Talapus and Olallie Lakes, Island Lake - Rainbow Lake

Trails are in great condition. No snow and what little mud there is is drying up fast. All water crossings are easy and the only 2 blowdowns are on the short spur into Island Lake. The only floral display of any note is between Ollalie saddle and Rainbow Lake. The hike up to that point is totally forest. Note: Forest Road 9031 had barriers up saying it was closed for logging.

This is one of my favorite and always dependable trails. The trailhead is reached by FR 9030 which gains a lot of altitude in the car - a nice bonus. The road is in good shape. The trail starts out on an abandoned road, then winds its way gently up to Lake Talapus. Some good drainage work has been done on the Talapus outlet field. Climbing up past Talapus comes eventually to the Alpine Lakes sign and beyond that is the junction over the Ollalie outlet stream to the connector. The connector is a short path to the Pratt Lake trail.

I usually do the Pratt Lake trail in winter. The inlet stream crossing then is tricky to foolish but today is a piece of cake. The junction at Ollalie Saddle is completely free of snow and it looks like the trail down to Pratt Lake is clear as well. I proceded along the ridge, admiring the stately trees and pretty flowers. Up through 5 sets of switchbacks and over a spur of Pratt Mountain brought me down into lake country. Rainbow and Island lakes are completely clear of ice. There are lots of wandering trails up there, many small lakes and ponds, and good campsites at Island Lake.

The trail does go on to Mason Lake, Mt. Defiance, and Thompson Lake all the way down to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie. That would make a nice cross country hike with cars at each end.

Round trip with all the side spurs was about 11 miles.