Green Lake

 Hiked up to Ranger Falls and Green Lake from the Carbon River Entrance of Mt Rainier National Park, a 9.6 mile rt hike with 1,150 ft of elevation gain. We also hiked further up the Carbon River hoping to cross the river and go to Chenuis Falls, but the bridge was out and we did not see any safe crossing, so we hiked about 11.5 miles overall today.
This was the first time I've down this hike with no measurable snow!

 The first 3 miles of the hike is fairly flat and goes along the closed Carbon River Road. It is a beautiful forest.

There are many shades of green.

 Tirzah Peak along the Carbon River

 At 3 miles, we reached Ranger Creek, here is the trailhead to Ranger Falls and Green Lake. From here, it is 1 mile and 600 ft of elevation gain to Ranger Falls and an additional 0.8 miles and 500 ft of elevation gain to Green Lake.















There were several small streams along the way,

 and lots of interesting trees, ferns, moss, etc.

 a short 200 ft spur trail leads to an overlook of Ranger Falls

 Lots of water in the falls today.

As we neared the bridge crossing Ranger Creek on our way to Green Lake we saw a light dusting of snow.

 This light dusting did make the log bridge slippery.

 First glimpse of Green Lake, I loved the light dusting of snow on the logs at the lake edge.

Wide angle shot of Green Lake. The ice did not completely cover the lake. Tolmie Peak is in the far distance.

 After enjoying a lunch break at the lake, we returned to the closed road and hiked about another mile + up the Carbon River,

 enjoyed the views along the river.

At 0.7 miles from the trailhead to Ranger Falls and Green Lake, we reached where the bridge to Chenuis Falls had once been. We could sort of see the falls behind the trees. 

There were a couple of large trees that had fallen across the Carbon River, but they did not appear to be a safe way across.

 Beautiful color on a Pacific Yew.

there was some budding on the moss/lichen