Trip Report
Intermediate Snowshoe - Mildred Point
Pivot from Castle Shoulder to Mildred Point because of gate closure. 10+ miles, 3400’ gain, and miles of deep, unbroken powder. Leg-busting trail breaking rewards with eye-popping views.
Colin Chapman
- Sat, Jan 10, 2026
- Intermediate Snowshoe - Mildred Point
- Van Trump Park
- Snowshoeing
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Wonderland trail from Longmire to the Comet Falls trail junction was compacted snow, Comet Falls trail was unbroken powder the entire way. Modestly-deep powder at first, but sections up to 2.5-3ft deep starting at approx 5200' and continuing to Mildred Point at 5915'. Lots of kick stepping required!
Many hidden tree voids brought a few unexpected postholes that requiring teammate assistance to get out of. Good reminder that you should NEVER snowshoe alone in the backcountry.
Our original plan was to do Castle Shoulder, but the Longmire gate wasn't scheduled to open until 10am and our hunch was that it wouldn't open at all. So we pivoted to Mildred Point, which is accessible from Longmire.
The approach to Mildred Point is long and below treeline, but the weather forecast called for cloudy skies so we weren't worried about missing out on views; we were just happy to be getting out!
As the morning progressed, we started to see bright-ish skies...
... and sun on tree trunks.
Our long approach in the trees treated us to some cool shapes...
...and one heck of a snow bomb waiting for the right time to drop.
When we eventually broke out of the dense forest we were treated to some nice views.
The sun and partly-cloudy skies offered up a show.
After a short lunch break (at 46.79762, -121.78455) with unubstructed views of St Helens, we continued up.
And we arrived at Mildred Point 5 hours after departure.
Unbeknownst to us, a solo snowshoer followed our blazed path all morning, arriving at Mildred Point a few minutes after we did. He was kind enough to take a group photo for us.
A very physically challenging trip, but worth every ounce of sweat. Great, strong group.