Mosquito Creek Drainage

The snowpack at the bottom of Mosquito Creek is weak. We traveled up the summer road to around 7200'. Here we found the snowpack averaged 18 inches deep on north-facing slopes. Large surface hoar (4mm) topped the snowpack. Beneath were varying layers of weak facets with two melt-freeze crusts (see pit). The base also held the first depth hoar I have seen this season although it did not make up the majority of this layer. While we did "score" an ECTX, the lack of consolidated snow in this area led to all the layers falling apart under the shovel during our test. If and when we get low-elevation snow, it will be interesting to see which facet layers are the weakest.

Quick report