This is a great early season snow free hike just east of Mt Rainier. The unmarked trailhead is south of Camp Sheppard and about 100 feet north of FS 7160.
The entire trail goes through very nice old growth Douglas Fir forest. The first couple miles are in ear shot of Little Ranger Creek. This area is in the rain shadow of Mt Rainier so even though the trees are very old they don't achieve gargantuan proportions like they do in wetter environments. Most of the trees are in the 2-3 foot diameter range. I measured the largest one at 16ft 8in in circumference (5.3 ft diameter). I counted the rings on one cut windfall at about 4000 feet and it was 700 years old! That tree started growing 200 years before Columbus set sail for America. Kind of boggles the mind.
The Little Ranger Viewpoint at about 3 miles and 1300 feet elevation makes for a perfect turn around point. To get the best view you have to scramble over an exposed ridge but it was not at all difficult.
We continued on for about another 1.5 miles to get a glimpse of the aftermath of the Norse peak fire from last year. We saw several areas where the understory was burnt to a crisp but the trees were still alive. You can see higher up on the ridge where the forest was completely killed by the fire. About this point there were lots of downfall and the trail was sloughing in places so we turned around. This additional mileage was good exercise but not as scenic as the trail up to the viewpoint.
The trail surface and incline was perfect up to the viewpoint and about 1 mile beyond. All the windfall had been removed. I cleaned up the few branches and loose rocks on the trail. The trail is also used by mountain bikes. The only damage that the mountain bikes have caused is rutting of the tight switchbacks. Overall the trail holds up well to mountain bike use.
RT 8.7 mi and 2100 feet elevation gain (to viewpoint 6mi and 1300 ft). We only saw one mountain biker and no hikers.
Comments
More Calypso's! :-O
Posted by:
Ups n Downs on May 17, 2018 10:22 PM
There were only a handful of Calypsos on this trail but they are always cool to see. On your way home from Teanaway you should stop by Easton Ridge Tr and check them out. They are on that 1st 1/2 mi of trail.
Posted by:
Maddy on May 18, 2018 06:39 AM
I'm not sure my hiking companions have the same passion for flowers as I do but I'm sure going to try. Happy hiking!
Posted by:
Ups n Downs on May 18, 2018 07:41 AM