QuicK Summary:

the sun was shining, Mt. Rainier was in full view, the flowers were blooming. Terrific hike.

Longer report:

we took forest service road 7174 to the trail head at Corral Pass. The road and trail were fine and snow free. There were a few patches of snow on the trail and up on Noble Nob, but nothing to worry about. The trail is clear and in good shape. You should bring a map with you though as there are a couple spots where the trail branches off and it isn't totally clear which way you should go.

We did the hike with a group of 7 years olds and 2 5 year olds, it's a great hike with kids, and they loved it. The snow has recently melted and the wildflowers are popping out all over. The views of Mt.Rainier are terrific.

We stopped in Greenwater on the way to Noble Knob and heard that Corral Pass was still closed, so we took the longer drive - 70 to 72 to 7220 to 7222 - and started at the north end of trail 1184. The road conditions are fine, even for a Toyota Matrix.

The hike was cold (47 at the trailhead) and foggy. The trail starts out steep, and after a couple switchbacks we ran into several stretches of deep, hard-packed snow. Poles would have been useful. The trail levels out into a snow-filled meadow, and we missed the turn to Noble Knob and ended up going down to George Lake instead.

Along the way, the glacier lilies are everywhere, the blueberries are flowering, daisies are coming out... and there's deer, elk, and bear skat just about everywhere.

Anyway, we backtracked, found the George Lake sign, and then found the trail in the snow towards Noble Knob. Luckily at this point the snow fields disappear, because the walk on the side of the ridge towards the base of Noble Knob would be pretty dangerous otherwise.

After the ridge section, the terrain flattens out into a meadow with wild strawberries (just flowers, no berries!) and plump chipmunks. Plenty of flowers along the trail up to the top of the knob, including columbine and a field of large white anemones (?) that we hadn't seen before on previous visits.

The trail is snow-free until a few hundred vertical feet below the junction to Noble Knob/Mutton Mountain. It's hard to follow the trail up but if you look for cut logs it's possible. From the junction we traversed to Noble Knob -- some snow en route. Probably in a few weeks it will be essentially snow-free. Very nice route! We also went over to Mutton Mtn, which is pretty easy to follow, but has some snow on it.

Ed and Ron hiked to Noble Knob and old fire lookout site via The Dalles Ridge Trail and Noble Knob #1184 trail. Perfect weather and clear. Beautiful view of mountains. Rainier was great.

Roads up were good. Followed directions, as below on way to trail-head.

On way down, stayed on rd. 72 [continuing north, as Ed was familiar with from Plant Society group] down to Hwy 410. That section of 72 is rough and washboard in spots. Recommend sticking to these directions repeated from: Jun 30, 2007 by Riri:

TO GET THERE: take 410 to FR 70. Go about 6 miles to FR 72. The views from 72 are absolutely breath-taking. You'll eventually come to a Y, with the left hand fork being FR 7250. Take this fork for another couple of miles; at one point you'll round a left-hand bend at Mt. Rainier will literally be in-your-face. Wow! Drive until you get to a 3-way junction and take the middle road to the trailhead signed ""Dalles Ridge.""