10-15-22
It
is mid October and we have not
had rain in months. Days in the 70s and 80s and wildfires west of the
crest. I had to be back in Seattle by late afternoon. The AQI was in
the 100-200 range. I had only one choice. That would be a second trip
this year to the Snoqualmie Tunnel. It is underground and almost
entirely smoke free. I did not need a very early start as the flat
tunnel hikes very fast. I was out the door at about 8:25 am. Visibility
was minimal in Issaquah. It was only 52 degrees. As I cruised past
North Bend the smoke began to disappear. I started to think about a
hike above ground level. Farther up the valley it seemed to be even
clearer. This was not part of the forecast. I chose to exit at Denny
Creek and go to the Pratt Lake Trailhead. I arrived to find the parking
lot not yet full. I parked and stepped out to find no smoke smell. I
was pleased to take a hike above ground. I was packed and on my
way at the not so early time of 9:20 am. I pieced together a trip
that would get me home early and still get in a view and a lake.
I sped past a group of half a dozen starting just before me. They were soon out of sight. I was on this trail in late August for my 1000th trip report hike. That day we went to Rainbow Lake. I did not have enough time for that this day. The trail is very dry. The three largest creeks still had a little water. All the rest were dry. I passed the turnoff for Granite Mountain just before the one mile marker. Now the trail was very quiet. I saw a few folks but not many. There were a lot of saprophytes on the August trip. I only saw two left. There were few leaves changing color until high on the ridge. I saw very few mushrooms. The lack of water seems to the the problem. I decided to go to the ridge first then drop to Olallie Lake. The waterfall had a little water but not much. As little as I can recall. At the junction with the trail to Olallie and Talapus Lakes I continued straight. I would later finish my loop here.
I reached the viewpoint of Olallie Lake and Mt. Rainier at 11:03. I was almost 4 miles up in 1:43. Not a great time but I was only hiking 8 miles total. Trees have grown up to block much of the lake view. It is mostly visible but nothing like 20 years ago, Rainier was not clouded but smoky mist made it hard to see. After a short break I decided to continue on to the Pratt Lake trail junction. It is only a few minutes more up the trail. That also took me to an even elevation of 4200'. I dropped down to near the viewpoint and climbed up onto rocks above the trail. Time for my lunch. I was in a shady spot. I started with long pants legs and a long sleeve shirt. That gave way to zipping the legs off and a short sleeves shirt. It was already warm enough that shade was more comfortable. This should not have been a problem in mid October. Early snow is more likely that mid 70s temperature.
I saw nobody during my break. I packed up and headed down the trail. At the more obvious than ever boot path down to Olallie Lake, I turned right and downhill. I was a little concerned about ground hornets on this forested path but did not see any. In recent times I seem to get stung every other year or so in the fall. I arrived at the lake to find a group camping at the site with access to the end of the lake. As I headed around the lake I ran into another larch group coming in. A few minutes later I took a boot path down to the shore. This spot was empty. I sat down for another break. I don't often see the lake from this vantage spot. Most all of it was in sight. The bright blue water had silver sparkles dancing across the surface as the wind roiled the water. I would liked to have spent an hour here but I did need to get home by late afternoon.
At 11:54 am I packed up and headed back. There were several groups of day hikers and backpackers at the lake. I found one unoccupied spot for another look at the lake from the shore. My stop was short and I was back on my way. The old trail used to go near the outlet creek and split. One trail down to Talapus Lake and one up to the Pratt Lake Trail. The bridge was missing for more than a decade. The trails very indistinct where they split. A few years ago the trail was reworked. Now there is a signed junction well before the old split. There is also a bridge once again. I'm not sure I had crossed it before today. Once up to the Pratt Lake Trail I just retraced my track coming in. It is about 3+ miles back to the car. I did see folks coming up but not many. Between a rare playoff home Mariners game, A Huskies home football game, and the bad smoke there were far fewer hikers than usual on a sunny weekend day. Par for the course this year as I continually see fewer hikers than I expect. The trails are more crowded than ever but I seem to avoid them on most hikes.
I made it back to the parking lot at 1:20 pm. I took exactly 4 hours to hike 8 miles with 2400' of elevation gain. Traffic was not bad and I was home plenty early for my evening engagement. This hike turned out far better than I expected. The air quality was so bad in Seattle and in the mountains that I felt that hiking underground was my only option. Little did I know that above North Bend the sky would clear and the smoke disappear. That was far better than the forecast. Sometimes its great to just be lucky. I had one more 75 degree day in the mountains and this time it was well after those conditions should exist. The next day it was 88 degrees in Seattle. That is the latest 80 degree day in Seattle history and it nearly reached 90. This has been a very unusual summer.
