Little Ranger Peak via Ranger Creek — Tuesday, May. 15, 2001

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

After stomping up to Snoquera Falls and some random wanderings on the White River trail, I decided to go find the trail up Ranger Creek. It's unsigned on the highway, but there's a small pullout about 100 yards north of the Buck Creek Recreation Area sign/bridge, which gives access to Skookum Flats and so on. The trail heads up from the highway from here. The trail steeply heads up to meet with the White River trail, and then worked up the south side of Little Ranger Peak. This trail gets much less use than many trails around the area, it certainly felt! It was a forest hike all the way to a little knob about 2.5 miles in, filled with more calypso orchids, moss, and beautiful scenery. Some nice views opened up across the White River Valley toward Sun Top where I turned around, but The Mountain (and much of everything else) was socked in clouds. I turned back here as the winds were sort of scary up that high--not fun under all those trees! From what I can see, there is no snow well up to 4500 feet and higher on most surrounding peaks--amazing! Only the top of the ridge toward Crystal Lakes had snow on it, that being fresh snow too. Here I was all day hiking off of a highway on easy trails...and I saw not a soul. Splendid day in the mountains!