Little Ranger Peak via Ranger Creek — Tuesday, Apr. 6, 2021

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!