Talapus and Olallie Lakes — Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

We passed two cars that were on the way down on NF-9030. Road wasn't too bad, about a mile or so of gravel with a couple of big potholes but we made it fine in our Crosstrek. When we got to the parking lot at 11:40am, there was one last spot in the lot and a couple of cars parked along the side of the road. Toilet was clean with plenty of tp. We made it to Olallie Lake in about 90 mins, spent 30 min by the lake, came back down to Talapus Lake for a shorter break and got back to our car around 3pm. Passed a couple of groups on our way up and down, probably less than 2 dozen in total. We saw about as many off-leash dogs as dogs on leash (annoying, but at least owners were present and all except one of them had some recall. Fortunately we were stocked up on cheese puffs for my dog in anticipation of this.). The trail was very nice and wide, probably one of the all-round nicest trails we've been on around the area. Despite the rainy last couple of days it was mildly damp to dry (dog was not muddy at the end) and there was a lot of good drainage dug out alongside the trail. We were afraid of boulders (there were none) and water crossings (dog sometimes has opinions on bridges in the wilderness and the lack of railings; there was one that she crossed confidently to my surprise). Lots of green trees, some fall colors (mostly by the lakes), good weather. Overall a very nice day.