Parked at the gate on north side of Montgomery TH, 1/4 mile from Magnolia Mill. Departed around 7:30am. Road trail into basin was wet already without a hard freeze the previous night. Gaining Wheeler Lake basin was sloppy at 8:45am, postholing. Gaining upper basin was also tough - due to an avy slide on the S aspects of point west of Wheeler Lake, rerouted the approach to the south wall and proceeded to pursue Traver Peak first.
This is not a trip report, I have plenty to say there, but after coming down off of McNamee and heading back into the basin, all soft land was posthole depth from ankles to hips even with snowshoes. Coming off the upper basin to Wheeler Lake was harrowing, another story for the trip report, but needless to say it's also soft, posthole central, and also free-draining flow on the ground surfaces beneath the snow.
By noon - everything was soupy back to the Mine. Hoping with continued temps this moisture that we need will drain away and make for more pleasant future experiences.
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