Success! I finally picked a hike where I could properly access the trailhead. The rather large parking area at the end of the road (Forest Service road no. 9030) was a bit of a surprise. Only one car was parked there when I arrived at 8:40AM. After signing in I was off on another fairly easy yet very lovely walk in the forest.

The trail worked its way through the trees, climbing gently to the first lake, Talapus Lake. I had to leave the trail near the lake in order to get down to the shore and get a view around and across. A light dusting of snow lay on the rocks and trees around the lake. A very pretty sight, but it hadn't taken very long to reach, so I decided to push on to the next lake.

Back to the trail and another relatively easy climb through the forest to Olallie Lake. Along this part of the trail, the snow on the ground began to be more consistent, eventually reaching 2 to 3 inches deep by the time I got to the lake. After a fruitless attempt to find a continuation of the trail, I settled down in some huckleberry bushes with a nice Hemlock as a back rest. As I started to pull out my lunch, I was joined by a grey jay. The bird was fairly certain that I meant to share my lunch with it, and declined to leave until I agreed.

On my next hike, I will have to bring a camera. The scene before me was spectacular. Imagine a mountain lake surrounded with fir and cedar trees all dressed in snow, a light to medium snow falling and a patch of blue sky with the sun streaming through. Can't do much better than that for a lunch time show. The jay, I'm sure was not impressed by the view, but seemed to enjoy the crust of bread from my sandwich.

The snow was falling pretty well, and the temperature seemed to be a bit below freezing, so I decided to head on back. As I started back down, I passed another lone hiker on his way up, followed shortly by several groups totaling 15 to 20 altogether. The size of the parking lot made a lot of sense when I got back to my car and found that well over half the spots were occupied. This must be a very popular spot in the summer.