Lake 22 & Twentytwo Creek

We met Tom and Lindsey at Starbucks at 7am and jumped on the road towards the Mountain Loop Highway. The original plan was to attempt to work our way through the snow up to Barlow Pass then snowshoe the 4 miles to the ghost town of Monte Cristo http://www.mcpa.us/ . Since we knew the snow on the road this early would likely be an issue we made back plans to hike to Lake 22 just in case. After chatting with the ranger we determined that even if we could make it through the snow up to the pass we would not be able to make it through the big steel gate blocking the road to get to the snow - so Lake 22 it is!
We set off from the trail head about 9-ish and were 2 of the 5 cars in the parking area (no leash for Maggie today!). The trail starts out uphill and continues that way for almost all of the 2.7 miles for a total gain of approx. 1400 ft. The path stays pretty much stays within earshot of Twentytwo Creek the entire way and crosses smaller creeks several times. The larger crossings have foot bridges but for the smaller ones you get to practice rock hopping or just splash your way through. This puts you in site of numerous waterfalls. According to the guide book we saw Appron Falls, Confusion Falls, Humpback Falls, Hundred Step Falls and Mossy Rock Falls (though I have no idea which was which since I refuse to be that guy walking around in the woods reading the guidebook unless absolutely necessary) They were all nice to look at even though they were nameless to me. About a mile and a half into the climb we found snow which soon covered the entire area. Being as this was our first attempt at the hike we were following footsteps in the snow of others that we hoped knew their way. This early in the day the snow was still solid enough (I only sunk to my crotch once) we were able to make it to the lake without strapping on the snowshoes.
Once we reached the lake it was quite site. It was still close to 90% frozen with 6-8 feet of snow on the ground and perfectly sunny day. We managed to work our way down onto the bridge that crosses over Twentytwo Creek for a nice spot to sit in the sun without getting our butts wet. The bridge allowed us to eat lunch and keep Maggie & Lily somewhat contained. Probably the best part of sitting there looking out over the lake was watching the numerous small avalanches slide down the face of Mt. Pilchuck and cascade over the cliffs - actually even cooler than watching it was hearing the sounds they made.
After an hour of so of enjoying the snow, sun, and a bottle of wine more and more people started arriving at the lake so we decided it would be a good time to head down. The hike back was a bit slippery as the snow had softened quite a bit. After a few falls (some hilarious!) Tom gave Diane and Lindsey a quick lesson on planting their heels - after that we made a pretty good pace.
On the way down we passed quite a few people - far more than I expected considering there was still snow on the ground. By the time we reached the parking are it was near full and more cars were pulling in.
We decided we should probably head to Red Hook Brewery http://www.redhook.com/as quickly as possible. So the day began with bagels and fresh Starbucks and ended with burgers and fresh Red Hook - Not a bad day!