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Talapus and Olallie Lakes

Last modified Nov 18, 2009 01:40 PM
These easy-to-reach lakes receive a lot of visitors every sunny summer weekend, but don't let that keep you away. All those people can't be wrong--even if it means sharing. In fact, bring the kids--by mid-August the snow-fed lakes have warmed enough that you can take a swim without turning blue. Even if cool mountain lake swimming isn't your bag, there's still a lot to keep kids occupied. There are some trout (though they get a lot of fishing pressure), and other critters abound. Deer are frequent visitors, and gray jays (a.k.a. camp robber jays) have learned to congregate wherever hikers travel en masse. Indeed, these beautiful birds can be downright pesky. Keep a close eye on your gorp bag, or you might find a camp robber carrying it off.

From the parking area, head up the broad trail as it climbs through easy switchbacks for the first mile. As you cross into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness the route levels out through a broad bench that boasts a bit of a bog. As you move through this wet section, try to stay on the trail even if it's a bit muddy--better to dirty your boots than to erode more land around the trail.

The trail soon sweeps across a small bridge (crossing the lake's outlet) just below Talapus Lake, then climbs the last few yards to the lakeshore at 3250 feet. Forests push in along the shores of this pretty lake, with talus tapering down to the water's edge on the far side. Anglers can wet their lines in this lake first, and families can find fine swimming opportunities along its banks.

The trail climbs away from Talapus before traversing the valley wall, heading up the valley to Olallie. About 0.7 mile from Talapus, stay left at a small trail junction and proceed upvalley to the outlet of Olallie Lake. This pretty lake sits in a nice alpine basin, providing plenty of opportunities to enjoy cooling shade under the boughs of towering firs. It also offers sun lovers a chance to get warm while catching a few rays on the rocks along the shore.
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Recent Trip Reports

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There are 241 trip reports for this hike. See all trip reports for this hike.
Talapus and Olallie Lakes, Pratt Mountain — Nov 15, 2009 — austineats
Day hike
Issues: Water on trail | Snow on trail
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Unknown to me, road 9030 has been fixed. We were headed up to Mason Lake and I noticed that road...
Unknown to me, road 9030 has been fixed. We were headed up to Mason Lake and I noticed that road 9030 was being traveled. The road was slick but negotiable. Hiking this Sunday was wet from start to finish. The trail is muddy where it isn't either in snow or standing water. After the first few miles it is solid snow.

Talapus lake was easily reached. It is all but frozen over and with the heavy grey hanging over Western Washington there weren't many views. A short while later one reaches the turn off to Granite Mountain's parking lot (to the right). The latter option is actually a little bit shorter and the lot is plowed year-round. As one continues up 1039 pass the next large hairpin turn to the right then start heading up hill (off trail) bearing slightly to the right. After a gain of ~500' one reaches the ridge line. Turn left on the ridge and stay on it for a mile or so to the obvious summit. There isn't a trail per say, rather staying on the ridge is trail enough. The snow was deep and steep at times. We are forever indebted to the party of four who broke trail ahead of us. On a nice day the views are spectacular. Today we were contented with snow covered trees and rocks and the serpentine path through the snow.

There is a spot or two that some might consider exposed on this hike. There are also some very steep sections but they don't last more than 50-60'. As with any winter hike avalanche precautions should be observed. That much being said, this hike has very little avalanche danger even on high danger days such as today was.
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Island Lake, Talapus and Olallie Lakes — Nov 10, 2009 — Norm
Day hike
Issues: Snow on trail
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Ralph and I departed from the Pratt Lake trailhead at 0815 and went up trail #1007 reaching a snow-covered trail...
Ralph and I departed from the Pratt Lake trailhead at 0815 and went up trail #1007 reaching a snow-covered trail at 3200'. It got deeper as we gained elevation, especially in the open areas. We finally stopped at 4300' (on trail #1009) since the snow was up to our knees and we did not bring snowshoes.
We traveled about 8 miles total in 6.5 hours. It was warming up so the trees were releasing their captured snow and dripping considerably. While we didn't make our objective, we got some good exercise and realized that next time out we would take the snowshoes.
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Talapus and Olallie Lakes — Nov 08, 2009 — David S.
Day hike
Issues: Mudholes | Water on trail | Snow on trail
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On a rainy Sunday, the trail started off wet and muddy with some snow, but it was easily hikeable all...
On a rainy Sunday, the trail started off wet and muddy with some snow, but it was easily hikeable all the way up to Talapus Lake. By the time we got to the lake it was pretty snowy on the trail and there were lots of very watery sections. After that, it started to get significantly snowier until we were walking on solid packed snow with foot-deep powder all around for the last mile to Olallie Lake. The trees were regularly dumping fresh snow on the ground and our heads. We were fine in hiking boots, though, and you probably will be too for another week or so. Both lakes were beautiful, with a very thin layer of ice just covering the water and fog covering over the mountains just above us. The scenery is amazing with the green conifers, grey-blue ice-water and white ground, so if you've never been hiking in the winter I highly recommend it. No apparent avalanche danger that I could see. The road to the trailhead is in good shape.

It was very cold so be sure to dress warmly and remember that it gets dark early now, especially under the forest canopy. I was amazed to meet a couple heading uphill from Talapus Lake at 2:30 wearing jeans - don't do that, wear layered synthetics and plan to be back by 4 unless you like hiking in narrow snow tracks after dark.
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Talapus and Olallie Lakes — Oct 11, 2009 — Alpine Art
Day hike
Features: Fall foliage
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This is an easy trail but one with many delights including forest, lakes and a great stream to follow up...
This is an easy trail but one with many delights including forest, lakes and a great stream to follow up to Talapus Lake.

I got to the trail head about 10:30 with the temperature about 38 degrees. You can tell by the ice crystals in some of the muddy trail sections that winter is not far away.

The trail starts with an abandoned road which morphs into a normal trail in about 0.25 miles gently switchbacking up to Talapus Lake. Beyond Talapus the tread gets less defined but not difficult to follow - Olallie Lake was quite with several groups at the lake and more on the way as I went down.

Round trip including photography and water breaks took 3 hours. Lots of people at the trail head including a car full that happily accepted my parking space.
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Talapus and Olallie Lakes — Oct 09, 2009 — martinaj
Day hike
Features: Fall foliage
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Absolutely beautiful fall hike. Not too many people. No bugs. Great views. ...
Absolutely beautiful fall hike. Not too many people. No bugs. Great views.
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Location
Talapus Lake (#1039)
Snoqualmie Pass -- Snoqualmie Pass
Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
3.17 out of 5
Based on 6 votes
Featured In...

Day Hiking: Snoqualmie Region
by Dan A. Nelson and Alan L. Bauer

To buy the full book, including maps, elevation profiles, photos, and more, visit:

A portion of all book sales from the links above benefits WTA and helps protect and maintain our trails.

Information about this hike provided in partnership with Mountaineers Books. Copyright © Dan A. Nelson/The Mountaineers Books

Roundtrip 4.0 miles
Elevation Gain 1220 ft
Highest Point 3780 ft
Features
Lakes
Old growth
Guidebooks & Maps
Day Hiking: Snoqualmie Pass (Nelson & Bauer - Mountaineers Books)
Green Trails Bandera No. 206

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Driving Directions
(47.4007, -121.5190) Open in new window
Red Marker Talapus and Olallie Lakes
47.4006833333 -121.51895
From Seattle drive I-90 east to exit 45 (Forest Road 9030). Turn left under the freeway on FR 9030. In 1 mile bear right at the junction. Continue straight to the trailhead at the road's end.
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