Basic Snowshoe - Tonga Ridge (winter)

We were expecting road conditions to be the issue, and had back up plans. After taking the forest road off hw 2 for several miles, eventually bottoming out on the snow, we decided to see if we could make it to the trailhead on foot via a spur road on the map. Not so much. 😟 We explored a couple of options, but at that point it was a matter of hiking the road and having a day outdoors in the snow, or spending more time fussing about in the car to get to our alternative route. We opted for the former. It was a beautiful day, blue skies, and warm; we were moving fast, and we lunched at the trailhead, 4(!) miles in. We did a mile plus on the actual trail, turned around at a viewpoint, and headed for the cars to make it back before it got too late. In the end we clocked over 11 miles, most of it on gradual, compacted snow. I was impressed with the groups perseverence!