Alpental Valley

Well, that was a warm, wet, rainy day! While avalanches certainly weren't raining down, we did find a few recent wet slides mainly originating from the very steep and rocky terrain above Source Laker. These newer slides layered on top of wet debris from the past 5 or 6 days. These newer avalanches did, however, seem to be a notch larger than the older slides. 
Water has affected the entire upper snowpack at least through the middle elevations. That includes the old persistent weak layers. Today, these layers were still wet and weak. 
One of the biggest take aways was how much the recent wet weather has impacted coverage down low and in the forest. We just can't seem to catch a break. Coverage is still painfully thin and creeks are abundant. 

The upper snowpack is wet! Recent rain and warm temperatures left us with small melt for grains in the upper snowpack. Water has reached our old, persistent weak layers. At the moment, they are still weak and failed in snowpack tests. Below the 2/7 crust, the melt forms are much larger and well developed. 

Coverage took a beating the past few days. Creeks and waterfalls are flowing high and fast. Several common snow bridges failed during Sunday's rain, making travel even more circuitous. In the forest, tree debris is everywhere. Under many trees, icy slopes exist with softer, snow in between. Holes, downed logs, and even patches of bare ground are common.