Lake Olallie

I needed an easy hike last weekend so I selected the family-friendly Lake Talapus / Lake Olallie trail. The forest service road is longer than most of the easy access trailheads along I-90, which explains the easy access to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness; you drive most of the way there!  At 9:00 a.m. the parking lot was more full than not and a group of geo-cachers were happily chatting up their find. I laced my boots quickly to beat the mob and hit the trail. It was a gorgeous fall day in the Pac NW, about 60 degrees, crisp and clear.  I made a quick stop to snap a shot of the creek draining Lake Talapus, and discovered my batteries were dying fast.

It was kind of sad because the reflections in Lake Talapus were amazing. Unfortunately, I had time to snap my shot in a rush so the composition was even worse than usual.

Once the batteries were dead for good, I boogied up the trail to Lake Olalle.  Since I felt peppy, I went to the far end of the lake and looked for a camp spot I vaguely remembered from a hike several years ago.I recalled walking along in silence when the barking of a large dog from the camp site startled the hell out of me.  This time, I squished through the soggy ground at the inlet to the lake without seeing 2 square feet of dry ground suitable for a tent.  In any case, I found the unmaintained trail that heads steeply up until it intersects the Pratt Lake trail.  After a 10 minute climb I found the trail and looped down to the Talapus trail returning to the car.  It was a 3 hour loop, which was just right to loosen the limbs without getting too tired.  The parking lot was jammed full with cars on both sides of the approach road for one hundred yards, which is typical for a beautiful weekend day.

Trail info is here: Trail info for Talapus and Olallie