The first time our daughter and I hiked to this lake, we decided to do the loop AROUND the lake. Starting out to the right, the trail was not too bad. Coming back from the left was steep, rocky and really hard on my knees...more like a mountain goat trail. On the many hikes following, we were content to have lunch on our rock face, sometimes go to the highpoint, and then return the the way we came. This was my hubby's first time to the lake and because we were doing the GPS for VisitRainier.com he wanted to do the loop. I warned him that it was very steep, but he insisted that we needed to track it. Ok, Honey.... There are some nice photo ops on this side, but I don't think we will do it again... :-) 1st shot, where we came from....believe it or not, there is a trail there. 2nd shot, looking toward the easy way.... :-)