When our leisurely breakfast was over, we gather our day packs and Helen and I went to re-hang our food bags. In the process we saw a mule deer walk out of the woods between us and our tents. It looked around and decided it didn't like all this activity and headed back into the trees. We finished up and the three of us started up to the pass.

On the journey up we admired the mountain asters, bluebells and monkey puzzle growing around the creeks feeding Lake Columbine. After an easy 30 minutes we reached the summit of the pass and Cheryl headed down to Pentad Lake to act on the hot tip we had from yesterday's horse packers about the fishing there. Helen and I made a hard right turn and began climbing the slopes above the pass. We looked back and saw the Outward Bound group passing by Cheryl and heading up to the pass and I wondered if we would have company on Pinnacle Mountain.

The first false summit was a rock pile that reminded us of the terrain around Granite Peak. Then we headed up a grassy slope and reached the second false summit. From here we continued along the ridge on loose rocks to a saddle where we followed an easy grassy slope past a snow patch and to the true summit of Pinnacle Mountain. We sat for a while admiring the view of all the surround peaks stretching into Wyoming and the lakes nestled in the valleys below.

Our descent route was the same back to the pass and we heard the Outward Bound group at one point but didn't see them. Cheryl later told us that they were "following the ridge" which may have meant they were keeping below the top.

We cruised past Favonius Lake then searched the shore of Pentad Lake for Cheryl. We quickly spotted her white hat and as we approached she greeted us to ask if we were hungry. The fishing had been excellent at Pentad Lake and she'd caught her limit in a relaxed hour of fishing.

I started re-hydrating some blueberries for a lunch cheesecake as we relaxed by the lake. The fish were certainly active, jumping regularly and swimming right near shore. After lunch the two vegetarians (Cheryl and I) set to work to kill and clean the fish. The wind died down and the mosquitos became a real nuisance, so we started back to Lake Columbine after finishing the job.

The clouds had started gathering and I was glad we made the decision to leave when we did. We passed one group near the pass who was headed to Lake Pentad, and we let them know how great the fishing was and that they should have it to themselves as we had.

Back at our camp we relaxed in our tents as the wind picked up again and occasional rain spat from the clouds. For dinner I strung up a small tarp in the trees and we fried all the trout in cajun spices and olive oil. Then the trout went into quesadillas that we ate fresh off the frying pan. After clean up we shared a large chocolate bar and admired the sunset before falling asleep.