Although I have been out hiking a bit in the last year and a half, I have not gotten it together and done some of this documentation. I think that it is time to get back to it.

An easy drive to exit 47 off Interstate 90 and only a half mile to the parking lot make this trailhead one of the easiest to get to from Seattle. This trail leads to several lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. After this hike, I will enjoy traveling on this trail several more times to explore some of the other destinations.

Only about 8000 steps (according to my official VA Puget Sound pedometer) and you get this beautiful view of Olallie Lake with Mount Rainier in the background. Curiously, the mountain disappears in this shot. The second photo was taken only seconds after the first and at a slightly different angle.

Here are a few glimpses of things along the trail, both mundane and interesting.
Granite boulders all a-jumble
Big old Hemlocks
A stream cascading down a rock face
Sumac berries were everywhere
Moss on a grand scale...each strand is almost 1/2" wide
A mixture of living and dead
Could be spooky at night

At one point I startled a chipmonk that was collecting berries from some Devil's Club. I'm not sure how the little critter can climb something like this . Those berries must be good!

Along the trail as you approach Pratt Lake you get a view across the lake basin. The trail crosses through old rock slides and descends back into the cool forest. Finally you gain a view of Pratt Lake. The 6 mile journey has been worth the walk. I relaxed on a rock at the edge of the lake and enjoyed my lunch. The only bad thought I had was that I still had to go back up the 800 feet of elevation that I descended to the lake after climbing 2300 feet to the ridge from the trailhead. The hike back out was uneventful, but it is always a little sad when the destination is just your car and a return to civilization.