Well, we intended to hike up to the ledge above our house on Rattlesnake Ridge... the last time The Shadow Lady was on the trail, it was wide and flat, so we decided to push the little guy up there in the stroller, and make a leisurely walk of it. 

They changed the trail since then to a different one to let the old trail 'recover'... and it wasn't the smooth sloping trail the old one was... so, about a third of the way, we decided to turn around.

We started out in high spirits... even the little guy was enjoying being outside!

Shortly after hitting the trail head, the Shadow Lady noticed the trail was different than she remembered... It was still fairly smooth at the beginning, though.

The farther we went, the worse it got... the little guy was bouncing all over the place, and it was more and more work to get past the obstacles. 

At an area were there were steps, and a log bridge over a small stream... we decided that the the stroller wasn't the right vehicle, and turned around, wishing we'd brought the backpack carrier we have, but left at home.

The Shadow Lady had suggested it, but, going off the scouting report that the trail was wide and smooth, I lobbied to not bring it, so we didn't.  I don't like being wrong... :-)

 
We went back down to the lake, which was surprisingly low.  The lake is fed largely by seepage through the aquifer from the lake created by the Cedar Creek Dam, which retains water for use by the city of Seattle. 

Since the spring melt water runoff is about to kick in, the engineers have the lake pretty low, which makes Rattlesnake Lake low, as well.

While walking along the lake's banks, we saw the sign saying the old trail is closed, and why... didn't make much sense to us, but now we know.  Most of the signage is based on the old trail still.  We were annoyed, but made the best of it, and now we're prepared for the next try, which I'm sure will be soon.

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