Today's observations are more of a general overview, mostly made by looking into the mountains from a flat road listing to an audiobook vs. digging in the snow. I did wallow through some facets on an east-southeast apron of Sunshine Mountain, but for the most part, I was on flat ground.

Lake City.

Henson Creek. CR 20. From winter closure to near Capital City and back

No avalanche activity was observed.

The snowpack outside Lake City seems thinner than I have seen in other parts of the San Juan Mountains. Below treeline, on sunny slopes, it is mostly bare ground. You can see buried trees and rock on shady slopes, with lots of surface roughness. This makes sense, as the Slumgullion station reports a snow depth of 36 inches, around 10-20" less than other stations in the North San Juans at similar elevation. Snow depth and coverage did improve with elevation.

Strong north winds ripped snow off high peaks all day long. Some of the snow was sublimating, but I think small, hard snow drifts were building on lee south slopes. Coverage in the alpine was variable, with many westerly slopes stripped and the deepest drifts in cross-loaded terrain. Walking on flat me-downs, I was able to get areas to crack and collapse, but I was limited to dish features. Protect areas where the snowpack was under a meter; the snowpack was all facets.

1" of new snow overnight. Strong northerly wind. Mild temperatures. Ample sunshine.