Observation: Rock Canyon

Hiked up Rock Canyon Saturday. There is still a lot of loading on slopes above the mid-canyon trail. Stayed reasoably cool but comfortable through the day. Went to Rock Canyon Campground then North up the road to see how much debris was on the road from the January 5th Crows Foot Couloir avalanche. A trio of snomobilers that stopped on their way back from Buckley Mountain agreed that it looked like 70' stacked up on the corner of the road. Easily double anything I'd seen there in the last 20+ years. They said it was easier to traverse in the morning when the surface was colder.

Both the main Crows Foot Couloir and the West branch had repeated on Friday. But stopped well above the road. I didn't spot a crown fracture. It was likely surface movement from afternoon green-housing. Only Snowmobiles and Snow Cycles had been past the debris pile so far.

Dry fork had run previously also. It has a 15' pile of debris on the road. A little tricky but passable.

I stopped for a bit at the campground, and spotted a refreeze crust just below the surface.

I noticed at Sunrise how far the Sun has moved north. We'll be seeing warming issues on North Aspects before long.

I usually see the first Bear tracks about March 17. The pack is usually uniformly firm by then. Dropping down the trail from Squaw Peak Road to the campground, & bypassing many downed trees, I did several crotch punches. Going to take quite a bit of saw-work to clean things up

Sunday and Monday's ratings will depend on how heavy it snows.