Red Lake Peak

Warm, clear, and calm day at Red Lake Peak, with evidence of an inversion. Near surface faceting and/or surface hoar on the surface of cold slopes. Sunny slopes became sticky/crusty on the surface in the afternoon. Slopes above Crater Lake had been previously wind effected, with pockets of wind slab and minor cracking observed. Snowpack tests indicated the graupel at the new/old interface could be problematic where a slab has developed above, and the facets at the ground produced propagating ECTs. I descended adjacent to one of the gullies towards HWY 88, but avoided going into the gully itself. I exited back to the main switchback on the Crater Lake Rd instead of going through the willows at the bottom of the gullies.

Shallow but supportable snowpack, with weak snow at the bottom and some indications of instability on graupel at the new/old interface