Quick report
A wet day. We parked our vehicles at the forest boundary on the FS26 road where plowing ends, the standard parking area. Four-wheel drive vehicles have made tracks up the road for 6.8 miles. Ruts up to a foot deep are present, along with down trees, patches of pavement down low, recent rock slides, melted out creeks and wet areas. The snowmobiling for this distance is not friendly or fun, but passable. Just above the second bridge, ruts cease and proper riding begins. That said, rain and melt runnels dominate the landscape. Creeks are open in some areas. Wet, loose avalanches were easily triggered on steep slopes. Riding up in the Cliff, Gumboot and/or Mumbo Basin is not recommended at this time, unless you like a good adventure. It will take a decent bit of snow to smooth things over, bridge open creeks and help bury the 4x4 ruts.
Today, natural wet-loose avalanches were observed on isolated, steep, northerly-facing slopes above Cliff Lake. One wet-loose slide, large enough to cause bodily harm, was witnessed as it occurred. Approximately 4–8 inches of wet, greasy snow slid easily on a firm crust beneath it. This avalanche problem proved to be more reactive than expected. Peak instability was observed during the height of the "heat wave", near midday. However, with temperatures expected to cool tonight, the wet snow will likely refreeze and stabilize.Weather
- Air Temp
- 40
- Cloud Cover
- obscured
- Wind Loading
- none
- Rain Elevation
- 8,000 to 9,000 feet
- Recent Snowfall
- 10
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
The weather today was wet and misty with intermittent light rain, temperatures hovering around 40°F at 6,500 feet, and a steady northerly wind over ridges. Trees were dripping heavily, and melt/rain runnels were forming before our eyes. There was nothing remotely winter-like about the conditions.
Snowpack
Today's unexpected avalanche issue involved wet-loose slides. Recent snowfall, 4–8 inches deep, quickly became wet and saturated due to a warm storm moving through the area. The wet snow rested on a firm crust, providing an ideal sliding surface. Both natural and easily human-triggered wet-loose slides were observed on northerly-facing slopes steeper than 35 degrees. No other avalanche problems were noted. Snow depth near Gumboot Lake measured between 50 and 60 inches. While the lakes are frozen, snow-covered and supported snowmobiles, they remain soft. Use caution.