Palisades, Little Ranger Peak via Ranger Creek — Saturday, Apr. 16, 2016

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

This Saturday we had a great trip. I was conquering the trails with my mountain bike and my friend was hiking. We parked at Buck Creek Campground and started our journey with Ranger Creek trail. It was in a great shape right up to the Little Ranger Peak sign. After that the adventure started: big fallen trees with crowns, massive washouts and snow islands. Some of these obstacles were really huge and uneasy to pass but we made it and finally reached the shelter on the top. Rested for a minute and went to the view points on Palisades trail. There were also a lot of trees crossing the trail and snow areas. In a half an hour we reached the first view point. Then the trail went downhill and its condition became better every mile. Conclusion. Despite the all difficulties, we had a wonderful day. The weather was on our side and the views from the top were amazing. Got oceans of emotions, despair and happiness, temperature contrast (40*F on the parking and 70*F on the top). I think, it takes a week or two to clear the trail out of snow completely. If you planning to visit this area, I recommend you to park at Camp Sheppard and climb the Palisades because Ranger Creek needs serious maintenance.