Blacksmith Creek

We toured into the Blacksmith Creek drainage to look at coverage and surface conditions.  We did not observe any wet snow instability, but found less than ideal snow coverage at lower elevations and supportable sun softened snow near treeline.

Travel from Twin Lakes to around 8500' consisted of steep clambering through downed logs mixed with punchy snow.  Above this elevation snow coverage was consistent and supportable enough for skinning. North and east facing terrain from 8500' to 10,200' was mostly supportable to skis/snowboarding thoughout the day, though not always to booting.

At around 10,000' on a N aspect there was patches of recently dry, cold snow that is now transitioning to spring snow. Shady chutes and alpine terrain above Glacier Lake appeared firm and wintry still.

On our descent we were surprised how far down we could travel using snowboards, but this required cautious route finding and conservative riding through rocks. aspens and downed logs. This low elevation snow was mostly unsupportable to booting during the afternoon. Travel in this drainage is currently a lot of work and adventurous.