Started at Talapus Lake trailhead and went up to Talapus, Olallie lakes and took the unofficial trail from the North end of the lake up to the Pratt Lake trail, then out and back to Island Lake. On return trip I followed the Pratt Lake trail further down to the official connection trail to Olallie lake.
Drive: road suitable to average 20 mph in a Prius until you catch up with two Subarus. Then you slow down to about 12 mph for the rest of the way up. Same thing in the way down, except this time you're stuck behind a Hundai Elantra. Seriously folks, drive as slow as you want, but pull over to let faster drivers pass. That's what I do when someone faster catches up with me. It's not a race!
Trailhead: full, parked along the road about 0.1 miles down. Bathroom door jams a little, but opens and closes. Well stocked with TP at 9:15am
Trail: great condition, though 3 people placed poop bags along the trail in the first 0.1 miles. My pup pooped after 0.1 miles, and we returned to the trailhead with the poop bag before starting over.
No obstacles on the trail to the north end of Olallie Lake. The unofficial trail from Olallie Lake to the Pratt Lake trail is easy to find but a bit overgrown lower down. From the Pratt Lake junction at the top of the ridge to Island Lake I cut out a few dozen Vine Maple and other low-hanging branches, but by far not all that are growing into the trail. No blow-downs on the way to Island Lake, though.
Back country toilets: all signs are clearly visible and toilets are easy to find.
Talapus Lake: lid is broken (seat is fine). About 1 ft left til full. See Pic.
Olallie Lake: both toilets are full, about flush with the soil level.
Island Lake: looks it got recently moved. Plenty of capacity left.
Note: DO NOT THROW TRASH OR POOP BAGS INTO THE BACKCOUNTRY TOILET! It turns regular trash into biohazard waste and will end up buried on the mountain. Still bad, but not as bad as dumping it in the toilet: leave it by the side of the trail. That way your mother (or some volunteer) can clean up after you.
Comments
Seattle_Wayne on Island Lake - Rainbow Lake, Talapus and Olallie Lakes
Thanks for cleaning up after your pup. :) I don't know how many dog poop bags I've taken down off the trails in recent years. Probably hundreds.
Posted by:
Seattle_Wayne on Sep 08, 2025 02:07 PM
- Uli on Island Lake - Rainbow Lake, Talapus and Olallie Lakes
Thank YOU for taking so many poop bags off the mountain. I've taken several off myself. In fact, there was one obviously old one sitting there right next to where my pup pooped, and I picked that up with my poopbag and carried both of them to the trash. But I didn't pick up the other three....
Posted by:
- Uli on Sep 08, 2025 08:45 PM
seattlegrrlie on Island Lake - Rainbow Lake, Talapus and Olallie Lakes
That road is not suitable for 20mph. On a 5% grade on dirt, your stopping distance is about 95-100ft which is often further than the corner visibility of that road. A 12mph will give a more reasonable stopping distance of 45-50ft. Please slow down.
Posted by:
seattlegrrlie on Sep 08, 2025 06:33 PM
- Uli on Island Lake - Rainbow Lake, Talapus and Olallie Lakes
You are correct that not every stretch of this road is suitable for going 20mph. There are multiple sharp turns where one should slow down to 10 or 12 mph. But there are also many stretches where you can see 500 ft or longer and one can safely drive 25 mph on those stretches if no car comes the other way. Being stuck behind someone who only goes 15 mph max and who slows down to 8mph for every tiny pothole is frustrating. There is no posted speed limit. Please don't impose one on others by not letting faster drivers pass. What is really dangerous is when frustrated drivers pass where they shouldn't (e.g. because of limited sight distance). I didn't attempt to pass because there was no safe way to pass, but I've almost gotten hit by some oncoming driver who did try to pass another car.
Posted by:
- Uli on Sep 08, 2025 09:02 PM