Pratt Mountain 2.9.13
We had Saturday to get out and play in the mountains. The forecast looked decent so we scoured the area looking for an objective. We looked along I-90, highway 2, and the Mountain Loop highway. After seeing which roads were closed and trailheads snowed in, we picked Pratt Mountain. We somehow found a new summit for all of us. We pulled into the Granite Mountain trailhead at exit 47 off of I-90 just as a big group was taking off up the trail. We strapped our snowshoes onto our packs and headed up the trail. There was a little mud down low but the trail was mostly compacted snow, very slick in a few areas. After heading out into the avalanche gully on Mount Granite we ducked back into the trees and took the trail at the junction to Pratt Mountain. The trail was well traveled so we kept our snowshoes on our packs. After numerous stream crossings, the guys were glad they decided not to ski it.
One of the numerous waterfalls along the trail
We had a long traverse through the trees and snow, entering the alpine wilderness just before the trail junction to Talapus lake. We kept right, heading towards Pratt Lake. There were two routes up Pratt from Olallie Lake. You can cut it short and hope there is a good crossing at the outlet of the lake, or traverse all around the lake and pick up the ridge to Pratt Mountain. We decided to traverse around the lake, hoping the nice trail would make up the time.
Hike through lots of snowy trees, luckily I really like taking pictures of trees
Just after turning back south around the top of the lake, the trail started heading up. Consulting the maps, Matt thought it better for us to break our own trail and stay level to pick up the ridge near the south end of the lake. We put snowshoes on and Aaron started out in the lead. Unfortunately the traverse was on some steeper snow that slid, so I was having issues on my snowshoes. I slid three times, the third time catching myself by running into some trees. Matt and Fedya jumped out ahead of me and started kicking steps, trying to make it easier for me to follow. Finally we reached the ridge and Fedya started leading us up.
We intersected another trail, the one most people were coming up. It was a nice highway up the ridge and we deployed our heel risers for the final 1000'. We met a few groups heading up and coming down. One cautioned us to stay on the ridge and avoid their traverse - something I was happy to do after my own traversing issues down near the lake.
Fedya heading up an exposed section of the ridge, avoiding the traverse of the other group
The clouds were rolling in and out, not quite the weather I had expected. The wind along the ridge was chilly as we made our way past many frozen trees.
Frozen, snowy trees along the ridge
One of the few views we got as the clouds rolled through the area
Finally we arrived on the summit, just in time to be completely shrouded in clouds. Matt had wanted to climb nearby Bandera and Mount Defiance after tagging Pratt, but with our view of the routes blocked and considering my 10 mile run the day before, I voted to head back down and not ruin a good day so far. We hung out at the top to eat lunch while the guys each enjoyed a summit PBR.
Birds at the summit, looking for some food
There were a couple birds hanging out up there, looking for handouts - or stealing as was the case with Matt's sandwich. Those birds are bold! Another group was at the top so after exchanging picture courtesies, we started down.
Group summit shot on Pratt Mountain
We decided to take the trail to the south of the lake and save a good half hour on the way out. We took our snowshoes off not far below the summit as the trail was fairly compacted from all the traffic. The trees were well loaded with snow so the guys had fun trying to set snow bombs off on each other.
Dangerously loaded tree branches for the unsuspecting hiker
We were soon back on the normal trail to take us back to the Granite Mountain trailhead. It turns out we needed to take the trail to Talapus Lake to find the shortcut around Olallie Lake, who knew? We made good time heading down the trail until we hit the junction with the trail up Granite Mountain. After this the trail got very slick and I slowed way down to avoid falling down a bunch. A little more than 6 hours after we left the parking lot we were back. After changing into some dry, warm clothes we headed for the Issaquah brewpub for some well deserved food.
View Pratt Mountain 2.9.13 in a larger map
Pratt Mountain area
Took the Pratt Lake trail from the trailhead off of exit 47, the same one for Granite Mountain. Luckily the long traverse was on a nice trail
On the way up we continued on the trail to Pratt Mountain and traversed around Olallie Lake. On the way down we cut the lake and learned the better route was off of the Talapus Lake trail. Don't traverse the lake!