If you're looking for a quick (< 2hrs), nearby, pretty hike to an alpine lake along the I-90 corridor... the hike to Talapus Lake has to be one of the best! (I didn't have time to go all the way to Ollalie - maybe next time.)
The road up is pretty gnarly, with huge, wide potholes. You can probably make it up in a normal car if you're careful, but it would be pretty easy to badly bottom out. I would suggest a small SUV, if available to you.
I got to the trailhead at around 6:15 a.m. or so and there were maybe 6 cars there - all seemed to be overnight campers. There were plenty of Northwest Forest Pass envelopes for payment available here, FYI.
I was the first one on the trail and didn't see a single hiker on my ascent. The trail is in great shape and is very picturesque, with nice forest and a really lovely creek/waterfall section. It's not a very difficult trail, either. There were a few muddy sections near the top, but nothing too bad.
Talapus Lake is very pretty and quite peaceful (when you're the only one there!) with fish jumping and no bugs. The "official" viewing spot by all the logs is a great place to sit and take it all in, and the other little rest spots along the shore are also nice to check out (though, I could see them trying to restore these as they are getting a bit too much random boot traffic.) There was one group of quiet campers and some nice looking open camping spots.
On the way back down I saw maybe 8 hikers on their way up, and when I returned to the relatively small parking lot (at around 8:00), it was nearly full.
Like I said, I can't think of a better two-hour lake hike that's this close to Seattle.
Comments