I wanted to get in one last hike before the apocalypse, preferably one where I could get up above the 3000' foot level; I chose Little Ranger Peak, south-facing and usually melted out long before other areas. I did get above 3000', and easily, but couldn't quite get to the peak. Patchy snow appears on the trail at about 3200', and gets continually deeper from there. At 4800', sooooo close the summit, I decided discretion was still the better part of valor in spite of the coming end of the world and reluctantly turned back. At that point the trail was solid snow and difficult to follow. But the snow didn't just settle on the trail - it completely buried it, leaving a steeply angled and icy path through areas where a slip could result in a long slide. Nevertheless, it was thoroughly enjoyable. The hike, like the nearby Snoquera Falls trail, switchbacks through a tall forest almost entirely devoid of shrubby undergrowth, giving it an open, park-like feel. And the tread underneath is softer than Charmin' tissue, very easy on the feet. The dominant species along the trail are mosses, acres and acres of them. So if bryology is your thing, this is your hike! It's an easy hike, along a well-maintained trail that meanders lazily up the mountain through a series of long switchbacks on a pitch suitable for grandma. Still, the total vertical gain is well over 2000', so it's a good workout overall. But beware of trail slumping in the higher reaches of the trail. There is one spot where the trail skirts a deep and very steep ravine; here there is an obvious slump that looks like it's ready to let go anytime. A fall here could pitch the unwary hiker into the "chasm of eternal peril". The slope is so steep that a slide would make this section pretty much impassable. Hopefully it can be stabilized before that happens. The hardest part of this hike is finding the darn trailhead; it's almost as if the NFS doesn't want anybody to find it. But, if you know where to go, it's easy: just drive east on Route 410 to milepost 54. Very shortly after that is the big blue sign for Buck Creek Recreation Area next to a bridge crossing White River to NFS road 7160. Park here, along the road or wherever you can find a spot, then look at the treeline directly across to the north side of the road; with 20/20 eyesight perhaps you can see the tiny sign in the trees reading "V19". Gear up and struggle up the steep embankment (there's no trail here - it's freeform), past the aforementioned sign, then straight up about twenty feet, and - voila! - there it is. Head right for Little Ranger Peak, left to head back to Camp Shepard.

Decided to try a different hike today. the trailhead isnt marked, but follow 410 to greenwater and it's on the left side past mile marker 54 and the buck creek rec. area. the trail was mostly snow free for the first mile then ran into some compact snow, which tampered on and off. the last 3/4 miles to the peak was all snow and had no trouble in just hiking boots. views from the top were great could see the tip of rainier and the air field. not breezy either

Day hike from Buck Creek parking area to Little Ranger Peak. Parked at Skookum Falls trailhead parking area (forest road 7160). Trailhead a little tough to find from parking lot: walk back over bridge and across highway, then left (towards Greenwater) about 1/5 mile. Trail clear, a pretty good climb with a lot of switchbacks. The short spur to the viewpoint is marked with a sign, not easy to miss but it's pointing the other direction. The rewarding view at the end was well worth it, because at that point you're high enough to see for miles down the valley and you can no longer hear traffic on route 410. Scattered horse dung, saw only one other person on a mountain bike (though lots of evidence that bikers like the trail) and no other hikers. A pleasant day!

Cloudy in the lowlands, sunny on the trail! The weather opened just after Green River and we had clear skies for our hike. Nice views to the south of the valley from Little Ranger viewpoint. Top of Rainier peeked over the foothills as well. Several bikes and a few horses on the trail. Trail itself was in great condition- clearly some recent work done. We took our pup- several small runoff creeks cross the trail provided her with tasty water. A very nice late-day outing. We'll be back early next year when it's still too snowy in the high country.

