Basic Snowshoe - Commonwealth Basin

We deliberately scheduled a late start (noon) for the day after Christmas, allowing for a good rest in the morning.  Fortunately we were able to claim a couple of parking places in the lower Summit West lot.  Beautiful snow conditions for snowshoeing, even in the track established by other snowshoers and skiers, since the snow is still light and powdery. 

Navigation in the upper basin can be interesting, given the gullies cut by the several branches of the creek.  We opted to stay right (east) when we reached the bridge, rather than crossing it.  Further up, we crossed on a well-established multi-log bridge.  We held to a 14:30 turnaround time to ensure that we would make it out before dark, and indeed made it back to the highway about 15:30, just as a few light flakes started falling (of what became an additional 12 inches overnight).