It WAS snow; here's a pic of one of my riding buddies with me in the background. We were at about 8500 feet, so the rain down in the valley turned to snow as we went up the mountain. In four days we went through rain, sleet, hail, and snow, plus temps ranging from low 90s to mid 20s. Sea level to 10,000+ feet going through some of the passes. Great experience, and learned [again] to trust your equipment, but know its limits. And there's no substitute for a good rain suit that you put on BEFORE it rains...
and you're right; a couple of charcoal briquets properly placed would have been converted to diamonds no sweat....