Quick report
Beautiful day touring around Gash Knob with sun, cool temperatures, and no wind. I observed 10cm of new/recent snow that was poorly bonded to areas with a strong sun crust, making skinning a bit slippery in these areas. I stuck to northerly aspects and found great skiing conditions. As I worked my way up through the trees toward gash knob, I observed widespread surface hoar on these shaded aspects. When digging a quick pit at ~8200ft. on a NE aspect, I found the new snow on top of a supportable crust in this location. Below the crust (15-20cm below the snow surface), I found near surface facets. Below that, the snowpack appeared strong and cohesive, though I did not dig to ground or perform any stability tests. The exit trail was manageable with only a few shallowly buried rocks to avoid, though it could certainly use more the snow. The road to the summer TH is driveable.