I led a stalwart group of seven hikers and one dog on a through hike from the Pratt Lake TH (I-90 Exit 47) to the lower Mason TH (aka I-90 Exit 42). We started early at 8:00 AM, in case snow slowed us down, since we wanted to finish before dark. It turned out to only take 6.5 hours, and we hardly ran into any snow. A great day out in the ALW, as we visited four lakes and laid eyes on four others.
STATS: About 11.5 miles in 6:30, 3400' elevation gain. This includes the side trip to Island Lake and the Blazer Lake overlook, and about 30 minutes of breaks and stopping for lunch.
ROAD / TH: We left some cars at I-90 Exit 42 and then drove up to Exit 47 to start our hike at the Pratt Lake TH. No special cars or gravel road driving required! I would say there were about 3-4 other cars at Exit 42 when we returned, and probably 20 cars at Pratt Lake at the end of our hike. We walked past the Ira Spring TH and that lot was full at some point today, since a few cars were parked along the road. The bathroom at the Pratt Lake / Granite Mt. TH was fully stocked and in good condition.
PRATT LAKE TRAIL: As always, this trail is in great condition. The waterfalls are lovely right now, and don't pose any difficulty in crossing. This is not much in the way of views, but there is a nice shot of Ollalie Lake just before you reach the top of the trail. Lots of big trees and dense forest, and a steady climb that never feels steep but will keep your blood pumping. At the top of the ridge, where the trail drops down toward Pratt Lake, we stayed left to follow the Mount Defiance Trail. No snow and hardly any mud or water to this point.
MOUNT DEFIANCE TRAIL (aka Island / Rainbow Lake): This starts as a fun ridge-top walk through some nice trees and rocks, before becoming a side-hill along the south edge of Pratt Mountain. The trail climbs about 450' to its high point before dropping down into the Island / Rainbow Lake basin. If you look carefully, you can spot Talapus Lake through the trees to your left. Continuing on, you will pass Rainbow Lake, climb a bit more and arrive at Sir Richard's Pond. This pond is a bug-fest in the summer, but a very pretty spot with expansive views to the back side of Bandera Mountain. Continuing on past the pond, you climb yet again, before finally dropping down to the junction with the Ira Spring Trail (turn left). Just a little snow on this trail, mainly on the descent into the Rainbow Lake basin. There was also some water and mud onm the trail at times, mostly between Rainbow and Sir Richard's Pond. The camp sites at Rainbow Lake looked snow-free, though the lake had a thin layer of clear ice on top.
ISLAND LAKE TRAIL: This is a short trail (0.6 miles RT) that goes to Island Lake. I highly recommend this side trip, as it's an easy trail that goes past some pretty ponds, and Island Lake itself is very nice. A bit of mud and water on the trail but nothing serious. The camp sites at Island Lake were snow-free and the lake had no ice.
BLAZER LAKE OVERLOOK/TRAIL: In between the two outlet streams that run out of Rainbow Lake, you will find a primitive trail heading north. If you follow this trail, you will eventually come to the edge of a steep hill and get a great view of Blazer Lake below, and Kaleetan and Roosevelt in the distance. The trail does continue down to Blazer Lake, though we didn't venture down it today, so I can't report on the condition. There are a couple streams and a boggy area you have to cross to get to the overlook, so I wouldn't recommend it without waterproof footwear at this time.
IRA SPRING TRAIL (Mason Lake): No issues on the Ira Spring Trail, except for some muddy parts on the section between Mason Lake and the Mount Defiance junction. Lots of people enjoying Mason Lake today, including one group doing some cold swimming! There are new signs at the top and bottom of the Old Mason Lake Trail indicating that it is closed for restoration. At least, new since last winter. Crossing the lake outlet was no problem at all using the rocks in the creek. The camp sites at Mason Lake are snow-free.
MASON CREEK TRAIL: We followed the trail from the Mason Lake road down to Exit 42. This trail is in excellent shape with only one or two new blowdowns that were easily crossed over. Lots of nice moss and mushrooms in the forest now, and the logging from a few years ago has really let a lot of light into the forest here, especially in the lower half.
SNOW: Note - I marked the report as "snow free" since the vast majority of the trails we hiked (99%+) had no snow. This included the the Pratt Lake Trail up to the junction with the Mount Defiance Trail, and the entirety of the Mason Lake (Ira Spring) Trail. It didn't look like there was any snow leading down to Pratt Lake or Ollalie Lake, or up to Mount Defiance, but we didn't explore those trails so I can't say for sure. The only places we ran into any snow were dropping into Rainbow Lake, and quite a bit on the Island Lake Trail.
GEAR: Some of us used poles, but no one put on spikes for any of the snow sections. The snow we did find was often hard packed and icy, but mostly on flat ground, with enough rocks or other things to step on to avoid it. I'd still recommend bringing spikes, as conditions may change and individuals have different risk tolerances.
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