An oxymoron, Had a hike safe card and did not carry her snowshoes, is that hiking safely? Sometimes you don't have to be off trail, the snow may drift in to fill the trail. There are several trails this happens on, especially high up but just below treeline or high wooded ridges like the Twinway, parts of Franconia Ridge, Carter-Moriah or the Garfield Ridge Trail.
That said, I've been the hiker who left the snowshoes in the car, it was the day I met the originator of this site. No rescue but by the time we reached the junction at the top of Pierce with just a couple of 100 feet to walk in the fog and one more drift to clear, we turned around.