Lake Edna Chatter Creek 7.28.05

I managed to get out of bed at an astonishing hour of 5 AM and was off to Icicle Creek. I made better than expected time which was good because to the expected high heat. I shoved off at 8:30 with a summit of Frigid Mt. (pt 7377) which lies just east of Grindstone Mt.in mind. The weather was warm but quite tolerable as I made my way up the moderate grade of the Chatter Creek Trail. My plan was to follow the Chatter Creek Trail until it crests the saddle and follow the ridge East to Frigid Mt. summit. My legs were quite heavy for the intial 1000ft of climb but grew stronger as the day wore on. I dropped pack and picked my way along the ridge finding the going quite easy. I tended mostly on or to the south of the ridge. I reached Pt 6912 and was stymied. I couldn't go over the top as I had hoped and wasn't quite thrilled with dropping the needed elevation to go around. I was becoming quite concerned because the dog's were getting very overheated and I knew that I wasn't even half way along the ridge with no hope for any water for the dogs. Since I still had plenty of time I backtracked to my pack and descended to the North following the trail to Lake Edna. The waters cooled the stiff breeze which thankfully kept the large biting flies mostly at bay. I hastily ate my lunch and was soon off for the return to the truck. I was quite pleased to easily make the climb back to the saddle and was even more pleased that the descent went much quicker than anticipated. Next time I will take the much more direct southern route. From my vantage point along the ridge this route seems quite doable and much more direct. Trip stats 14 miles and 5240ft of climb 8.5 hours car to car