Observations from the Cascade Creek drainage.

We toured the Cascade Creek drainage today back to the headwaters at Janine Peak (Peak 9579'). Along the way we encountered large surface hoar at mid elevations of the drainage. As we continued to ascend, surface hoar became absent. As we moved above treeline, there was minimal wind effect on the snow surface and soft snow conditions. Recent melt-freeze crust and sun crust formation was limited to southerly aspects, especially at the upper elevations. We did not encounter any surface crust on E aspects above about 8,000'. We saw no obvious signs of instability while on tour in the area. There was very little to no loose dry surface instability observed from ski/snowboard tracks on steep N-NE-E aspects in this area.