Mowich Lake Snowshoe — Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019

The forecast looked good, so we got up early to do a day snowshoe out to the lake. The road out was pretty good. Snowcovered, but pretty easy to navigate with just a Subaru. There were some pot-holes, but going slow it was okay. The road closure was also further into the park than we expected, so we were able to cut some time off our hike. The bathrooms at the trailhead and up at the lake were open, which was a pleasant surprise. One other hiker showed up right when we did and got ready faster, so he had the honor of breaking trail for us. It made the going easier, since there were several inches of fresh powder. Clearly this trail isn't well-traveled. It was easy to follow the blazes for the pack trail and cut off some distance vs. following the road the full way. Once at the lake the sun came out for us, so we brushed off a bear box and ate lunch. Unfortunately when we got back to the parking lot some folks had been running donuts in their trucks, so the lot was a mess of frozen, icy ruts to navigate and the way back out was much the same. I was glad we were heading out while it was still light since the road navigation was much slower. A higher clearance vehicle may be in order later in the season.