Mt. Judah

Today's theme was strong NE-E winds. Whenever we moved into open areas, the winds made it feel much colder than what the temperature and sunny skies would suggest. We felt the cool NE-E winds in the parking lot and at mid- and lower-elevations. They gained strength as we gained elevation, and some of the gusts could jostle us by the time we reached the summit ridge of Mt. Judah.  These winds and cooler temperatures kept most of the snow surfaces frozen and firm. The frozen and bumpy surfaces made travel louder and more challenging on most slopes. The frozen melt-freeze crust has reached 12 inches in thickness on the N aspects. 

From the summit, we headed towards the S-facing slopes, hoping that the March sun had softened the refrozen crusts despite the cold wind. Near the summit, the wind kept the surface frozen, but after we descended lower on the slope into more sheltered areas, we found softer melt-freeze snow. By noon, about 2 inches of soft, wet corn snow had formed on top of a supportable melt-freeze crust on the south-facing slopes. Some continuous snow slopes exist on the south side of Judah, but they are melting quickly, with more dirt and rocks appearing each day.