Observation: Days Fork

Went up Days Fork this morning and found the trail frozen solid from the trailhead up. Stopped to dig a pit on a North facing slope at 8,895'. Height of snow was only 36 cm, and was topped off by a 2 cm-thick crust. There was also a crust at 20 cm above the ground (photo 1). The snow in between these crusts were a mixed bag of grain types, most likely undergoing some changes due to the steep temperature gradient throughout the snowpack. Some of these particles had angular corners and showed signs of faceting, which was more prominent in the snow 21 - 34 cm above the ground (photo 2).

Not much to be found in terms of good turns, although this makes for a great opportunity to practice some rescue drills.

Frozen snow surface on most aspects. Surface was beginning to soften up on sunnier slopes.