Palisades, Little Ranger Peak via Ranger Creek — Wednesday, May. 25, 2016

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

I hiked the Palisades/Little Ranger loop clockwise, starting from the Camp Sheppard parking lot. The snow is entirely gone, and unlike Old Rod, I had no navigation issues. However, the blow-down problem is still very much as he described it. In the upper section of the Palisades trail one blow-down caused a fair amount of bushwhacking to get around it. Worse, though, is the upper section of the Little Ranger Peak trail. Given the steep slope of the land, several large logs have to be clambered over, since a detour is impractical, and this is difficult due to the angle of the blow-downs. Let's hope someone can get up there with a chainsaw before too long. Also, in two places falling trees have taken the trail with them, resulting in nasty gaps in the trail -- this will require some rebuilding at some point. Still, it's a good hike. The weather was cool and cloudy, and there were no views of Rainier this time, but it was dry and the walk along the ridge is a delight. Total distance was 14 miles, with a cumulative elevation gain of about 2800 feet.