Little Ranger Peak via Palisades Trail and Ranger Creek Trail(edit)

"Are you alive? How does it feel to be alive?!"~James Hetfield/Metallica. Trail Run/Hike 15-miles up to 5000-feet elevation. Air Temp 25-degrees. Snow levels up to a foot deep. A dozen mountain goats and elk, 0 humans, 1 Sasquatch... Palisades to Ranger Creek trails. Downed tree damage (from the Bomb Cyclone?) combined w/snow made about 2 miles of the trail nearly impassable and unsafe. Beauty & the Beast Trail Time. 15-miles/3000 feet elevation gain/25-degrees/a dozen mountain goats and elk, 0 humans, 1 Sasquatch... Skipped work and commuted to my backyard mountains for a 15-mile trail run/hike communion. I took vacation hours from work just to run here today. Sucks that I have to work trail time schedule around finicky PacNW weather. But when "it's on" like it was today - pure paradise! It was an incredible day. It was the best of times and the worst of times. Beauty & the Beast. Here’s a “beauty” video that literally took my breath away. I’ve been here dozens of times, but it never fails to amaze me. Shortly thereafter I encountered the Beast. I don't think I've ever had a long trail day where I didn't encounter at least 1 human being - until today. 6+ hours on mountain trails, only vehicle in the trailhead parking lot when I started and finished. Never saw another soul on trail all day. I did encounter half a dozen elk and equal amount of mountain goats. That is winning. That said...it's understandable why I add so much appreciated solitude; 25-degrees at the Camp Sheppard TH parking lot, which was covered in glazed ice, a rare Tuesday trail outing and perhaps others had gotten the trail report memo stating the upper Palisades and Ranger Creek trails were a shitshow. Impassable? By anyone with common sense. Had I been given a preview of what lay ahead when I encountered significant snow, I would not have continued. But as typical, I was seduced by the "just go a bit further before turning around" scenario. I was well beyond the halfway turn-around point before I started getting into snow above the ankle. I pressed forward well aware of what lay beyond the "less than a mile away" familiar point of demarcation - a quick descent from snow level and miles of trail butter descent. Except...the trail for a mile before and after the Palisades/Ranger Creek merge was heavily obstructed by downed trees. Probable blowdown from the November Bomb Cyclone weather event. I was giddy when I got to the TR1197/1198 sign and knew it was worth the effort to get here. Now I could cruise all the way down to the White River trail along the highway. Nope. Trail conditions on upper Ranger Creek were brutal and unsafe. The soft, dry snow was replaced by slippery icy slush and downed tree damage was so bad the trail was unnavigable in many areas. I had to continually stop and decide which ORM option was least dangerous in order to continue on. The worst moments involved huge downed trees logged up on steep inclines just above the trail. It was obvious it wouldn't take much for these trees to suddenly slide and crush/log flume me down the forest embankment. Persevere/Survive. Make good choices…even after getting in situations caused by not so good choices. -Avg Composite Stats:Total Miles=15.4mi/Elevgain=3000’/Avg Moving Time=4:30(?)/Avg Moving Pace=?p/mi. Composite-Garmin-15.4mi/3173'elevgain/MovTime-4:09, GAIA GPS-14.9/2770’/MovTime-5:15, Strava-16.3mi/3018'/MovTime-4:15 Garmin-Run=6.0mi/hike-walk=9.4mi. Time=6:40:31/Avg Pace=26:01p/mi/Avg Moving Pace=16:11. Fastest/slowest(moving) mile splits=12:44/20:18 (6mi<15min movpace). Weather=25@TH/daybk, sun. Time=0800. Garmin:RunTime=2:06/walk=2:21/IdleTime=2:12. GW1082-WA-Mt Rainier/410-Palisades/Ranger- https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/17733634331 https://www.gaiagps.com/public/C7nUExA5KBLwioYxdNP3eDJJ https://www.strava.com/activities/13093358403 washington;mount rainier;hwy410;camp sheppard;palisades;ranger creek;10dec2024