May 16, 2015, Fryingpan environs

Rusty Knees, myself and two others made a push for the Fryingpan Saturday, despite uncertain weather and my questionable fitness (not only in general, but being saddled with an active cold).  The road and ground were dry on arrival, and we began hiking up the Wonderland trail at about 8:30 under encouraging skies.  We traveled in the footsteps and later skintrack of a solo skier who was about 30 minutes ahead of us the whole day.  Skinnable snow began at about 5730' up along the creek, with two snowbridges that won't last long (in fact one is probably gone already).

The weather only improved as we progressed, eventually leading to few clouds under bright sunny skies and calm below ridgeline.  We observed wet loose sloughs aplenty on all aspects, and increasingly deep/wet surface snow, which affected decisions in both directions.

After running low on time and energy at about 7500' (where a stiff wind was hitting the ridge line), we turned around for the trip down.  The approach of some dark clouds with obvious rain bands kept us moving.  Although the weather, company, and scenery made for a net-gain trip, the downhill travel was admittedly a disappointment.  The heavy, wet surface snow was incredibly sticky, and readily sloughed at moderate angles on all aspects (http://www.nwac.us/observations/pk/92/).

Despite the ominous clouds, it remained warm and dry throughout our descent.  The solo skier we had been chasing arrived back at the TH before we had left, and reported equally bad skiing conditions further up on the Fryingpan.