Took advantage of a mildly rainy weekend to do a quick overnight up to Island Lake to see how the snow conditions were coming along. The hike up on Friday afternoon ended up being in great hiking weather: overcast and temps in the low 50s. The trail is in good condition, if just a little bit muddy in places while circling above Olallie Lake. Some intermittent snow started appearing at about 3800' but there are only a few spots left that cover the trail.
Just after cresting the top of the upper basin and beginning the descent into the Rainbow/Island Lake basin, the conditions changed dramatically. The entire basin is still filled with several feet of snow, with a generous amount of melt happening underneath. Only whispers of the trail were ever visible and it was important to choose steps very carefully in places to avoid hidden snow bridges and rock/tree wells. Microspikes and trekking poles were very useful through this section.
We navigated our way over to the camp sites on the northeast side of Island Lake. Just before reaching the lake, there is a very poorly supported widow-maker blowdown that runs overhead parallel with the trail for a good distance, so be vigilant and definitely don't loiter there. The first campsite next to the lake was empty, snow-free, and dry, so that's where we set up. Several of the other normal sites are currently underwater, as the lake level is very high. We were fortunate to have the lake to ourselves on this day.
During the night, a critter managed to abscond with a 10-inch long section of my hiking partner's boot-lace, so make sure to hang your food and any gear you'd rather not have them poking around in.
We woke up to fairly heavy rain the next morning, broke camp, traced our steps back through the snow field, and hiked out without incident.
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