Ahhh, the coveted, snow free, not crowded, Mt Rainier area, early season loop hike!
The TH is easy to miss so just look for the cars parked on the side of the road right near the Skookum Falls viewpoint. Got there about 9am and there were only a few spots left. Took the Palisades Trail up and the Ranger Creek Trail down, then traversed along the White River trail back to where it connects with Palisades. In total Gaia clocked it at 2618 elev gain, 14.5 miles - took me about 8 hours with a few breaks to enjoy the views/have a snack. True to the description you'll do most of your climbing in the first 1.25 miles so tough it out because beyond that it's well graded with a beautiful traverse through forest (the burn zone at the top was eerily beautiful) til you hit the N & S Snoquera viewpoints. If you want to get your climbing out of the way, I'd recommend Palidsades up, Little Ranger Creek down direction. I felt like Ranger Creek seemed steeper if I had taken it up so keep that in mind if you choose to do the loop in the opposite direction. Only saw about 10 souls and most were masking up as we passed. This would be a great hot or rainy day hike since it's mostly forest cover with minimal periods of exposure.
One word of caution is it's a shared hiker/biker trail and parts are narrow and steep so seeing a mountain biker coming at you full speed ahead, downhill, is a fear I could do without. All were courteous, I just made a point to announce my arrival at some of the blind corners to appease my paranoia and avoid a calamity.
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