Mowich Lake Snowshoe — Friday, Mar. 31, 2006

Mount Rainier Area > NW - Carbon River/Mowich

Four of us skied and snowshoed the Mowich Lake Road. Fresh snow the night before made the drive in adventerous. High centering my Pathfinder meant stopping at 3300 feet, 2.3 miles and 300 feet gain before the gate at Paul Peak TH. Bring chains and a shovel if you go soon. Fresh snow also meant we didn't have to carry our skis on the way out. We did an 8.5 mile day and 900 gain. Didn't make it too the lake. The day started overcast with light snow. It was wet spring snow. It would stick to our skis and snowshoes if we stood around too long. The soft snow made things very aerobic and slowed our pace both ways. The grade is gentle and wide so it's good for beginners working on trail technique. The trees had a fresh snow dusting. The warming day dropped plenty of snow bombs. We saw lots of animal tracks, elk, deer, coyote, rabbits and ermine. Icicle displays on rock out crops were cool. On the way back big, wet snow flakes fell as far as the gate. As we passed the cuts outside the park the sun and blue sky came out. We got a nice view up the Mowich Glacier. It also melted most of the new snow, very thin skiing! We were pretty worked at the end of the day. It was nice to get to the car.