Hike at Carbon River in Mt. Rainier National Park

This weekend was GORGEOUS!  We spent the majority of our Saturday hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park.  Did you know that Saturday started National Park Week?  We didn't either, but were able to park and hike for free this weekend.

For us, we had sunny weather in the upper 60's, lower 70's for most of the weekend.  Here are a few pictures from our great 11.5 mile hike.

The one-lane bridge we had to go over to get to the Carbon River Ranger Station. 

At the Carbon River Ranger Station before our hike.  This station is 2.5 miles from the parking area and trailhead.

Kevin at the Mt. Rainier sign near the trailheads.

A few miles into our hike, we just can't believe how big some of the trees are.  The entire hike is through old growth forests.

We hike 0.3 mile uphill hike from the main trail to check out an old mine.

Another hike 1 mile uphill and off the mail trail is Ranger Falls.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  This thing was pretty tall!

Again, this picture makes it look not as grand as it was.  It looks like it is right behind us, but it is a good 50 yards away.

We continue along the trail that brought us to the Ranger Falls and along the way we cross a stream on this little bridge.

Along this path we also saw some old trees that had fallen over the years.  I'm touching the root system of one and the root system alone was about 2.5 times my height.

At the end of our hike we make it to Green Lake.  Across the water is snow.  Actually, some of the only snow we've seen in person this year.  The lake indeed has a green tint to it, but from the furthest log we could climb to, you can see down over 60 feet deep.  We were the only ones at the time on the lake, so it felt pretty cool to have it all to ourselves.  Too bad it wasn't swimming weather!

Green Lake

A view into the lake.  So clear and green.  No fish to be seen or aquatic birds, but plenty of water bugs.

We were pretty tired the rest of our hike back.  With only fruit for breakfast that morning and a large apple each for lunch, we were in need of some serious fuel!  This was the cross-section of a fallen tree, which was my arm span (I'm about 5'5").  Wish I could have stayed to count the rings!

After our hike we pass back through the small historic town of Wilkeson.  The old buildings on the main drag made it seem like an old western town.

After a stop for a beer at the local historic saloon, we were on our way to grab some food in town and go home... for an amazing night's sleep.

Health and Happiness,

Amy