Lost Trail backcountry

Todays goal was to get above the rain line from last week and find snow that was not saturated with water. Even above 8000', although the snow was dry, there were still multiple stout crusts from periods of warm weather last week. 

Overall, I found a snowpack gaining strength with rounding in the depth hoar. If triggered, potentially by a wind slab stepping down, it could still produce a D2.5 avalanche. The primary concern is the new snow failing at the crust interface. 

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Widespread cracking in the new snow, failing on the melt-freeze crust interface.