Intermediate Snowshoe - Pratt Vista

Left the Pratt Lake trail about 1/4 mile beyond the side trail that cuts down to Talpus Lake.  We weaved through the forest more/less paralleling the trail that loops around Olallie Lake and then ascended the ridge north of Olallie.  Lounged on the ridge for about an hour then followed it west until it dropped down and met the Pratt Mountain trail.  Followed it south just the junction where the trail goes west and north down to Pratt Lake. We then dropped down to Olallie Lake via a large opening in the forest.

Some of us walked along the shore of the well frozen lake, while others kept up slope a ways.  We followed the Ollalie Creek down to where the Talpus Lake trail crosses it.  The bridge was washed out, but the creek was wide and shallow enough to walk across in snowshoes.  We then followed the trail back to the car.

7 hours round trip with easy travel conditions - no post-holing.