Patchy Surface Hoar on Silver Peak

We made observations on Silver Peak today.  Snow surface conditions were firm from the trailhead on all aspects up to 7000' with little snow accumulation from the Sunday storm at this elevation.  We found evidence of rain during the Sunday storm up to around 7500' forming a thin rain crust.  The rain seemed to destroy most all of the surface hoar in this area with only areas of fragments found.  As we moved up to higher elevations, the rain crust changed to a heavy snow layer with patchy areas of surface hoar fragments found.  East winds were moderate to strong with some wind scouring and newly formed wind slabs.  Overall, we did not find reactive buried surface hoar in this area.  The rain and heavy wet snow on Sunday could have destroyed some of this surface hoar in the elevation range we traveled on-with our high point up to 8200'.  Due to the variable and patchy nature of buried surface hoar, we stuck to our conservative travel plan today that avoided avalanche terrain along with overhead hazards and any connected steeper terrain.