Snowshoeing The Ridge

Last week my husband and I decided to take advantage of a glorious day after a large front had passed through the region, leaving at least a foot or two of new snow in the mountains. Living on Bainbridge Island, we are only a hour and a half from Hurricane Ridge that is open most every day during the winter months. This must be a lot of work for the National Park Service to plow the road and to keep it free from falling rocks. When we arrived at the summit, we were not disappointed. Fresh snowfall and an almost empty parking lot greeted us – it was midweek and the ratio of Rangers to snowshoers was almost 1:1. Once into the trees, we were in a winter wonderland and we had it all to ourselves. The snow was dry and fresh and the air crystal clear and clean. It was a wonderful mid-week break from the lowland winter gray.