Quick report
Snowpack coverage is inconsistent across all aspects and elevations. Even in more protected, northerly terrain, coverage is questionable, as you'll find large, dry patches beneath trees and around rocks. Nonetheless, I found a larger patch of snow to dig a pit, which yielded more interesting information than I was expecting. While the data was interesting, the overall lack of coverage didn't really raise my hackles in regards to avalanche hazard.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 37-50
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 2000
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Some rain had fallen overnight, and we experienced no additional rain during the day. The sky was overcast, increasing to obscured at ridgeline by the afternoon. Temperatures were well into the 50sF by the morning at the base area. There was a noticible drop in temps around 6300 ft and I recorded a 37F air temp at 6700 ft. The wind was calm and nearly indiscernible most of the time. We experienced some light gusts in open areas here and there from the south.
Snowpack
Despite recent rain and sustained warm overnight temperatures, surfaces remained relatively supportable throughout the day. They also didn't break down any further throughout the day from how they started out in the morning. There was just a slight difference in how refrozen surfaces felt around 6300 ft, the same elevation where temperatures noticeably dropped. There is a thick ice lense 20cm down that will hold most boot penetration. You will occasionally sink all the way up to your hip though, especially when traveling through the trees.
I dug a pit on a northeast aspect at 6765 ft. The depth of the snowpack at this location was 144cm (57in). The top 3cm (1in) was moist snow and the rest was dry-moist. There was a total of 20cm (8in) of snow above a thick ice lense. Below this lense was rounded snow of variable hand hardness. 62cm (24in) down, there is another smaller crust with near crust facets below. I performed a compression test and got a moderate, sudden result on these facets (CTSP11). I performed an extended column test and got a hard, propagating result on the same layer (ECTP27).