We spent a good amount of time basking in the sun at the summit, having a bite to eat, and enjoying the views. We could see weather moving in from the west, but it looked like we still had several hours before anything changed too significantly.
We made our way back to the ridge junction, and then continued along the ridge towards Giant. This was where we were a bit worried that there may be significant blowdown. But, as it turned out, the entire ridge between Nippletop and Dial had relatively little blowdown, and with Pin-pin's good trail-breaking, it was fairly easy going. It looked like the bad blowdown we experienced the week before was confined only to the area around Bear Den mountain, (i.e. further down along the trail)
Nippletop - Dial ridgewalk
I didn't expect much from Dial's summit (again, the last time I was there was nearly ten years ago and in a pea-soup-thick cloud). I was pleasantly surprised to find an excellent huge boulder with a flat top right at the very summit, and at the edge of a steep slope. On top of it, you are provided with excellent views north towards the great range. It also showed just how much the approaching weather system had come - wisps and sheets of grey clouds were moving in high overhead. The way it changed the look of the mountains from the bright sun of just an hour before was striking.
Upper Wolfjaw, clear and lucid
