Brooke, Jim, and I were able to squeeze in a trip last weekend. Friday had good weather. Saturday not so much. We decided to do an overnight trip and just plan to hike out in the rain on Saturday. What we didn’t figure in were the high wind gusts on Friday night. Oh well, it’s all part of the wildernesses experience.
We arrived the Ingalls Lake trailhead around 11am. We knew there would be lots of hikers looking to get a peak at the Golden Larch trees but we were not prepared for the number of cars in the parking lot and down the road and further down the road. Somehow we scored a spot in the lot. There must have been hikers who had already completed their day hike.
We arrived Ingalls Pass in less than 2 hours. No wonder some people make the pass their destination. Not sure there is a better view of Mt Stuart.
The view of Ingalls peaks and the basin aren’t bad either.
We scrambled up a rock nob at the pass and had lunch.
After lunch, we dropped down into the basin and looked for a place to pitch our tent. We knew there was a lot of rain in the forecast tonight so we picked a spot high on a granite slab. We wanted a site with the best possible drainage.
Before we headed off to Ingalls Lake, we spent some time anchoring our tent down with rocks. Jim and I have had our tent blow away at least once.
The hike to the lake took us through a beautiful basin of fall colors.
We arrived Ingalls Lake in no time. While Jim and Brooke headed down to the lake to take some pictures, I headed up the rock slabs for some better views.
I understand why so many hikers come to Ingalls Lake. It is so very blue.
As we ascended up towards the Ingalls Peaks, I couldn’t help but turn around multiple times to enjoy the view.
At the pass between the two peaks, we had the option of dropping down and rounding the peak instead we chose to do some scrambling. The rock was very solid but also very sharp. Before long, I had hooked my back pocket and ripped the entire seat out of my hiking pants. Good thing I had pretty under ware on.
With the wind whipping through my pants, we arrived the flat summit and enjoyed the view while snacking.
The threat of weather didn’t look to be arriving any time soon. We easily retraced our steps back to the pass avoiding any other clothing injuries. On the way back to the lake, we passed a few climbers practicing their rope work. There were also several hikers hanging out at the lake even though day light was quickly coming to an end.
On the way back to camp, we decided to take the high route above the basin. It turned out to be at least twice as long. It was completely dark by the time we were halfway back to the tent. Soon my headlamp went out, thank goodness for cell phones.
We arrived camp to find our tent still standing. The night was so mild, we were able to enjoy dinner on the rocks. It was hard to believe a storm was coming in. Maybe the weather forecasters had it wrong. But they didn’t.
Around midnight, it started to rain. By 3am, the wind had kicked up. Good thing we learned something from our experience in the blizzard at Ice Lakes. Not to avoid weather like this but how to better anchor our tent. The massive anchors didn’t stop the wind gusts from collapsing the tent. We spent an hour between 3:30 and 4:30 holding up the front of the tent.
We were able to get some sleep once the wind gusts died down. When we woke it sounded like the rain had stopped. But when I got out to pee, I found that the rain had turned to snow. Visibility was just a couple of feet. We decided to eat breakfast in the tent. During breakfast, the winds kicked back up. The winds motivated us to quickly pack up and head back to the car.
After we crossed over Ingalls Pass, we began to run into day hikers. One was actually in shorts. We were wearing everything we had brought with us.
As we dropped back down off the pass, the winds quit but rain was steady. We were continually surprised by how many hikers were heading in to the pass considering the bad weather. When we reached the parking lot, it was full and there was a hundred parked car on the shoulder of the road. We definitely picked the right day to go hiking.
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