This trail melts out early with its south facing-slopes, making it a good choice for a long walk with a climb in the spring.  And the trail is well-built and in excellent shape:  it is mainly earth (as opposed to rocks and roots) and climbs quite gradually over long switchbacks.  In fact, I saw two bikers riding up it over the course of the day.  But the beauty of the trail is quite damaged by the significantly scarred, burned forest, which starts about 3 1/2 miles up and continues all the way to Dalles Ridge.  You can see the burned trees lining the top of the ridge as you climb.

The views from the viewpoint near Little Ranger Peak at 2.6 miles are of the White River Valley, and you don't get a clear view of Rainier.  In order to see Rainier you have to climb past the intersection with the Palisades trail at 4.6 miles and 5200', where the snow became much more solid, and either climb a little higher on the Little Ranger Peak trail (1/4 miles past the Palisades intersection and bushwhack out on an arm to the west) or head out on the Palisades trail.  I didn't climb all the way to the ridge as the snow was too deep and the trail was buried just after the Palisades intersection.

I encountered about 10 parties on the trail today, including the two solo bikers, some stopping at the Little Ranger Peak viewpoint and some climbing a few more miles to the views of Rainier.

Calypso orchids at their peak. Please remember to never pick them as this usually kills the plant due to the delicate root system. Trail in great condition.  Bridge still in place across little ranger creek for access to deep creek trail.

It had been 16 days since we last checked out this trail to see how high we could get (the Palisades turn-off, or Dalles Ridge if we were lucky?), and we made it about a mile further than last time.We made it about half a mile below the Palisades turn-off. We could have stuck with it, but it was slow going and seemed sort of moot--we would have had lunch on a snowbank, when clearly, heading back down to sun-baked Little Ranger viewpoint sounded more alluring. Our route started at Camp Shepard, following the White River trail to the Little Ranger Peak trail, then continuing on up towards Dalles Ridge. We figure we hiked about 6.3 miles from Shepard, or 12.6 RT. Particulars on the trails and our route follow.

The White River trail has no obstacles. It's pretty flat except for a few swales. There's one place where the creek is rather wide and deep, but there's a bridge that you can easily take (it's clearly visible) nearby-- on another trial that runs parallel--so no problem.

Little Ranger trail: some kind soul cleared the 3 blowdowns right at its beginning that had been there since Fall, so glorioski! The trail was dry and clear all the way to Little Ranger viewpoint--which is bathed in sun and a fantastic place to have lunch. There are some type of huckleberry bushes growing there that are redolent with little white blooms and buzzing with fat, fuzzy bees. O, spring! Also, on the way up, Edelman counted over 20 yew trees (his favorite tree--see pic), more than we have seen in one forest! Cool trees.

Continuing towards Dalles Ridge, about one mile up, snow starts in earnest. We took out poles when we encountered our first little avalanche chute (pictured here), and moved to spikes not long after--when it was obvious that the rest of the way was going to be similar. The snow was continuous  not long after this point, and we crossed several areas where it was clear there had been some small avalanches. We were cutting trail (see pic) as time went on. It seemed as if we could detect some faint footprints, but snow can be deceiving. We only continued because we could discern where the trail underneath actually is, having hiked it a number of times. Still, it was a bit iffy, as the hillside is steep and the snow deep (several feet, or more) in places. About a quarter mile from where we turned around, there's a considerable blowdown (see pic), which I crawled under and Edelman straddled over. We turned around as the trail became more deeply buried and we figured we'd had a great day as it was. Lunch at the viewpoint back down a mile and a half was lovely. We sunned ourselves on the rocks like seals (don't know the forest equivalent . . . ). We saw one person on the trail, two in the parking lot when we got back. Happy hiking!

I kinda fantasized about reaching Dalles Ridge today, but knew we weren't likely to get that far--too much snow (at least for us), even with microspikes and poles. Still, we got in a healthy little hike in a pretty forest with plenty of old growth Doug firs and others.RT was about 10.5 miles.

Our route: starting from the Camp Shepard parking area (off Highway 410), we caught the White River trail (#1194) to the start of Little Ranger Peak trail (2 miles). From there, we headed up to the Little Ranger viewpoint (another 2.8 miles). We stopped for a snack at the junction for the path to the viewpoint versus the Palisades/Dalles Ridge trails, afterwards continuing up towards the latter. We got about half a mile up before the trail got too iffy for us--narrow, with foot-deep compact snow and ice, and a precipitous edge. We are 60 and 62, and interested in preserving our antiquated forms (i.e., our ability to hike), so we stop when either one or both of us feels as if going onward is a roll of the dice fall-wise. We pulled a U-ey and headed back down to the Little Ranger Peak viewpoint, which was bare of snow and actually hot with sun! The headline re: Little Ranger peak is that it's almost snow free up to the viewpoint--just a few brief patches of snow and ice. There were three blowdowns right at the start of the trail, which have been there since Fall. One requires a rather steep little climb-around. Regarding the conditions past the viewpoint, I'd recommend spikes for sure, and poles, and experience hiking in snow. That said, we didn't get very far up--so who knows what's ahead? Perhaps the sunbathed wildflower wonderland of my imagination (uh, probably not until late May or June!). More likely, a fairly gnarly, narrow, slick trail to the top. We saw four people today, all with masks.

About being careful: on the way back, and actually on the fairly flat White River trail, I tripped on a root and flew chin-first to the ground. I'm fine, but my inner lip got a nasty bruise, and my head got shaken inside its noggin like some fancy bartender's cocktail. Be careful out there!

started at the Camp Shepard parking lot at about 8am. Parking lot was empty except for a couple of campers that I'm guessing were skiers. Ran into a smallish heard of Elk (8-12) in the first mile traverse along the White River Trail. Trail is compact snow and ice for this mile or two. spikes were helpful. After connecting with the Ranger Peak trail, about a mile up, we were breaking trail with 6-8 inches on average post holeing. Snow shoes would have been helpful for the upper two miles to the Little Ranger Peak and beyond. Had brunch at the outcropping, took in some views and headed back down. Beautiful, mostly sunny day. Out and back in about 5hrs, would have been quicker except that post holeing sucks the time and energy. Parking lot full when we got back, but only saw like two people on the White River Trail portion, guessing most were going to snoquera falls.