Winter like conditions near Elephant's Back

   I went out to Carson pass and Elephant's back today around 11:00, skies were mostly overcast with intermittent sunshine. There was no wind, or precip at this time. Heading out on the trailhead there was 2-3" of new snow with a thin layer of graupel on the surface. The new snow was light and compressible and was the typical dust on crust feeling. While the sun was shining, snow would clump up on the tops of my skis and to the bottom of my skins. While traveling, there was no signs of cracking or storm slab properties to the snow. There was no new build on wind features or additional snow on old cornices. Along the ridgeline towards Elephant's Back there was no signs of wind effect snow or new loading on terrain features. Hand pits and ski cuts produce more loose dry outcomes and showed there was poor bonding within the old/new snow interface. Around 12:30, NW winds picked up and a snow squall rolled in for the next hour delivering heavy snowfall and transporting snow blowing of the ridgelines. Around 1330, skies slowly opened back up and allowed for more solar radiation to penetrate the surface, winds died down and the precip came to a halt. Skies remained open until my departure at 1400 and looking to the west it appeared it was going to stay clear for awhile. There was no other signs of instabilities or snow movement observed.