Started at the Pratt Lake Trailhead this morning at about 7:30 am. Only two other cars before me. The trail was snowfree until about 3500 ft, shortly before the junction down to Ollalie. It was never more than slush, with a couple notable exceptions. The first exception was a wooden walkway right after the snow appeared. It was quite icy, and the logs were dilapidated and falling apart. This created gaps that thankfully were fairly easy to see under the snow. However, a number of the logs were not stable. This made it tricky with the ice, so care was needed.
I first skipped the Talapus Lake Trail in favor of hitting up the viewpoint past the junction on the way to Pratt. It took about 25 minutes to reach the viewpoint, where Rainier was out and a nice view of Ollalie Lake presented itself. The trail continued to be covered with slushy and occasionally icy snow. It was getting quite icy as I approached the viewpoint, so I’m guessing the way to Pratt could be interesting. Navigation not a problem.
After the viewpoint, I doubled back and took the Talapus Lake Trail down to Ollalie. Muddy and sloppy, but gorgeous! Not much snow, but a little dusting on Tusk O Granite was beautiful. I then continued down to Talapus, which had even less snow on the trail. Thankfully was able to enjoy the lake by myself before a giant, loud group came and filled the air with the scent of weed.
I retraced my steps and was on my way back to the trailhead. Uneventful. Beautiful day with the sun poking out!
Comments