We started at the Talapus Lake TH and headed up the Talapus and them Olallie Lakes. We took the Boot Trail up to where it connects to the Pratt Lake trail which we followed until it veered off to Island Lake. We only went to Rainbow Lake and skipped Island today.
We got the Trailhead at about 8:15 which was just when the parking lot had filled up and cars had to start parking on the road, we only had to walk an extra ten feet or so. By the time we left around 2 the road was parked up a good mile down the road which just doesn't seem worth it for Talapus.
The Talapus Lake trail is in great condition, a few slippery rocks and roots but an easier normal Washington Mountain Trail. It has a very soft grade up to the lake.
Lake Talapus is pretty nice, first time I've been to it so far but I won't be extremely wanting to go again, it just was average and not worth it for the amount of people on the trail. There's a few viewpoints to look at the lake and at around 9 or so at the latest when we got there we mostly had those viewpoint to ourselves. On the way back around 12-1 be prepared to share those with several groups of loud people.
The trail from Talapus to Olallie is also in great condition. It gets steeper going out of the lake basin but after that it's fairly flat. There's small bits of snow at Olallie but nothing actually on trail.
Olallie was also nice today, it was pretty foggy and we could hardly see the other side. All campsites were full and most day sites had people at them already.
The Boot trail which connects Olallie to Pratt was the hardest section of the hike. The trail is actually fairly easy to find currently, easier than in previous seasons but can still be confusing to those who have never used it before. It just goes straight up the lake basin so it's very steep and with all the fog moisture it was fairly slick in some areas.
The trail leading to the Pratt Cutoff and afterwards along the ridge is great, some rock and rooty areas but generally a nice grade up and along the ride small views on both sides. Eventually after the cutoff you stay on the ridge for a little longer then it turns more into just walking along the side of a mountain. This area also had a decent gentle grade with a few steep switchbacks where you gain most of the elevation.
This area was also the highpoint of the hike and we could see above the clouds Bandera and some of the other mountains in the area but couldn't see any of the lakes below.
Goin down after the highpoint is a little tricky, there's some larger boulders and it gets bit steeper but it's generally not too bad and wasn't too slippery today.
Once you get off the ridge and into the are behind the ridge which takes you far from I-90 is where the snow starts. There's no snow the entire hike but a good four feet at the max here. There are some snow bridges thinning and some complicated areas but just getting to Rainbow wasn't too hard. We had originally planned to also go to Island Lake or Sir Richards Pond after Rainbow but my partner got tired and I didn't feel safe going on my own with the high amount of melting snow bridges there were and thought I could easily get myself stuck.
The way back was fairly easy, we just turned around and took the same way back, there were a few steep areas but nothing too bad. The worst part about the way back was dealing with the people starting at Olallie. There were lots of hiker tourists who didn't understand proper trail eittiquite and were just generally annoying. Luckily a good section of the trail from Olallie to Talapus and Talapus to the TH were double wide so you didn't have to stop for every single person. There were a decent amount of dogs and kids so I assume going to Talapus or Olallie would be a good hike for them. There was an annoying couple who stopped people from crossing the log bridge just before Talapus to take Insta pictures, don't be like them.
If you want to get to Rainbow, Island, Sir Richards or any of those more backcountry lakes and don't want to deal with the mass amounts of people near the TH then don't start from the Talapus Lake TH. Pratt Lake/Granite Mountain TH still has a decent amount of people and it's harder to see Olallie on the way but more of the people on that trail know what they're doing. The Ira Spring TH also has a decent amount of annoying people but not as bad as Talapus as the trail to Mason is steep and longer. I went to Island Lake from the Ira Spring TH one day and that was pretty nice.
Totals: ~10.5 miles, ~2,300 ft. elev., 5.5 hours about
More photos in the Alltrails link
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