Little Ranger Peak via Ranger Creek — Thursday, Apr. 22, 2021

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!