Just did a quick hike/snowshoe hike from Longmire to the Cougar Rock area and back. The trail is very clear and mostly hard packed by now. We opted to go with snowshoes, but the other hikers we met seemed to be doing fine without. With the exception of the open area near Cougar Rock Campground, the trail is quite doable without snowshoes (as of this writing).
In several places previous hikers have cleared small detour trails to the bluff overlooking the Nisqually gorge, and some of the views are quite lovely. Snow on the trees and rocks is still very beautiful.
With an easy pace and frequent stops for photography, the 1.6 or so miles to the Nisqually River crossing (that log bridge) took about 1 hour.
Easy.
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