We took a long break where the trail goes over the crest of Middle Ridge. There is a sheepherder's trail that continues up the ridge from here.
 
In 1997 When we got to the ridge crest, we met "Pink Cheeks" and her companion again.  We had planned on going up the ridge to a little basin to camp, but that was where PC and friend were headed so rather than impose a big group on limited camping options, I opted to continue on the Buck Cr Pass trail. This turned out to be a bad decision (no good deed goes unpunished!) in that we had to camp in a crappy camp at Small Creek instead of high up in the meadows.  Basically we were pitching our tents in the trail - no one was happy that night.