Northern San Juan
SnowpackSusan Hale · Mar 23, 2011 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Nicest day in many days. Clear, cooler, calm. Lots of sunscreen.
Snowpack
Our tour began at 11,000', so we avoided the roughness of lower elev melt-freeze problems (where it's reportedly frozen ocean in many places). New snow was relatively shallow except for one NW protected gully feature that had 1+ ft depth. There are certainly some deeper drifts. All aspects: Surface was nice white creamy snow from the tail end of the storm, overlaying a thick layer of dusty snow. Colder aspects: Fresh white snow overlay fine, wind battered dust layer that was packed into a dense slab. Tough to push pole through. Warmer aspects: Fresh white snow overlay a thick brown MF crust layer - 4-5 inches thick. Mostly supportive. Most interesting was a SSW aspect with this thick MF crust with a deep layer of large facets beneath! We expected to see evidence of isothermal or at least transitioning grains...not! Did see numerous ice columns/bodies - evidence of draining. No aval activity observed.