Short version:
We were feeling good at the lake and I pressed to head on to Cirque Peak which would have added about 4 miles RT and 1600' gain. We split up at one point where I headed up the ridge and he continued on PCT looking for a better way. About a half mile short of the peak, I started running out of water and decided to return rather than dehydrate. He did find a better way up and I met him coming up while I was coming down. Before coming up the ridge, he dropped his pack in the boulder field, marked with ducks, but we could not find it on the way down, even after an hour of searching. Since he drove, I had some tense moments thinking his keys were in his pack and we would be stuck if we couldn't find it. In fact, he had his keys, but we never found the pack. The dogs nearly overheated getting back to the lake.
Full version:
http://ironhiker.blogspot.com/2013/06/c ... -lake.html


Chicken Spring Lake

My friend and one of the Brittanys at the lake

Boulder scramble to the Cirque ridge

As close as I got to Cirque Peak before running low on water

View from the ridge to Whitney Meadows