Hi Ed,
I think your correct re. the chutes approaching the summit. There's even a split much further down, (9k?). We took the right one high up, and encountered that section (ledge) of wind-blown ice, down climbed to the split, (causing mini avalanches), and slugged our way back up in deep snow to top out just left, (east) of summit.
I've heard others from way back stating it was common to walk right over the Chock Stone, as there was that much snow back then, and possibly avalanche debris from earlier. I remember most years being able to snow shoe from Tamarack right to Miller saddle, above 3-5 ft. chinquapin, now it's sporadic and iffy many years.
I never got to see those dogs, (luckily), but a mt. lion came and got one, (maybe not that badass one). Woody was pissed, (story goes), and set up a "posse" to hunt it down. Supposedly, they set up some bait, (or left the dead dog) to maybe ambush it if it returned. While they were out looking, lion came back, took his kill, (or bait), and split. Good luck tracking one of them in that country.
It's pretty easy to feel overwhelmed with a blood thirsty, dog in close range, (I've always thought what I would do). When I used to run I was training for Catalina marathon, got surrounded by 3 semi-wild dogs in upper Cat Cove, luckily there were a few rocks, but I had to constantly keep moving to face them and stand my ground.