Talapus Lake from exit 45

Trip Report

Ian and I parked on road 9030 a few hundred feet from exit 45. The road is washed out here. We put on our skis and headed up 9030 to the Talapus/Olallie Lakes trailhead. We hit another washout shortly after the intersection with road 9031.

From the trailhead we took the small ridge west of Talapus Creek. The ridge is treed the whole way, no views. At 3,340' we left the ridge and headed down gentle slopes to the Talapus Lake outlet. We admired the snow slopes NW of the lake and resolved to come back in the spring to ski them.

We returned the same way. The trees on the ridge were a bit too tight, luckily the ridge is mellow enough that we could usually maneuver around them (we suffered one collision with a tree). When we got back to the trailhead we were surprised to find loads of snowshoe tracks in what had been untracked snow in the morning. We encountered many snowshoers and a few skiers while we skied down the road.

References

• Winter guide book: Cross-Country Ski Tours: Washington's South Cascades & Olympics

Travel Times

• 1 hour 23 minutes ascending from exit 45 on I-90 (1,665') to Talapus Lake trailhead (2,590')
• 1 hour 25 minutes ascending from Talapus Lake trailhead (2,590') to where we left the ridge (3,370')
• 25 minutes ascending from where we left the ridge (3,370') to Talapus Lake
• 17 minutes descending from Talapus Lake (3,240') to where we rejoined the ridge (3,350')
• 41 minutes descending from where we rejoined the ridge (3,350') to Talapus Lake trailhead (2,510')
• 43 minutes descending from Talapus Lake trailhead (2,510') to exit 45 on I-90
• 49 minutes driving back from exit 45 on I-90 to 65th Street Park and Ride

Visited

• Alpine Lakes Wilderness
• Bandera USGS quad
• King County
• Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
• South Fork Snoqualmie Drainage
• Talapus Lk.
• Washington State