Quick report
Toured up Carton Ridge today from the Mormon Peak Road trailhead. I was able to drive all the way to the trailhead without any difficulty in a Honda-CR-V. Started tour at 10:30am, temperature 28F, overcast, light wind, no precip. I was able to skin from the trailhead (about 2 inches of packed snow present). Observed moderate to high strength winds from the West, transporting snow Eastward (above 6800 feet). Toured up to 8000 feet and dug a pit on a N facing aspect of Carlton Ridge. There was 65-73cm of total snow depth in this area. CT11, SP on a layer approximately 27cm down. Surprisingly, only ECTN15 on the same layer. I did not go anywhere near avalanche terrain during this tour. I was not able to observe any potential avalanche activity around Lolo peak itself due to cloud cover. Snow was slightly-moderately dense powder that still made for some good turns on the north aspect of Carlton Ridge. Believe it or not, I was able to ski back to the car without any core shots (on my rock skis), although I wouldn't necessarily reccommend this. Definately a worthy outing: type I fun.