Faceted snowpack on Red Lake Peak.

      After almost two weeks I went back to Red Lake Peak to see the status of the snow in this area. At the start of the trailhead I looked at the snow depth in the same location as two weeks ago @ 7400' and there is half as much snow now as then. This shallow snow was followed by more evidence as the presence of rocks, brush and dirt appeared I ascended along the road. Surface hoar was also present; lower shaded elevations held larger sized 5-10mm grains as upper elevations held .5-2mm grains near 9000' but all surface hoar was observed on shaded aspects only. In contrast, most solar aspects had wet cohesive surface snow or a melt freeze crust on it; either way, weak faceted snow existed below. I climbed up near the area were I dug my last pit and dug again. The snow was considerably more faceted all the way to the rain crust compared to a couple weeks ago. As I started my descent I came across an old isolated pocket of wind slab and did a hasty pit, the slab was only a few centimeters thick and released easily on the weak snow below it. This was the only slab I saw throughout my trip. Otherwise there was no signs of instability within this area.