[Slugman]

I went hiking Sunday with my friend Craig and Daisy the Spoiled Wonder Dog, and we went up the East Fork Foss river. After stopping at the Sultan Bakery for the world's best breakfast sandwiches and pastries, we parked at the Tonga Ridge road junction due to deepening snow and walked the half-mile to the regular trailhead. There was snow on the trail the whole way, starting at maybe six inches and increasing to about three feet at the more open sections after the 2,000ft level is reached. No snowshoes were needed, since there is a semi-packed trail to follow and the snow depth is inconsistent. It was a bit of a Cascade concrete trudge, probably 50% harder than the same hike in summer. We encountered some blowdowns and brushy obstacles, and even had to go hands-and-knees under one tree, but nothing too bad. I rejoiced at the Alpine Lakes Wilderness sign, which was about two miles into the hike. We came to a section of the trail that had a stream flowing on it, so we took a 15 minute trail-repair break. We dug some rocks, sticks and leaves out of the proper stream channel and used them to dam up the water coming down the trail, to marvelous effect. On our return later, the trail was dry and the stream had resumed its natural course. The open meadowy/swampy area was pretty cool, with wispy fog rolling down the valley. We went in to the three mile point from the regular trailhead where the best views of the valley are and took an hour break to take some pictures and drink some Jack Daniels with a Bailey's chaser. Hey, it's all we had! We got back 3 1/2 miles to the car in just two hours, a Sluggish record for snow speed. We went seven miles in six hours, with about 800 VF gross round-trip. The weather was perfect- no rain and a little sun.

[kirelia]

Any ideas how the road is now. Can you still drive to the Tonga Ridge junction? I've snowshoed in there in the past, but if you stop at the first parking lot, then you have to deal with the snowmobilers until you get to the junction. Not my idea of fun.