Although the main road to the trailhead was closed due to flood damage from the winter floods, we still remained optimistic and decided to take the road as far as we could, knowing the lake was 5 miles in. If the road was functional, our hike would have only taken us 2 miles to Green Lake (one way). We started at the Carbon River ranger station, and walked about 1.5 miles hoping to reach a picnic area at 1.8 miles but with Ariana our three year old, I certainly did not want to push it. On our hike we named several common wildflowers such as dogwood, coralroot, goats beards, shooting stars (very kewl!), vanilla leafs, just to name a few. Abundant was the Salmonberries, in ripen stage. It was our first taste of it, but even the ripest ones tasted tart, but the our Ariana (3) didn't mind the taste at all! So much excitement came from watching frogs and tadpoles.
Back at the ranger station we decided to take the 1/4 mile Rain Forest Nature Trail which was quite nice. There we named many ferns: sword, lady, oak, and deer ferns. Once we finished the nature trail, the girls decided to take me down to the Carbon River for a quick wade. It was a little muddy for me, since the lower glaciers started to melt and bring down all the sediments with it. The water was white from a distance, clearer close up. The ranger claimed it was brown a couple days back.
Hopefully, we will be able to take this hike next year when the road clears.
Hike Rating (out of 5 stars):
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