Last Saturday, Tyla and I decided to take a hike to Talapus and Olallie Lakes (hike #21 in Beyond Mt Si.) It’s a pretty easy and well-traveled hike so we got there early to avoid the crowds. We got to Talapus Lake very quickly, walked down to the water’s edge and then decided to continue on before eating lunch. Unfortunately we missed the left turn to Olallie Lake (don’t cross the stream where the bridge is washed out) and ended up on the trail to Pratt Lake. I thought we might catch a view of Olallie from that trail, but we didn’t so we turned around, found the trail to Olallie and quickly reached that lake. It was about a 1 mile detour.
Olallie Lake is beautiful. There are some very nice campsites and we found a great spot for our picnic lunch. I’ve always wanted to swim in one of those alpine lakes, but the fear of cold and chafing on the return hike has always stopped me. This time, I realized I’d regret it if I never did it, so I stripped down to my skivvies and took the plunge. It was every bit as cold as I had imagined, and the lower my feet sunk into the water, the colder it got. Tyla snapped a bunch of photos as proof and I headed to the shore after just a few minutes in the water.
All in all it was a great hike. It’s amazing what kind of views and scenery you can get with such little effort! Our day consisted of about 7 miles and less than 2000 vertical feet.
