Day Hike - Snoquera Palisades

Today's CHS Tacoma day hike was a true success. We met at the Enumclaw Ranger Station and decided on our carpools and enjoyed a peaceful drive to the trailhead. We were the first cars to arrive at 9am on a Thursday.

This was a first experience on this trail for many in our group and everyone was eager to begin the climb and enjoy the promise of many beautiful views. Every time I hike this trail, I am reminded of its beauty on so many levels. A well maintained trail with beautiful old growth, rock outcrops, vine maple and the lovely Dalles Creek Falls.

Our pace was strong and we enjoyed some clothing adjustment breaks as we made our way to the famous "steep stairs". The stairs are in good shape and we welcomed the fact that they were dry.

The first viewpoint brought many smiles and we all shared how we enjoy walking on ridges such as this. The sky was so blue and the White River below was flowing with a lovely blue/gray color. We continued on to the larger view point and decided to continue on to our 9 mile turn around point and come back for lunch with a view. At our turn around spot we found a view of Mt. Tahoma/Rainier and some blooming bear grass.

Everyone enjoyed a peaceful lunch stop and fun conversations. The trail down was beautiful and we enjoyed the coolness of this mostly shaded trail. We saw five other hiker parties and really had the trail to ourselves as our encounters were spread out.

Many of us talked about coming back to do the longer trail to the Ranger Creek Trail and do the loop back via the Snoquera Falls Trail. A great sign of a successful hike!