Quick report
We hiked and skinned up Lockett Meadow Rd. Our intention was to assess conditions on Doyle Peak. With very warm February temperatures and no overnight refreeze, the snow surface was wet. Skinning through wet, unsupportable snow was hard, and the return ski down would be very difficult in steeper terrain. Also, once we reached avalanche terrain, wet-slab instabilities would be a concern. Before reaching 10,000' elevation, we decided to abort the mission. On the way out, we spent about 10 minutes glassing above treeline slopes from a breezy Lockett Meadow. We saw no blowing snow on the upper mountain, indicating that no powder snow is available for transport.
There’s a good chance that we’ll set some high‑temperature records this weekend, increasing the probability of wet avalanche problems. The good news is that once the mountain gets a solid refreeze, we will probably have a strong spring snowpack, and any current persistent weak layers will become muted.
Numerous small and large wet-snow roller balls were observed. See the photo.