Been a week or so since I had a look at the snow on high north and was pleasantly surprised with what I found. I was expecting the high north facing terrain to have an abundance of faceted snow but what I found at 10,550 due north was zero faceted snow. The total snowpack was around a foot deep and there is a stout 2 inch thick melt-freeze crust on the surface, with no signs of faceting. The rest of the pack consisted of settled powder and a crust at the ground. This being said with only a foot of snow and cold temperatures on their way thing might change rapidly, 1 foot of snow is not much insolation and a bunch of cold clear nights with no new snow can only weaken the existing snow-pack. Most othe terrain is either melted out or has a melt-freeze crust to the ground.

photos: melt-freeze crust on the surface, hand pit, coverage in Cardiac