Chenuis and Ranger Falls

On June 2nd I had the day off and family in town, so my wife, sister in law and niece and I headed out to the NW corner of Mt. Rainier NP to see the waterfalls. It was a very pretty drive to the Carbon river entrance to the park, mostly through rural backroad. There was a one lane bridge over the carbon river that was fun to cross. The Carbon river road was full of potholes and was a slow ride even in my Xterra. The trail to Chenuis falls was a short but fun trail that had 3 log bridges over the carbon river. There were two small streams, and the main fork of the Carbon river was flowing swiftly and was fun to watch. The falls were beautiful, and my niece and I were able to scramble up to a better viewpoint closer to the falls. By the time we got back to the car it was pouring rain, and so we headed back towards the entrance to the park. As we passed the green lake trailhead, it was clear again and so we decided to go for another hike. We hiked to ranger falls and then turned around. When we got back to the car it was partly sunny, but as we left the park it started to rain the hardest I've even seen in Washington state. By then we were are safe and dry in the car so it was fun to watch. Check back later to read about my adventures on Mt. Rainer this weekend.