I went on another hike this summer, but instead of heading west to the beach, I headed east to the mountains. I went with 2 of the same girls as last time, up to
Lake Ingalls. I had never heard of Ingalls before, and neither had anyone else I've talked to... must be one of those well-kept secrets of Washington. Lake Ingalls was our choice for mid-July for several reasons: it was a close, 2.5 hour drive from Seattle, it had established campsites, an alpine lake nestled in the Cascades, and the trip reports said the snow level would be reasonable this time of year. Oh yeah, and there were mountain goats and gorgeous views to be had.
We left Seattle on Saturday morning and made it to the trailhead by 9:30 AM. The total door-to-trailhead time was exactly 2.5 hours. The directions from Seattle are simple: take I-90 east to State Route 970 east, then turn on Teanaway Road and follow it all the way to the end.
The Esmeralda Trailhead parking lot was bursting with day hiker cars, and a few belonging to overnighters. Most of the folks we met were day hikers, although there were a few folks overnighting it like us.
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| See the leaping little goat? |
The hike itself is short but fairly steep, with a 2000 foot elevation gain over 3.5 miles, starting at 4500 feet and ending at 6500 feet. The first mile hugs the Teanaway River, climbing up out of the river valley and giving us better and better views of the Esmeralda peaks just across the valley. Soon we were greeted by wildflower meadows, huckleberry bushes, and a picturesque view of Mt Rainier, bookended by the Esmeralda peaks.
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| Esmeralda Peaks with Mt Rainier hiding behind |
The trail is alternately rocky - with some hillsides looking like it had been dynamited - and verdant, covered by wildflowers, boulders, and forests. At about 1.5 miles in, we were met by the famous mountain goats that we had heard about in so many trip reports. A group of 5-10 goats were hanging out near the trail, and posed for many photographs. They are curious of humans, not fearful at all, and would let us get about 10 yards away from them before moving on.
We continued up the trail and began to meet some snow patches, but the sun was out in full force and the river was filled to the brim with snowmelt. so the only real concern was post-holing. We didn't encounter any snow of consequence until we reached Ingalls Pass, the highest point of the trail overlooking Headlight Basin.
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| View of Headlight Basin, with our campsite in the central cluster of trees. |
Headlight Basin is vast. Steep slopes with snow pack make up the rim of the basin, with Ingalls Peak to the west, the formidable jagged Mt Stuart to the north, a valley leading to the Enchantments off to the east, and a gaping patchwork of snow, boulders, and trees in the basin itself. The trail diverges into the Upper and Lower tracks, but its hard to find either with them covered in snow. The upper track leads around the rim of the basin towards Lake Ingalls, which is hidden behind a saddle of rock about a half mile from the pass. The lower track leads down into the basin and around towards Lake Ingalls, passing the campsites.
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| View of Headlight Basin and Ingalls Pass. |
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| View east towards the Enchantments. |
We followed the upper track, traversing snow banks and getting somewhat lost in the mid-to-upper section of the basin. A ranger met up with us and told us that campsites were scarce, but pointed us in the direction of a campsite that he had just seen was free. So we headed in that direction, me scoping out the clumps of trees in the lower basin to see if they had tents staked out or not. We found a promising clump without a tent, and made a beeline for it. The slopes were steep and the boulders huge, so the going was slow. But we found an awesome campsite!
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| View of Mt Stuart from our campsite. |
Our campsite was an island of soft ground surrounded by snow pack, with a sparkling fresh stream right beyond the tree circle, and an unparalleled view of Mt Stuart from our tent, and Ingalls Peak off to the side. I had seen a couple other tents tucked behind other patches of trees, but we couldn't see or hear them from our neck of the woods. We only saw about 3 sets of hikers pass our camp the whole time we were there. We didn't even see any mountain goats that day. We were surrounded by only birdsong, striking views, and the trickle of the stream.
We lounged around the rest of the day, planning to set off for Lake Ingalls itself the next morning. I was surprised that at night, I was never cold - we had a 4 season tent, and I had a sleeping bag rated to 15 degrees, but even without all those precautions I think I would have been fine. A lady we met on the trail had said she had been cold, but we got on just fine. Maybe she had had to camp on the snow...
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| Mountain goat saying good morning. |
In the morning, I woke to the sun shining just over the shoulder of Mt Stuart, warming our tent up quickly. I sat out at the edge of camp, listening to the snow melt, and soon I heard the bleating of a lone goat. Standing on a boulder several dozen yards away, the goat looked at me, paused, and then started ambling his way toward me. I watched silently as he came close, as if to greet me and see what I was having for breakfast. He traipsed around our campsite, jumping around the trees and through the bushes, until he had thoroughly determined that we were eating nothing of interest and then went on his way. What a fun way to wake up!
We hiked out of the basin and caught the upper rim trail to Lake Ingalls. Just when you think the scenery can't get much better, it does! The slopes on this side were fully exposed to the sun, revealing a 10 acre meadow of shooting stars (although its so early in the season, that the stars hadn't "shot" yet) and other wildflowers.
We continued to climb over the granite boulders to the saddle, and we finally reached the lake. It was still frozen over, only beginning to thaw and show its incredible turquoise colors. This scenic tarn is cupped by Ingalls Peak, which towers overhead on the western side, and lesser rock hills along its southern and eastern sides. The remaining northern side is exposed to a moraine, with Mt Stuart beyond. It seems as though the lake tapers off on that northern side like a glass plate. The scenery is breathtaking.
At the southern edge, where the trail enters the lake, Jessi hung out with a family of goats, including yearlings and some kids that look like little lambs - no tail, no scruff, no horns, just fluff. We watched some rock climbers scale Ingalls Peak, and then walked around most of the lake. Then it was back to camp to pack up and head out.
This was by far the most scenic hike I've been on in Washington, and it made for a great early-summer camping trip. If I had to do it again, I'd make it a 2 night trip and continue on to Navaho Pass and Mt Stuart. Can't wait to go back there with Shaun!
