Yep, losing a trail in the snow pretty much knocks everything into a cocked hat. Did you use the GPS to guide your bushwhacking, or did you go map-and-compass?

I do know how to read the symbols on the map, how to tell from the countour lines which way the creek flows, and how to tell high from low ground. However, what I have never gotten a lot of practice at is picking out a long route with a couple of intermediate waypoints on the map, then navigating across open ground using map and compass to work my way to them. I've just had some short traverses (usually half a mile or less) where I've wanted to navigate off-trail from a point on a trail out a spur ridge to a point that looked interesting.

I may give longer routes a try sometime, now that I've started going to the Mt. Rogers area in Virginia - there is some open country there that I could map out an off-trail route, then navigate my way along. Might be fun.