Spring Conditions on Mt. Houghton

During our morning approach to Mt. Houghton we found firm refrozen snow in shady areas. This melt-freeze crust had already started to soften in the sunny areas by 9 am. The 6 in thick crust supported our weight but it was relatively easy to poke a pole through it into the wet snow below the crust. We also noticed creeks with running water have started to melt out in several areas. As we ascended, the surface continued to soften and by 11 am 2-3 inches of soft wet corn snow had formed on E-SE-S-SW aspects on top of the melt-freeze layer. Some firm snow still existed on the summit of Houghton around that time, but things were starting to soften even at 10,490 ft.   

On our return to the vehicles, we found sticky wet snow on W aspects and some spots of firm snow remaining on shady N aspects.