Deep unconsolidated snow on Carson pass.

     I toured out towards Frog lake today. When I got there I was impressed by the snow piles in the parking lot at the trail head entrance and that the Forest Service building is completely buried. I managed to find my way up and finally got out on fresh snow. The snow was light and unconsolidated (~45cms of ski pen) and there was a pristine layer of 2-4mm surface hoar sitting right on top. The surface hoar was widespread near and below treeline. This surface hoar is something to watch as there was no wind or solar radiation breaking it down today; with clear skies tonight, and snow coming tomorrow. As I continued up the ambient air was well below freezing and the clouds over the Sierra Crest slowly dissipated throughout the early afternoon. I stopped a few times along the way to the lake and did a couple shovel tilt tests and hasty pits but had no results showing instability. At the ridge line there was signs of recent wind affect, large cornice development, wind drifts, and small softer wind slabs. On my test slopes nothing was producing any results or cracking. If it did break off it was minimal and did not propagated far. From up high I could see some wind waves and wind effect near Round Top, the Sisters and Red Lake Peak above tree line. I could also see some larger cornices on the ridge lines headed into Meiss Meadow but no other avalanches were observed.  As I traveled back to the truck the sun was now fully out but the surface snow was not getting moist and wet.