We planned to snowshoe at Moon Prairie, but other snowshoers reported that the trail had deteriorated the past few days due to warming temperatures and rain. We headed to Mt. Ashland hoping for a better trail at the higher elevation. All concerns about melting snow vanished as we headed out on the groomed trail on FS20. There was much snow on the mountain and the trail was groomed with a top layer of recent snow.

Visibility was limited due to fog. Everything looked white. Our intrepid group of four trekked on, past trees covered with moss. Trees close to the trail shedded snow and pelted us with wet snow drops. It was too stunning to turn around, so we kept going up the road to Mt. Ashland Summit to the Rabbit Ears rock formation.

There were brisk winds at the 7,000’ level by Rabbit Ears, so we quickly took photos and headed back down the trail. We only saw two cross-county skiers all day until we got back to the campground area. Then a group of young people came up the trail carrying large packs headed for an overnight camp at the Grouse Gap shelter. We decided that a snow camp was not in our future plans, but we agreed that it have been an invigorating snowshoe. Total distance: 4 miles.

Hike Date: 2024-01-26