My dog and I got a very early start this morning (5:30 a.m.) at the Pratt Lake TH/Exit 47 and didn't see a soul until 11. We hiked up to Rainbow Lake first; the trail to the Pratt/Rainbow junction is in great shape, no snow until you reach the basin, not too muddy, and not bad in the way of bugs.
But once we descended into the Rainbow/Island basin the wildflowers were in bloom and traces of snow remained in places -- but nothing needing traction -- which means... mosquitoes were out in force. I am pretty much a mosquito magnet and with nobody else there... they pretty much attacked me. The first thing I did when I got back home was move bug netting to my pack. No lily pads yet in the Island approach ponds.
There aren't a lot of good camping options at Rainbow right now - it's way too muddy and buggy. I imagine you could camp on some of the snow areas but they're quickly melting and you'd end up in a bog. But at Island Lake, the two nice big spots right near the lake outflow are completely dry. Come prepared for bugs.
I dipped my toes into the fr-fr-fr-frigid lake during a half-hour break to let my dog rest, and then when we got ready to head out, he didn't want to leave. I gave him another ten minutes, then helped him up and out of the basin with his "suitcase harness." This is very unlike him - he's done this distance before and it wasn't overly hot. Time will tell.
Fortunately, once we got beyond the Pratt-Rainbow junction it was all downhill, and he chose to detour to Olallie Lake (which he knows pretty well) so he must not have been in too much pain. There were very few people on the upper trail beyond Olallie, but at least a good dozen or more spending lunch at Olallie who must have come up from Exit 45.
We heard 27 bird species including a sooty grouse, warblers, and all three thrushes (Swainson's, hermit, varied). We saw no mammals other than the chipmunks a grandfather and his charge were feeding at Olallie. The bugs weren't too bad at Olallie; it had more time for the snow to disappear and dry out, and a nice breeze cleared most of the mosquitoes and flies away.
I had to bite my tongue and leave soon after we arrived so that I wouldn't say something super offensive about the two guys feeding the wildlife. Beargrass is abundant right now, and this fall should be a bountiful berry harvest if the bushes are any indication. Streams are all running full force, a beautiful trail, and great destinations. My only complaints were about the mud and bugs. The portapotty is open and clean, but running way low on TP, about 1/4 of a roll left and the rest were empty. No TP anywhere at the Island pit toilet (but man, what a glorious view!), be sure to bring your own if you're camping.
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