The Old School Palette: The hike to Lake 22

Over a week ago I made a trek into the wilderness of Washington's Cascades to do some plein air painting. I planned to gather material for a studio painting.

Last Summer as my interest in landscape painting was being rekindled I wanted to take a hike to one of Washington's mountain lakes. I admired the epic mountain landscapes of Albert Bierstadt, especially because my parents had a reproduction of his painting depicting Mt. Corcoran since 1984.

This painting hung in our living room above the sofa in every house we had lived in since that time. As a child I would stand up on the sofa and gaze at the painting. I was awed by the beauty of the landscape and it's mysterious quality. As I grew older I still appreciated the painting but I had no idea who painted it nor what mountain that was depicted.

Three years ago my appreciation for landscape painting grew. I was especially inspired by the Hudson River School painters. During this time I discovered the artist who had painted Mt. Corcoran. As I explored other paintings by Bierstadt I noticed that he had common stylistic elements in his paintings of mountain lakes. I was intrigued by the drama, realism, light, and invention that characterized his work.

I wanted to make a painting inspired by Bierstadt. After some research I saw that Washington has many mountain lakes which can be easily hiked to. One lake that looked really good based on internet photos was Goat Lake. To me it looked like the perfect place for an Albert Bierstadt inspired painting. I planned to hike there with my nephew but we ended up going to Snow Lake instead. I never did make a lake painting last summer but I did see some of the inspiring hikes that Washington has to offer.

Lake 22, June 25, 2016

Now that I had my plein air painting kit and made a few paintings outdoors, I was ready for painting on a hike. A friend of mine had hiked to Melawaka Lake the week before and it's a hike I wanted to try. She's an experienced hiker and she told me the trail was pretty good for it's first half. After that the trail was obscured by snow up to the lake. I decided to postpone the Melawaka Lake hike. I saw that Lake 22 was a decent hike with nice landscapes and I decided to try that one.

According to All Trails the Lake 22 hike is rated as moderate, a 6.7 mile roundtrip, and has an elevation gain of 1548 ft. That was similar to the Snow Lake hike. I set out early Saturday morning and I reached the trailhead 5 minutes to 9 AM, snagging the last parking spot. I was prepared for the hike, bringing enough water, snacks, lunch, and my painting gear. My pack weighed 29.5 lbs.

I started the hike at 9 AM. It was a nice hike with many inspiring views. Most of it was through old growth forest. The trail offered glimpses of Twentytwo Creek and it's many falls. There were a couple of nice vantage points off the trail to view the falls which I may try for future paintings. Unfortunately I did not take any photos of the bigger falls.

Eventually the forest opened up to a few switch backs which offered views of the valley behind me. At this point a pika came out, a foot away from me.

The trail itself was rather rocky most of the way. Only a few areas were clear. This is a trail where you really have to watch your step. I read about people rolling their ankles on the rocks. These photos show some of the roughest areas on the switch back. Down in the forest their were areas that had been cut through rock. Many spots were wet because of snow melt crossing the trail.

At 10:25 I reached the lake. It was a pretty short hike. With Snow Lake you get to the top of a ridge overlooking the lake, then spend another 10-15 minutes walking down switchbacks to it. Not with Lake 22.

When I arrived at the lake clouds obscured the mountain surrounding it. You can walk the circumference of the lake via boardwalk and trail which is nice. It might be a mile around the lake.

The area opposite of the footbridge is a huge rock field that begins at the lake's shore and slopes up hill. The incline is much steeper than the photos show. My guess is that it's about 45-65 degrees. I read online that climbing this area is not recommended due to possible rock slides. I did see three guys venturing up to one of the snow caves. These masses of snow are huge. Unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph one of the guys to show the scale of these things. I remember that he didn't have to crouch to enter the snow caves.