Pre-storm obs from Red Lake Peak

All four of the typical approaches to Red Lake Peak have a mix of snow and bare ground, although plenty of snow coverage exists for recreational purposes. After the upcoming storm, there may be less dirt for travel on the up, but descending on what is bare ground today could be sketchy. 

Although our ascent and descent today was one of the gullies facing the highway, I did go onto the slopes above Crater Lake to see what new snow might be landing on. Without crampons, I didn't venture far, but I found no evidence of old weak layers. The snow I looked at was firm and consolidated.

Pics 1 and 2: We went back and forth from snow to dirt quite a bit on both our approach and return. Fortunately the snow was supportable to boot travel even in the afternoon, so we put skis on our packs and proceeded on foot, and never even used skins today. The second pic was continuous snow and took us to our high point along the ridge (pin drop).

Pic 3: Panorama of the slopes above Crater Lake, where I did not find evidence of weak layers beneath the surface. 

Pic 4: Not avalanche related but cool to see the bear tracks following our same route.