Snoquera Palisades

Ten brave Mounties ventured forth despite the dismal weather forecast and were rewarded with a delightful day in the woods, the rain even holding off until we got back to our cars. We started at the parking area just past the Skookum Falls viewpoint. It's a short .2 miles uphill to join the White River trail. We went left, and the trail follows Dalles Creek up a narrow ravine with cliffs on either side. There is one water crossing right at the beginning which could be a bit sketchy in high water but was fine today. The trail is in the forest here and was relatively dry. Once you are in the ravine proper the trail switchbacks uphill along the stream. There is one very large waterfall here and a smaller waterfall higher up. At the higher waterfall is a series of wooden steps which lead uphill.

Once above the falls the trail flattens out on a more gentle slope and performs a series of switchbacks up the slope, pausing at three different open areas with views of the valley below and mountains beyond. Rainier was not visible today but we could see the peaks up around Crystal ski area and across to SunTop. We had lunch at the second viewpoint, about 3.5 miles from the road. Turkey sandwiches were consumed and the views were admired. Do be careful of the cliffs here, it's a long, bumpy way down.

We turned around here and high-tailed it back to the cars. Total time was about 5 hours, mileage about 7 and elevation gain about 2000.

There was not much in the way of water on this trail and no mud, but that may have something to do with the generally drier nature of the area. All in all, we really lucked out with the weather as the sun came out a couple of times, the wind was not an issue and the rain held off until we got back to the cars. At the post-trip stop at Wapiti Woollies it was pouring.