8-10-02
I have hiked every step of this
trip before but never in a single trip. Since I was planning on a short drive
for a change and a nice long trip this route fit the bill. I started at
the Talapus Lake trailhead, up Forest Service road 9030 from I-90. I was
a little surprised to see that there were only about a dozen cars at 9:10
on a Saturday morning. The first 2.2 miles to Talapus Lake are very easy
hiking. The trail is wide and gently graded. After all my sunny east side
trips this year it was neat to hike in a foggy and misty forest. I passed
a couple of groups coming in and out. Talapus Lake was covered with a very
thick fog. I tried to take a picture and could only see a few feet out into
the lake. Away from the lake the visibility was fine. I continued up
to the intersection of the trails to Ollalie Lake and the Pratt trail. I
went left towards Ollalie and after the first switchback I headed straight
up the hill. This off trail scramble cuts off about one mile vs. going around
Ollalie Lake on the Pratt trail. The scramble is a little brushy but not
too difficult. In 1/3 of a mile, after gaining 500', I reached the Defiance
trail. Here I went left contouring around Pratt Mountain. On this open slope
the flowers were still very good. Paintbrush, Tiger Lily, and Beargrass were
most prevalent. The valley of Talapus Lake, just below, was completely fogged
in. After a few switchbacks the trail reached the high point and began to
descend into the valley of Island and Rainbow Lakes. The valley is covered
in Beargrass. I have seldom seen so much of it. Also, for the first and about
the only time, the sun was shining.
At Rainbow Lake I stopped for a snack. There were 2 hikers at the lake and one was swimming. It looked a little too cold for my taste. With my shortcut I had only hiked about 4 miles to reach the lake. Now it was time to head on to Mt. Defiance. I had only hiked the section from Rainbow Lake to Mason Lake one time before. It's nice to hike a trail that you don't remember. The same flowers I had already seen were thick along this stretch. Tiger Lilies were especially thick. I usually see a few of them at a time not miles of them. This section also has several big ups and downs. Be prepared to gain about 300' on the way out. There is a nameless lake along the trail which is very pretty. It sits right below Bandera Mountain. Once I reached the Mason Lake intersection I was back on a familiar trail. The trail follows the ridge top in thick forest before the climb up Mt. Defiance. The trail climbs up the north side of the mountain until it reaches the east ridge. It goes up the ridge and then turns west along the south side of the mountain. This section above I-90 is a meadowy hillside. The flowers can be spectacular at their peak. The downside is the noise from the freeway. Today I had great flowers and the clouds seemed to muffle the noise. That was fair compensation for the lack of views. The traverse goes all the way along the slope to the southwest corner of the mountain. At that point an obvious route heads straight up. Poles are helpful to negotiate this stretch. It is 400' up to the summit. The Tiger Lilies were even thicker on this stretch than the on the previous trails. Another unexpected bonus was ripe blueberries. Berry bushes are thick from Rainbow Lake to Mason Lake but they are very late this year. Only small green berries are present. It will be at least late September before they ripen. On the open south face of Mt. Defiance there are berries which are ripe and ready for eating. I headed straight up but spent quite awhile grazing on the way down. Did I mention bugs? They are out and they are hungry. Whenever I slowed down they found me. On the summit of Defiance I put on all my rain gear. Only with almost no skin showing could I stay on the summit. I spent one hour but the views never opened up. On the way down I passed two parties. The weather seemed to keep the usual crowds away. Coming out I spent 1 1/2 hours brushing trail. Crews seldom get this far up the trail.
I marked where my scramble reached the trail in case I wanted to scramble back down. When I reached that point I decided to follow trail all the way back. This added one mile but was much easier on my knees. All the way back down to Talapus Lake I saw only 2 more hikers. The lake had it's usual crowd of campers. The rest of the way down was quck and easy. The total on the day was 14 miles and 4200' gained.
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At Rainbow Lake I stopped for a snack. There were 2 hikers at the lake and one was swimming. It looked a little too cold for my taste. With my shortcut I had only hiked about 4 miles to reach the lake. Now it was time to head on to Mt. Defiance. I had only hiked the section from Rainbow Lake to Mason Lake one time before. It's nice to hike a trail that you don't remember. The same flowers I had already seen were thick along this stretch. Tiger Lilies were especially thick. I usually see a few of them at a time not miles of them. This section also has several big ups and downs. Be prepared to gain about 300' on the way out. There is a nameless lake along the trail which is very pretty. It sits right below Bandera Mountain. Once I reached the Mason Lake intersection I was back on a familiar trail. The trail follows the ridge top in thick forest before the climb up Mt. Defiance. The trail climbs up the north side of the mountain until it reaches the east ridge. It goes up the ridge and then turns west along the south side of the mountain. This section above I-90 is a meadowy hillside. The flowers can be spectacular at their peak. The downside is the noise from the freeway. Today I had great flowers and the clouds seemed to muffle the noise. That was fair compensation for the lack of views. The traverse goes all the way along the slope to the southwest corner of the mountain. At that point an obvious route heads straight up. Poles are helpful to negotiate this stretch. It is 400' up to the summit. The Tiger Lilies were even thicker on this stretch than the on the previous trails. Another unexpected bonus was ripe blueberries. Berry bushes are thick from Rainbow Lake to Mason Lake but they are very late this year. Only small green berries are present. It will be at least late September before they ripen. On the open south face of Mt. Defiance there are berries which are ripe and ready for eating. I headed straight up but spent quite awhile grazing on the way down. Did I mention bugs? They are out and they are hungry. Whenever I slowed down they found me. On the summit of Defiance I put on all my rain gear. Only with almost no skin showing could I stay on the summit. I spent one hour but the views never opened up. On the way down I passed two parties. The weather seemed to keep the usual crowds away. Coming out I spent 1 1/2 hours brushing trail. Crews seldom get this far up the trail.
I marked where my scramble reached the trail in case I wanted to scramble back down. When I reached that point I decided to follow trail all the way back. This added one mile but was much easier on my knees. All the way back down to Talapus Lake I saw only 2 more hikers. The lake had it's usual crowd of campers. The rest of the way down was quck and easy. The total on the day was 14 miles and 4200' gained.
Talapus Lake |
Defiance Flowers |
Beargrass |
More Beargrass |
Rainbow Lake |
Small Lake |
Small Lake 2 |
Defiance Flowers 2 |
Photo Page 2
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