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Trips - 2022
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I sped past a group of half a dozen starting just before me. They were soon out of sight. I was on this trail in late August for my 1000th trip report hike. That day we went to Rainbow Lake. I did not have enough time for that this day. The trail is very dry. The three largest creeks still had a little water. All the rest were dry. I passed the turnoff for Granite Mountain just before the one mile marker. Now the trail was very quiet. I saw a few folks but not many. There were a lot of saprophytes on the August trip. I only saw two left. There were few leaves changing color until high on the ridge. I saw very few mushrooms. The lack of water seems to the the problem. I decided to go to the ridge first then drop to Olallie Lake. The waterfall had a little water but not much. As little as I can recall. At the junction with the trail to Olallie and Talapus Lakes I continued straight. I would later finish my loop here.
I reached the viewpoint of Olallie Lake and Mt. Rainier at 11:03. I was almost 4 miles up in 1:43. Not a great time but I was only hiking 8 miles total. Trees have grown up to block much of the lake view. It is mostly visible but nothing like 20 years ago, Rainier was not clouded but smoky mist made it hard to see. After a short break I decided to continue on to the Pratt Lake trail junction. It is only a few minutes more up the trail. That also took me to an even elevation of 4200'. I dropped down to near the viewpoint and climbed up onto rocks above the trail. Time for my lunch. I was in a shady spot. I started with long pants legs and a long sleeve shirt. That gave way to zipping the legs off and a short sleeves shirt. It was already warm enough that shade was more comfortable. This should not have been a problem in mid October. Early snow is more likely that mid 70s temperature.
I saw nobody during my break. I packed up and headed down the trail. At the more obvious than ever boot path down to Olallie Lake, I turned right and downhill. I was a little concerned about ground hornets on this forested path but did not see any. In recent times I seem to get stung every other year or so in the fall. I arrived at the lake to find a group camping at the site with access to the end of the lake. As I headed around the lake I ran into another larch group coming in. A few minutes later I took a boot path down to the shore. This spot was empty. I sat down for another break. I don't often see the lake from this vantage spot. Most all of it was in sight. The bright blue water had silver sparkles dancing across the surface as the wind roiled the water. I would liked to have spent an hour here but I did need to get home by late afternoon.
At 11:54 am I packed up and headed back. There were several groups of day hikers and backpackers at the lake. I found one unoccupied spot for another look at the lake from the shore. My stop was short and I was back on my way. The old trail used to go near the outlet creek and split. One trail down to Talapus Lake and one up to the Pratt Lake Trail. The bridge was missing for more than a decade. The trails very indistinct where they split. A few years ago the trail was reworked. Now there is a signed junction well before the old split. There is also a bridge once again. I'm not sure I had crossed it before today. Once up to the Pratt Lake Trail I just retraced my track coming in. It is about 3+ miles back to the car. I did see folks coming up but not many. Between a rare playoff home Mariners game, A Huskies home football game, and the bad smoke there were far fewer hikers than usual on a sunny weekend day. Par for the course this year as I continually see fewer hikers than I expect. The trails are more crowded than ever but I seem to avoid them on most hikes.
I made it back to the parking lot at 1:20 pm. I took exactly 4 hours to hike 8 miles with 2400' of elevation gain. Traffic was not bad and I was home plenty early for my evening engagement. This hike turned out far better than I expected. The air quality was so bad in Seattle and in the mountains that I felt that hiking underground was my only option. Little did I know that above North Bend the sky would clear and the smoke disappear. That was far better than the forecast. Sometimes its great to just be lucky. I had one more 75 degree day in the mountains and this time it was well after those conditions should exist. The next day it was 88 degrees in Seattle. That is the latest 80 degree day in Seattle history and it nearly reached 90. This has been a very unusual summer.
 Starting Up The Trail |
 Cascading Falls |
 Boardwalk |
 Big Tree |
 Pinedrop |
 Dry Creek |
 Encroaching Tree |
 Lake & Rainier View |
 Beargrass |
 Fall Leaf Color |
 Paler Leaves |
 Trail Junction |
 Boulder Field Color |
 Lunch Spot |
 Hazy Mt. Rainier |
 Boot Path |
 Mushroom |
 Olallie Lake |
 Grassy End |
 Lake Through Trees |
 Look Down Lake |
 New Bridge |
 Pinedrop #2 |
 Rotting Boardwalk |
 Waterfall Again |
 Heading Down Trail |
Trips - 2022
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