Quick report
We chose to hike up and down Rubicon due to the thin snow coverage. At the trailhead, describing the snow cover as "thin" would be generous. It was mostly bare ground. Once we got up to about 7600 ft., more snow existed, but it was wet and clearly had been rained on. The rain crust persisted until we reached 8750 ft. Coverage did improve, but numerous rocks, stumps, trees, etc, still poke through the snowpack at all elevations.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 32° F
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- light
- Rain Elevation
- 8750
- Recent Snowfall
- 2 to 8 cm
- Snow Avail For Transport
- small smounts
Warm, cloudy, and very windy weather greeted us this morning. It was not raining or snowing when we got to the trailhead. By the time we left a few hours later, more clouds had moved in, and light snow/rain had started falling. Winds remained strong throughout the day.
Snowpack
The snowpack remains shallow on Rubicon. The recent storm did not add much to the existing snowpack, and in most areas below 8500 ft, it seemed like less snow existed in this area than the last time we visited three days ago. Wet, soggy snow or a rain crust exited up to about 8750 ft. Below the surface, the snowpack still holds a mix of rain crusts and weak snow at elevations above about 8500 ft. Below 8200 ft, most of the snowpack has gotten wet. Snowpit tests on a north aspect near 8700 ft indicated that the weak snow seems to be holding up the snowpack for now (5 x ECTN), but it could break under additional loading like the new snow expected over the next few days (PST 38/100 END).