I decided to take my fast packing gear out for an early season trip (given our late spring snow it feels like early season anyway.) I started at Camp Sheppard on 6/30/22, ran parallel to the 410 highway on trails to the Ranger Creek trail. Passed the Little Ranger Peak viewpoint and ascended to the Dalles Ridge trail, then finally onwards to Noble Knob via the Noble Knob trail. I camped on the knob overnight before retracing my steps on 7/1/22.
Trails are in good shape with only minor debris- one or two blowdowns past the Palisades trail junction. No snow until about 1.1 miles from Noble Knob, just past the large rocky outcropping where the trail takes a sharpish bend north after having been going southeast. At first it’s just tongues of snow over the trail which are easily traversed with some care. Then a half mile or so of solid snow through a meadow area that the trail dips into then more snow with occasional dirt patches as the trail heads north and rises again. This stretch required navigation and careful foot placement. The meadows at the foot of Noble Knob have some snow but the trail is obvious. The knob itself is snow free EXCEPT for a VERY steep snow slope on the east side! Sketchy but I did it in order to reach the summit. (Picture included in this trip report). A slip here would mean a long slide down towards the lake! I’d probably just scramble over the west side that you see from the approach through the meadow next time.
No water except for some streams on the Ranger Creek trail. Zero liquid water on the Dalles Ridge trail and after that, of course there is snow you can melt but I did not see any flowing water to collect. Plan accordingly!
Gorgeous views and 0 people seen on 6/30/22. I jogged out on 7/1/22, only saw 3 people on the Ranger Creek trail - then nobody else until I was nearly at the trailhead. A memorable trip!
Comments
Oh, I think you were the trail runner I saw today! Lots of solitude on ranger creek trail today for sure.
Posted by:
bredavies on Jul 01, 2022 08:59 PM
Yes! :)
Posted by:
consapevolezza on Jul 01, 2022 09:46 PM