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Trip Report    

Basic Snowshoe - Tonga Ridge (winter)

A walk up road 6830. The ridge was out of reach.

David Butler David Butler
March 12, 2022
  • Road recommended for high clearance only

  • We were only able to drive up road 68 about two miles.  From there the snowshoe hike was a little over a mile to road 6830 and we hiked up 6830 another four miles or so.  Snow was icy/crunchy in the morning and a little softer but not slushy in the afternoon.  Tire tracks up the road from four wheel drive vehicles probably from the previous day.

From previous trip reports was expecting to be able to at least get to road 6830 and drive up it a little ways.  High snow levels this week didn't allow us to make it that far.  We had two high clearance vehicles but driving further up road 68 was not feasible.

We hiked up road 68 to road 6830 and up road 6830 for over four miles.  We were still quite a distance from the turn off road up to the trail head.

While we did not make it to Tonga Ridge, it was a nice snowy road walk with peek a boo views of neighboring peaks.  The weather was mostly clear and sunny but was light hazy clouds as the day wore on. 

There were tire tracks all the way up.  Obviously from 4wd enthusiasts.  The compacted snow from the tracks allowed us to travel a lot further than we would have if we were breaking trail all the way.

Snow quality was good for making snow sculptures. Snowball fights were threatened but did not happen.  No wildlife sighted but various types of tracks in the snow.

Overall distance ended up being around 11 miles with 1600 feet of elevation gain.  About five and a quarter hours.