Jared decided to take the day off to do a little exploring. There is a lot of countryside around here to explore, and sometimes it can be a bit difficult to figure out where to go, the conditions of the area, closures, etc., so it's nice to have a day to just check out an area for future reference. So, today Jared targeted the southern half of the Mountain Loop Highway in the North Cascades. The highway runs right along side the South Fork of the Stillaguamish river. The road starts out passing by a lot of private little cabins and such, but quickly becomes National Forest, so there are a lot of great hiking and fishing opportunities!
Jared had done a little research and decided Indy and him were going to hike up to Lake Twenty-Two. Now, that doesn't sound like a very exciting lake, but as it turns out, this was one of the most beautiful hikes Jared has ever been on and that's saying something considering he is from Idaho! It was 2.7 miles each way, and there is a 1.2 mile loop trail around the lake that they also took. Here's a few shots of the trip!
This shot is right after the trail started. There were LOTS of really cool little bridges and stair steps on the hike up to the lake. The trail was not overly steep as well, which was extra nice!
One of many waterfalls. There were at least three other waterfalls that were very high (30+ feet), but each was shrouded in trees and Jared couldn't seem to get a very good picture of them, so Jared didn't add them here. Hike up there if you want to see them! :)
Ah, the lake! This little bridge is the first thing you come to on the lake. There is a really nice trail that goes either right or left around the lake. Indy and Jared went right across this bridge and around the lake.
The below shot was taken while standing on the bridge looking towards the center of the lake (it was the lake outlet). Be sure to enlarge... these are TROUT! In fact, Jared hooked two trout with his fly rod while he was there... they both got off right as he was getting them near the bank, so he couldn't make a positive ID, but pretty sure these guys are Rainbow Trout. The lake is 50 feet deep, so it is a great lake to house trout.
Here's the lake! Unfortunately it doesn't really do it justice. That is Mount Pilchuck in the background, and on this side it is nearly a sheer cliff face. This lake is accessible in the winter via snow shoeing, and they have a warning saying to stay away from the back of the lake due to enormous avalanches (in the winter)... pretty easy to see why in this photo.
Here's Indy taking her first dip. She laid there the whole time Jared ate his lunch!
And here they are at the back of the lake (near the inlet). Lots of nice snow to cool off! Amazingly enough, there were two ladies swimming in the lake just down from the snow here... in bikinis!
After Indy and Jared made it back to the truck, they headed across the street and into a day picnic area where Jared tried his hand at a few more fly casts. It was getting a bit late, so he could only try for a few minutes and just tried one fly (grasshopper) with no luck. However, the Stillaguamish River (or "Stilly" as they call it) was gorgeous!
That's it! Now to head back there with Kristina and hopefully enjoy even more time in this area!
