For a few weeks we have been reading about an area called Green Lake.  We discussed it back and forth.  It seemed like a great idea.  There were not one but two waterfalls and at the end you could relax around this beautiful alpine lake.  Best of all, every resource listed as an easy hike.  Even our books for hiking with children listed it as easy for kids. 

LIARS!!!!!!!

This trail begins just a mile or two from the Carbon River entrance of Mount Rainier Nat’l Park.  We knew that initially there was a climb involved.  We could see that.  What we didn’t know is that you never stop climbing straight up.  NEVER, EVER, EVER!

By the time we had hiked one mile we reached the lower portion of Ranger Falls (on the Ranger River I think) and we were exhausted.  I had wanted AG to have a chance to run and climb but the trail was too difficult for her and too steep.  There were times that we were crawling over rocks on our hands and knees.  We are not these kind of hikers.  We are "hey, maybe I’ll take a diet coke with me so I can hydrate" kind of hikers.  By Ranger falls we were discussing turning back.

Then I slid down the trail on my rear end and landed with such a jolt that I saw stars. 

We loved the view of the main portion of Ranger Falls and were discussing that this site alone could be called a good hike if we wanted to go back.

Main portion of Ranger Falls.

The exhausted threesome.  At this point we had hiked 1.0 miles of the 1.8 mile hike.

Falls just downriver from main portion of Ranger Falls.

After resting in front of the falls for a few minutes I decided that I would try to keep going.  Less than five minutes later I fell again.  At this point we sat down and had lunch with the idea that we would then turn around and head back.  Green Lake would be left for those who were stronger than the three of us!

As we ate our lunch I started to feel more alert and I began to realize that I may have been falling, etc because I needed to eat.  Blood sugar low?  Who knows but I began to feel better, Dana was feeling better and AG was dying to run around a bit.  We kept going.

As we progressed toward Green Lake I began to wonder if all the climbing was going to be worth it.  I suspected I would get there and think that we really should’ve turned around at Ranger Falls.  We were considering turning around again when we talked to some folks on their way down who said we were actually pretty close.  We kept going and I’m glad we did.

Green Lake has blue-green water and is surrounded by peaks, including a few snow caps.  We sat there and watched the birds, chipmunks and woodpeckers. 

Anna Grace ran around all over the place and had a great time.  We discovered there was a definite bonus to all of the climbing we did to get there.  The walk back was all downhill!