Foggy Morning on Luther Pass

A freezing fog was present on the western end of Luther Pass this morning. Temps were well below freezing, but the air felt humid although clothes and the snow surface remained dry. Patches of blue sky started to open by our departure at 0830. 

Soft uncohesive surface snow was present on our entire tour. The uppermost ridge at 8300 feet in this area is fairly treed and little evidence of wind transport was observed. Winds were light during our time on the ridge. At our highpoint 4-6 inches of soft snow was present, mostly consisting of near surface facets, with the deeper amounts found on shady aspects. 

Photo 1: Early morning was cold with a fog layer. A better photographer could have captured a much better image of this fog as it was occassionally stunning. 

Photo 2: Soft near surface faceted snow was present down about 5 inches on shady slopes. Similar but shallower conditions existed on sunny aspects. 

Photo 3: A few small test features had cohesive snow that broke with a ski kick. None of these features in this area existed on top of steep terrain and nothing surprising resulted from these kicks. No instabilities were observed during our tour.