Excellent day for a hike! The weather was nice and warm and there were no bugs or snow. Shockingly, the trail was a lot less crowded than I'd expected it to be late on a Saturday morning, even though the line of parked cars stretched about a mile from the parking lot. Luckily found an empty spot just as we pulled up to the lot. The bathroom is very clean for a pit toilet, well lit and ventilated, and only mildly smelly.
As previous reporters mentioned, there is a giant pothole at the start of the forest service road off the highway--veer left to avoid it. (Honestly, it's more of a complete dent in the road than a pothole, so be prepared.) Then the road becomes gravelly and unpaved, which wouldn't be a problem if it weren't littered with an insane number of deep potholes.
The lakes were stunning, especially Olallie! There were quite a few people camping along the shores. Would've loved to stay a night if I hadn't planned for just a day hike. There were huckleberries near the lakeshores, they were ripe but tasted rather sour. Wildflowers were not everywhere, but could be spotted. The beargrass made for some excellent photoshoots!
As a side note, I saw way too many unleashed dogs running along the trail and even a bag or two of dog poop. Please heighten your standards of responsibility if you're a dog owner.
Beautiful hike, logged about 7.1 miles including the bushwhack trail around Olallie's lakeshore, which takes you about 2/3 of the way until you have to turn back. Totally recommend!
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