Quick report
Wet snow issues were the main hazard I encountered today. These were at their worst around the transition between middle and upper elevations on shady slopes. Here, the snowpack had become wet for the first time, thanks to two weeks of warm weather that gradually warmed the snowpack, followed by several rain events extending into upper elevation terrain (heavy rain 11/14-15, lighter rain 11/16). I avoided all steep slopes and was mindful of the terrain above me. Where the wet snow problems were at their worst (roughly 8,500-9,500'), any wet snow avalanches would have gouged deeply and entrained the season's snowpack. No signs of reactive wind slabs or surficial sluff issues in my travels today. Visibility was very limited, I wasn't able to look very far beyond my ski tips once I got high enough to look around. No feedback on if any natural avalanches were/had occurred. I did see quite a bit of large roller ball and cinnamon roll activity, though these were stalling out as they gouged into the wet snowpack below, probably needed a pretty steep slope to get things moving. I'll be interested to see how the snowpack looks once we get through the heat and rain. I found moist to wet snow throughout the snowpack everywhere I dug, including in hand pits above 10,000'. Lots of wet snow, and lots of natural roller ball activity in the 8,500-9,500' range. These weren't surface balls, more like big, deep cinnamon rolls
Weather
43 F at the truck at start and end of tour. Steady, light precip from 2 PM until exit from the field at 7 PM, with rain continuing to fall while driving home. Rain line was wobbling around up towards 9,800' today, and appeared to have been similarly high on 11/14. There were a few inches of wet new snow above 10,000'.