I spent a long weekend in Ashford with plans to visit the park every day. I arrived around lunch on Friday so I hung out around Longmire as the gate to Paradise was closed, looking for something I hadn't done before or didn't have cougar sightings (Rampart). The avalanche warning was considerable for pretty much the whole weekend so that knocked Eagle Peak off my list, too.
Although I have hiked the Wonderland, I hadn't done it snow-covered so I thought I would head up the Wonderland towards Carter Falls. The trail was compact snow so I just wore trail runners and had poles. There were some really nice views out at the Nisqually: sunny to the South, grey towards the mountain.
The trail stayed compact all the way to where the Wonderland drops down to the Nisqually. The Cougar Rock campground looked excellent for snowshoeing, however, so I made plans to return another day with them.
The snow was deep and pristine across to the bridge over the Nisqually to continue on the Wonderland so I also opted to return for that crossing. I followed some postholing on the berm along the road for awhile before turning around and retracing my steps. Overall a good outing that burned some hours before checking into the Whittaker Bunkhouse.
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