Rainbow
Lake
09-13-25
The
first week of the month I managed only a 10 mile hike at Discovery Park
in Seattle. The air was smoky nearly everywhere but at Discovery Park.
It was a rare instance of county in city miles when I had no
alternative. Also, I have been painting my house leaving no time for
mid-week hikes. The smoke was gone and the weather near perfect so I
headed for my nearly annual trip to Rainbow Lake. I planned a trip
there the weekend before but smoke changed that. Two weeks earlier,
Gary suggested a trip to Benchmark Mountain so I canceled my Rainbow
trip. I was out the door at 7:05 heading east. Going through Issaquah I
saw that several lanes of westbound I-90 were closed. That did not bode
well for my return. I reached the Pratt Lake/Granite Mt. trailhead at
8:01 am to find the lot about 70% full. I was packed and on my way at
8:05 am. It was overcast in Seattle but in the mountains it was all
blue sky. The temperature was in the high 50s and warming fast. It was
supposed to top out at 63 degrees at Rainbow Lake level.
One hiker left just ahead of me. That was not a problem as he was
moving faster. Within a quarter mile I passed a group of three hikers.
It was busy at first then the crowds thinned considerably. I expected
most of the early hikers would be going up Granite Mountain. The flower
show is completely finished. I saw a coupe asters and a few pearly
everlasting and that was it. The latter is often seen this time of
year. I passed the Granite Mountain turnoff and crossed the one good
sized creek. As expected it was running but was an easy rock hop. I
continued at a good though not fast pace. Just before the long
deteriorating boardwalk a lone hiker zoomed on by me. That was it until
the Olallie Lake viewpoint. I passed one bunch of saprophytes. Some
were from last year and a few pinedrops were fresh. I went past the
Talapus & Olallie Lakes junction at about the 3 mile mark. The
inlet creek to Olallie Lake was dry. That was a bit unusual. Now I just
had mostly flat trail to the viewpoint. It used to be very hard to see
the top of the boot path coming up from Olallie Lake. Now it is very
obvious. I reached the viewpoint at 9:37 am. I covered just short of 4
miles in 1:32.
At the viewpoint the trees keep growing. What was an unobstructed view
30 years ago is now limited. I could see part of Olallie Lake and a
very hazy Mt. Rainier. It was sunny but not a day for long distance
mountain views. Fires are burning in the Teanaway Valley and east of
Mt. Rainier. That was one more reason for a day of visiting lakes. Two
hikers caught up with me at the viewpoint. They were heading for
Granite Mountain. They were not happy to hear that they missed the
trail junction three miles back down the trail. They decided head on. I
did not see them again so they likely headed for Pratt Lake. This is
not the first or second time I have met groups heading for Granite
Mountain miles beyond the turnoff. It was warm now but not too hot. I
continued on passing the Pratt Lake Trail in a few minutes. The
Defiance Trail contours around Pratt Mountain then drops down to the
valley of Island and Rainbow Lakes. Along the way the narrow trail has
five sets of switchbacks as it climbs to the highpoint. There was not a
single late season flower in bloom. From the highpoint I dropped down
to a great view of Mt. Defiance.
After that I started to see some early fall colors. There are still
green leaves but some yellow and orange is appearing. I passed the
turnoff to Island Lake and slowed considerable as I reached the berry
bushes of Rainbow Meadow. Just like trips the past four weeks, the
berries were big, blue, and ripe. Maybe just a little overripe. Some
fell off when the branches were moved. They were still very sweet. It
seems no bears, birds, or hikers have been eating them. Thousands will
soon fall to the ground. Some years the berry crops is very poor but it
has been great this year everywhere I have been hiking. Even the
usually poor Teanaway area had a bumper crop. The berries continued to
Rainbow Lake and beyond to Sir Richard's Pond. I ate quite a few but
did not even put a dent in the supply.
It took a while to hike the last tenth of a mile. I arrived at Rainbow
Lake at 10:32 am. I took 2:27 to hike the 5.5 miles. Nobody was at the
lake to I stopped at my usual spot and made myself comfortable on my
rock recliner at the edge of the lake. It was sunny and warm but not
hot, even in the sunshine. That is what I love about mid September
hiking. I did hear one group pass by on the main trail but saw nobody
while at the lake. I wanted to get back by late afternoon so I could
still get in a little painting. That still left me plenty of time to
enjoy my destination. After only getting in only the one hike so far
this month, I wanted to maximize hiking miles. At 11:05 am I headed for
Sir Richard's Pond. It is only half a mile farther along the trail. I
immediately found the berry crop continued and this slowed my pace. I
had a couple hundred feet of gain to my next objective. The berry
leaves were a dull green and red looking away from the sun. When
backlit by the sun the leaves turned bright yellow, orange, and red. It
was better color than I expected.
I arrived at the pond at 11:25 am. Mt Defiance was in sight and much
closer than my first sighting. Through trees I also saw the summit of
Kaleetan Peak. I took the path that goes around to the back of the
pond. The "pond" is abut 2/3 the size of Rainbow Lake. so it is a big
pond. At the back side I went through now dry mud flats to big rocks at
the current shore. I found another angled rock for reclining. This one
is quite comfortable. I think I nodded off a time or two. There were a
lot of birds at the lake including a couple of ducks. I was much more
serious about resting here. By the time I decided to leave it was 12:44
pm. 1:19 was a nice long visit. I took a few minutes to check out a
trail showing on my Gaia GPS map heading down to Lake Kulla Kulla. I
did not expect it to exist. I did find a path heading uphill to a ridge
slightly above the main trail. It does not continue down the steep
overgrown slope. I then headed back to Rainbow Lake. I stopped at the
spot near the outlet creek that looks out on the lake. I also stopped
at my usual spot. By 1:16 pm it was time to head back. Two other hikers
came by on the trail and were just ahead of me. To let them get ahead I
took a few minutes to feast on more berries. I did not see them again.
I headed up out of the valley to the highpoint and then began dropping
down the switchbacks. I met a group of three climbers wearing their
helmets. I inquired about their destination and it was Pratt Mountain.
They had not done it before and had limited info so I outlined where to
leave the trail and what to expect. I hope their climb was successful.
I did see one hiker coming in and a group at the Pratt-Defiance Trails
junction. I had a last food and water break at the Olallie viewpoint
and then motored on down the trail. From the viewpoint down the route
is nearly entirely in forest and comfortably cool. It did warm up
noticeably in the last mile. I reached the trailhead at 3:37 pm. The
lot was about as full as when I arrived. Cars were parked out of the
lot and up the road. By 3:43 I was on my way home. Google told me there
would be a 23 minute delay between Preston and Issaquah. That was the
construction I had seen westbound in the morning. It is only 25 miles
to Preston and at 70 mph it only took about 21 minutes. The Highway 18
exit was backup almost to North Bend. I-405 southbound was closed at
I-90. Traffic was taking Highway 18. At Preston my speed dropped from
70 to 2 mph. Three lanes narrowed to one in Issaquah. It took me over
50 minutes to drive 4 miles. From I-405 to I-5 was also backed up but
moving at 15 mph. I arrived home at 6:00 pm, taking 2:17 to drive home.
That was an ordeal but still well worth it to get in the hike that I
did.