Tollgate

I did not observe any new avalanches.  There is a lot of variability in snow depth and coverage out there.  Most all south-facing terrain below 5,500' is melted out to bare ground.  West and East aspects below this elevation are patchy at best.  Stepping off my machine, I was easily sinking up to my shins in wet snow where the snow had not been traveled on.  If you were to recreate in steep northerly terrain where the most snow exists, it remains possible to trigger wet snow avalanches until colder temperatures help to stabilize the snowpack.  

I dug a snowpit near Deadman Spring on a NW aspect at 5200'.  I found a saturated upper snowpack with water pooling around 3 different crusts to a depth of 60 cm.  The snowpack is isothermal, meaning there is no difference in the temperature of the snow from the top to the bottom.  The snow below the Pencil hard 2/1 crust was moist, but not fully saturated.  I got no results in my ECT or CT.  10 days ago, Hatch found some surface hoar on a north aspect near Spout Springs, but I did not see this layer in my snowpit.  I think with all of the water moving through the snow since then, this weak layer was likely destroyed.  I was able to trigger roller balls easily in north-facing terrain that was steeper than 30 degrees.