Big Creek — Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021

We arrived at the trail head just before 11 a.m. on a Sunday with no other cars in sight. The twisty windy drive to this awesome hike took some white knuckling at times (it had been nicely plowed after the hike). All wheel drive is a must if there are ice/snow conditions. We buckled up our snowshoes in the parking lot; there was at least a foot of snow on the ground. We took the clockwise route following ghost tracks. It snowed most of our time on the loop. The snow on the trail was soft and deep. We found ourselves up to our shins often even with snowshoes. The trail is easy to follow even without the markers you find at places designed for a lot of traffic. If you want a back country feel when you snowshoe, add this to your must-do list and wait for the right conditions. A couple things, the incline is no joke with no snow, with a foot of soft wet snow, it's a beast. The descent was harder than it's ever been for me. The bonus is that all the water features are on the second half of this hike if you go clockwise. Have fun, stay dry and warm, and bring snacks.