We have hiked to Talapus Lake before but decided on Labor Day to go again and make it to Olallie this time. The road conditions on the way to the trailhead were better than what I remember from our previous hike, but there are still a number of ruts to avoid. There has also been quite a bit of logging on the forest service road on the way in as well as at the trailhead itself. Notably, the vault toilet at the trailhead is closed until 9/15, though there are wooden box style toilets at both lakes.
The weather was beautiful. We had a foggy and cool 50s-60s, my favorite hiking weather. The wildlife seemed to enjoy it too, with lots of sightings and sounds of Douglas squirrels, woodpeckers, Canada jays, pika, and more. We did hear reports of wasps at Olallie Lake; we didn't see any but we did find what seemed like ground nesting bees at the base of a few trees, one at the first viewpoint at Olallie lake and one on the trail that follows the lake. These bees did start to exit the nest when we passed near them but did not follow us after we backed off. Other than that, the cool misty weather kept other bugs away.
For Labor Day it felt relatively uncrowded, though the cars did spill onto the street from the parking lot when we arrived around 11am. Olallie is well worth the extra few miles if you are debating whether to continue from Talapus.
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