Road conditions. Paved all the way. No issues.
Parking lot – This is a good size parking lot. I was the first car there and 12 hours later there were only 3 cars and we all left the same time
Bathroom facilities. Out house opened and stocked with paper
Trail conditions. This report is mostly to follow up with previous reports from others about all the downed trees in the burn zone. I provided a link to my Facebook page showing a lot of pictures along the trail of the downed trees.
It looks to me that there has been some tree clearing work in the burn zone of the Palisades trail, but there are still 40 to 50 trees hampering the way.
There has been both trail work and tree clearing work on the Ranger Creek side of the loop. There is only about 10 trees left to deal with.
Other than the burn zone, the trail is in reasonable condition. The falls are not flowing strongly but the Dalles Falls are still looking good. The early stream crossing going to Dalles Falls is also pretty easy to cross. It is very nice how so many rocks have been added to make this crossing easier over the past 10 years.
There were not very many flowers out this time. However, I saw a fair number of Indian paint brush along the ledges, starting with the first view point.
Most people think there is just 3 view points on this hike, but I find there are better views past the 3rd viewpoint. I suggest that if you make it to the 3rd viewpoint to spend a little more time and follow the ridgeline up a little higher. The photos of the 3 birds were taken just a little higher up. I talked to a hiker who said he even saw mountain goats on the cliffs as he looked down.
I am providing 2 links to 2 different Facebook posts. The first is to show what the downed trees look like. I took a bunch of pictures so you can get better idea. It did take longer for me to get through the disaster zone.
The second post is just my normal post and will show more about the hike is general. This is a post I normally do after hikes I do.
Comments
Maddy on White River, Little Ranger Peak via Ranger Creek, Palisades
Love the "Birds of Prey" caption ...lol.
Posted by:
Maddy on Jun 01, 2024 04:36 PM