a very good day.