Dalles Ridge, Snoquera Falls Loop & Little Ranger Peak via Ranger Creek — Wednesday, Jun. 6, 2007

Mount Rainier Area > Chinook Pass - Hwy 410

I did the Dalles Ridge Trail and Ranger Creek trails as a part of a Mountaineers mid-week hike. We set up a car shuttle to avoid a four mile valley floor slog back to the Dalles Ridge trailhead. Even with the car shuttle, this is a strenuous 11 mile hike. The west end of the Dalles Ridge Trail, where it climbs the steep canyon of Dalles Creek, is in fine shape, and a great example of trail engineering in difficult terrain. Dalles Creek Falls still has a good flow of water. The trail remains in good shape atop the Snoquera Palisades, but there are numerous blowdowns on the higher part of the ridgetop. When I hiked the trail, clouds obstructed the normally spectacular views here; on a clear day the views of Mt Rainier are glorious. Although the trail tops 5000 feet at its highest point, there is no snow left anywhere on the trail all the way to the Ranger Creek Trail junction. Where the Dalles Ridge Trail meets the Ranger Creek Trail is a shelter that is in good condition. A pocket meadow and spring-fed creek grace the charming environs of the shelter. The upper part of the Ranger Creek Trail is in o.k. shape, but there are many stretches of slumped trail and numerous blowdowns. The lower portion of the trail is in good shape, although excessively gentle grading may frustrate athletic hikers and certainly invites switchback cutting. This trail is almost as bad this way as the Lena Lake Trail. The open forest of massive douglas firs that the trail passes through is magnificent. The Dalles Ridge Trail to the top of the Snoquera Palisades is one of the finest late spring hikes there is; highly recommended!