We started out on the Wonderland Trail at Longmire and proceeded north. The short section of the trail before you cross Paradise Rd had many downed trees, but I expect they’ll be cleared relatively soon, if not already, since it’s practically in Longmire.
After crossing Paradise Rd we ran into more downed trees and a damaged wooden walkway. Both are easily passable. As we climbed the switchbacks we ran into packed snow at around 3,500 ft. For the most part the snow was walkable, barring a few post-holes here and there. Had there not been footprints from previous hikers we probably would’ve lost the trail, but it’s fairly well worn into the snow now. After the climb leveled out near Rampart Ridge and dropped again the snow disappeared and the trail was easily discernible again.
The hike got tricky when we hit Kautz Creek. We didn’t realize we’d be hiking through a huge creek bed with high dirt and rock walls. Be very cautious of the snow here. If you post-hole you can easily twist an ankle on the large rocks below the snow. I sank in waist deep on a few occasions and banged up a shin, so avoid the snow if you can. There are a few tree bridges to get you across the creek. The trail picks up on the other side of the creek and from what we could tell there was no easy way to climb up due to erosion. Your best bet is to find a shallow incline and scramble your way up the dirt/rocks.
At this point it was getting dark and it looked like the erosion had washed away part of the trail on the edge of the creek where we climbed up. We checked our map and headed north a little bit, but it was also difficult to make out the trail with all the fresh snow and no previous tracks. After spending some time searching in the dark we decided to find a flat spot and set up camp since it was getting late.
The next day we realized we were on the right track and just didn’t go north far enough to meet up with the trail again. We didn’t end up following the trail the rest of the short way to Pyramid Creek even though we were less than half a mile from the camp; we decided to pack out and grab some snowshoes to explore around paradise. Wish we had been able to make it to camp; next time!
Long story short: Trail is a little rough and has snow but is useable. Watch for post-holing in Kautz Creek and head north to find the trail once you’re on the other side.
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