Dust on supportable crust/dense storm snow

An inch of cold snow on top of a supportable crust/dense storm snow made for easy and enjoyable travel conditions at Carson Pass today. Several recent natural avalanches were observed. Most appeared to have occurred before the storm ended, with debris covered by additional snow and crowns partly or almost completely filled in. The most recent looking one was on a NE/E aspect at the headwaters of Forestdale Creek (AKA Cole Bowl or Boarder Bowl), but I didn't have a clear line of sight from HWY 88 to take a picture. From a distance, it appeared to be a wind slab that may have been up to a D3, and didn't have additional new snow on top of the debris.

Ski and boot penetration were minimal along Frog Lake Ridge. There was evidence of rain to my high point of 9200ft. I saw another recent avalanche on Round Top, just to the lookers left of the Crescent Moon couloir. It looked like it ran twice during the storm, with an older debris pile farther downhill from the more recent one. There was also a partly filled in crown on The Sisters, and maybe another at the Crescent Moon exit, and yet another above Woods Lake.

Because the snow was so supportable, it "felt stable" without making formal observations. But with so much new snow, plus recent avalanche activity, I took out my shovel to investigate. At 9100ft in the main Elephants Back bowl, the top meter of snow was 1 finger and pencil hard, with the exception of a softer layer of graupel just below the surface, and another softer layer of precipitation particles 20cm down. An ECT propagated on the softer precipitation particles, indicating instability remained. I descended a lower angle option. When I sidestepped/skated out of the flats below Elephants Back for the second pitch at 8700ft, I saw another recent avalanche (pin drop), so dug another quick profile. It was similar to the one at 9100ft, but the softer precipitation particles were down 30cm. My ECT here also propagated on the softer precipitation particles, consistent with the height of the nearby crown. On my way back along the old Red Lake Road, I crossed the debris of another avalanche that had run well downhill of the road, and covered the road about 150ft wide. The crown had been filled in with additional snow.

There were light-moderate E winds that moved convective clouds into the area. By 11am there were broken clouds overhead, and combined with the warm temps and strong sunshine, this produced some "greenhousing" and wetted the surface snow. I chose not to descend past the old Red Lake Road because suface conditions were getting less supportable, and at my low point of 8400ft, boot penetration was almost knee deep into moist/wet snow.