Mixed Bag of Surface Conditions in Beehive

We toured Beehive Basin up to the prayer flags and dropped into Bear Basin. We dug one full pit in the starting zone of Tyler's (1m of snow, ECTP28 on basal facets - rough/non-planar fracture) but were primarily looking at surface conditions. 

The surface evolved throughout the day, so we must continue tracking its progression. We found surface hoar in the valley of Beehive, where inverted temperatures were the coldest, crusts with near-surface facets below, and some straight near-surface facet—recycled powder, along with thicker crust and wet snow. 

The warmer temperatures at higher elevations that came with the inversion are saving us from worse faceting. When we returned to the vehicle, the surface hoar had burned off in the warming temperatures, and others were moist. 

Surface conditions will continue to evolve but probably won't get stronger in the coming days. The good news is that the surface is holding up better than I expected.