Palisades #1198,White River #1199

Beautiful sunny day! I dragged my mom up to the trailhead just past Boundary Camp on Hwy 410 past Enumclaw. The trail starts out climbing and keeps climbing along a beautiful cliffside with lots of water. I think I worried my mom that I might decide to leap off the cliffside taking her with me but I didn't. After several miles we came to the most amazing set of stairs...They go straight up! This was a bit tricky and would be dangerous if slippery. Keep climbing switchbacks to the first viewpoint of THE MOUNTAIN (MT Rainier). Keep climbing more gently to the second viewpoint. After this the trail maintenance has stopped but I love log hopping and nothing impassable. One horrible clearcut to go through and then drop down to a crossing of Snoquera Creek. This is where we turned around. There are two bridges here and the second one was too covered in snow. Mom thought we might fall into the creek. So back to the car 11 1/2 miles with 2700ft elev gain in 3 1/2 hours.