Little Elk Creek

Overnight temperatures remained above freezing—an inversion allowed for a superficial refreeze below 7000' overnight. Temperatures climbed steadily throughout the day. Returning to the trailhead around 3:00 pm, the air temperature was in the low 50s F. Winds were calm in the morning, increasing steadily as the day progressed. Winds from the SE were moderate at upper elevations by the afternoon. As the day continued, winds at lower elevations increased as well. High-elevation clouds obscured the sun for most of the day, however, high mountain temperatures allowed snow to soften on most aspects.  

Two days of sunny skies and high temperatures allowed a crust to form on all aspects and elevations. This surface crust broke down everywhere except for high-elevation north-facing slopes. The north-facing crust remained through the afternoon and is roughly 2-3 cm thick with dry snow underneath. All other slopes had wet snow in the top 30cm of the snowpack, down to the 3/21 crust layer. While the crust was breaking down, weaker wet snow was also located just below the crust on a W aspect at 8200'. I would suspect this snow structure is similar on all aspects excluding the truly north-facing terrain. 

While exiting the canyon, we found that wet loose avalanches were easy to initiate with skis at lower elevations. As we traveled next to a creek, much of the snow along the embankment easily released as it traveled a short distance to the creekbed below. If you are traveling to higher elevations in the mountains during these periods of warming, remember that in lower elevations snow changes rapidly, and could behave much differently than the upper elevations. Don't get caught off guard during your exit.