We finally had a dump of snow. After weeks and weeks of no snow the mountains received one to two feet of the white stuff. Avalanche danger was present so we needed a safe trail with some elevation gain. Gary came up with Ranger Creek on Highway 410. We have done Noble Knob via the Deep Creek Trail several times in spring with some snow. This route also goes to Noble Knob but it is 15.4 miles RT vs. 11 miles on the Deep Creek Trail. John joined us on this trip. We met at Gary's home in Kent at 7:00 am and headed out. Beyond Enumclaw the traffic was heavy with skiers looking forward to some fresh snow. The trailhead is almost non existent. Just before the Buck Creek Road the trail starts up the hillside. This is one trail I had never been on. We turned around at the Buck Creek road and parked along the highway near the 2500' trailhead. By 8:20 we were on the trail. It's 6 miles to the Dalles Ridge trail that traverses just below the ridge. I hiked that trail to Noble Knob just two years ago. We hoped to make it a good part of the way without snowshoes. The trail gains about 3000' in those 6 miles with a gentle grade all the way. As with the nearby Deep Creek Trail the route does not follow close to the creek. At first we heard the roar of the highway then it was silent. At the 2.8 mile mark we reached a short spur to a viewpoint. The clouds were low and we had no views. Well, it was soon time to head higher. We had a little snow on the trail before the 3800' viewpoint but not much. The trail traverses a steep hillside. It would not be much fun if there was more snow. Above 4500' there was snow on top of a thin layer of ice. Footing was okay but we all slipped a few times. At 4.8 miles we reached the shelter. The building is in good shape and would be even better if folks had not had a fire on the floor inside. It smells of smoke now. We had a short break and headed out. It took a few minutes to figure out where the trail went. A cut log was the clue that put us back on track. The new snow was 4-6" deep now but we continued on without snowshoes. With a few miscues we were able to stay roughly on the summer trail though the snow became deeper. Before long the snowshoes went on. The trail then began a long climbing traverse. With 3/4 of a mile to go to the Dalles Trail junction it was all side hilling. Our pace slowed way down. Some steps in the soft snow held and others knocked off the new snow and left us to try stomping a step into the hard ice. The way was almost entirely in forest. Where the trees thinned the snow was markedly deeper. Up to 8+ inches of new snow. We had to cross one open slope. The snow was very dry and powdery. I went first and found more of the snow over ice to deal with. Once across the others followed. When the route seemed to disappear we switched back to the left and picked it up again. We knew we were within less than 100 vertical feet of the Dalles Ridge Trail and the traversing was so tedious and slow that when an opening presented itself we headed straight uphill. The Dalles Ridge Trail was obvious enough though deeply buried by snow. We kept going higher and a few minutes later reached the ridge top at a saddle. The map confirmed that we were between Point 5600+ and Point 5781. It took us 2 1/2 hours to travel the first 4.8 miles. It took nearly as long to do the next 1.2 miles. Though we were less than 2 miles from Noble Knob there was no change to get there and back before midnight. At the saddle we discussed what to do. Point 5781 would make a fine destination. We were at 5500' with just 280' to go. The map showed the ridge to be steep but not too bad. The snow over ice left us less than sure we could get up it safely. The ridge on the opposite side was much gentler. We chose to try traversing the less than half a mile along the Dalles Ridge Trail. Near the ridge top the forest was more open and the snow was deeper. We wallowed along making very little progress and decided that this was crazy. We went back to the saddle and decided to give that route a shot. If we failed we would just settle for the ridge top. There was nearly no visibility so views were not the reason to summit. We started up on snowshoes. With better snow it would have been a snap. As it was we made good progress. With a few slips we climbed higher. I led and weaved around trees trying to stay clear of tree wells. We also worried about a cornice. I stayed well back from the edge. The slope moderated and I headed for a rounded dome ahead. There are several high points but I think we stopped at the highest one. After about 6 1/2 miles we were all beat. The wind was not bad and we found a sheltered spot just below the summit. Noble Knob was not to be but we dubbed Point 5781 "Ignoble Knob". We bundled up and sat down to a late lunch. It was after 1:00 pm already. The drop to the saddle was a bit of snowshoe skiing as the new snow just slid on the icy layer below. After that we had our track to follow back. Side hilling still sucked but it was much easier than on the way up. We cut the last switchback snowshoe skiing down to our track below. It didn't take all that long to get down to the shelter. We took off snowshoes there. I put on microspikes as my boot tread is not much good on ice. The last 4.8 miles was not hard but seemed much longer than it did coming up. We chopped off a few hours on the descent. As expected we saw nobody else. We also saw no other footprints in the snow. This is not a popular trail and it is a very lonesome place in the winter. We did not make it to Noble Knob but "Ignoble Knob" made for a good alternative. It was nice to see snow flocked trees again too. This has been a poor winter for snow but this was a great day to be in the mountains. Photos have been posted at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to "Trips-2010" on the left margin.