Search trip reports
untitled-11.jpg

Trip Report    

CHS 2 Hike - Pratt Lake

Fabulous fun day hike to Pratt Lake Basin - including 2 waders and a swimmer, delicious homemade cookies, and lots of facts about plants and birds. Strong 2.3 mph showing by 10 CHS-2 hikers including a last-minute add third leader. Good luck getting to K2-basecamp, Julie!

Courtenay Schurman Courtenay Schurman
June 24, 2025
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • What a difference a few weeks makes! The last time I scouted Pratt Lake Basin (end of May https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report-2025-05-29.155139162777) the trillium were in full bloom and there was still snow in spots. Two weeks ago I led a trip to Rainbow and Island Lakes and there were still patches of snow in the basin. Today, we encountered zero snow anywhere on the trail. In fact, water in streams appears to be lower than usual due to the dry spring, but thank goodness for the shade trees on this trail! Pleasant temperatures made the high humidity tolerable. This (Exit 47) is perhaps my favorite trailhead in all of the Cascades.

    A Northwest Forest Pass is required but you can buy a permit at the parking lot at a kiosk if you don't have one. Toilets were newly stocked with toilet paper - PLEASE be sure to securely close the door behind you so the bugs (and critters!) don't get in and take over. The wind has a tendency to blow it open but DO NOT leave it open.

    untitled-5.jpg

    Beware the pothole as you turn onto the trailhead lot, it won't repair itself. And do your research on road closures, I-90 is in summer repair and lane closures are happening.

    The trail is a little muddy in spots but the streams are all crossable and if you go early, the boulder field is not too bad. We could feel the heat radiating off the rocks, but we were done with the last of the elevation gain by noon.

Ten of us from the Seattle Mountaineers CHS-2 cohort (Conditioning for Hiking Series) did an early Tuesday hike this morning, leaving the Pratt Lake Trailhead at 6:40 with only 3 cars ahead of us. 

We saw a handful of hikers, one backpacking couple and a dog coming out of the premier overnight spot by the lake, and we only retreived one dog poop bag all day (BRAVO hikers!) about .25 miles from the parking lot.

untitled-12.jpg

Our trip took us to the north end of Pratt Lake (AllTrails had us at 2.3 mph average pace, 12.5 miles and 3186' elevation gain) where two of us enjoyed wading, one went for a swim, and another shared fantastic homemade cookies.

It took us 3 hours to reach the lunch spot, an hour to climb 700' out of the basin, and 90 minutes to cover the 4 miles back down to the cars. Strong showing, great camaraderie, and some photos of columbine, beargrass, Queen's cup, bleeding hearts, vanilla leaf, coral root, and 24 bird species on the day, including some woodpeckers, warblers, flycatchers, a Rufous hummingbird, and a bald eagle.