Lake Ingalls

We drove out to the Teanaways to hike up to Lake Ingalls, a 9 mile round trip hike with 2,500 ft of elevation gain in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. A few miles up the trail, we had a lovely view of Esmeralda Peaks.

As we neared Ingalls Pass, we could see Mt Adams and Mt Rainier to the southwest.

We saw the first golden larches at Ingalls Pass, 3+ miles from the trailhead.















From Ingalls Pass, the trail enters Headlight Basin an area filled with golden larches. The trail forks, and we took the high trail to the left that follows the western/upper end of the basin.
View of Ingalls Peak

Mount Stuart

Lots of open views along this section of the trail.

This part of the trail is easy to follow.

As the trail nears the northern end of Headlight Basin, the trail goes over the rocks and can be lost. Keep an eye out for cairns.

Soon after the two forks of the trail rejoin, the trail heads up to Lake Ingalls





Wide angle view of Lake Ingalls and Mt Stuart.

view of Mount Stuart across Lake Ingalls, a lovely spot to refresh and eat our lunch.

We took the Alternate Ingalls Way Trail back to Ingalls Pass. This is a more direct trail that descends a bit further into Headlight Basin and across to Ingalls Pass. There are less rocks to cross and is an easier trail to follow that the trail we came in on.













There was some nice fall color along this trail,












and we walked through the larch trees.

The afternoon sun lit up the larch trees.

back on the south side of Headlight Basin, the trail climbs up to Ingalls Pass.

Here there were some great views of Mount Stuart

a sunlit larch tree

Pano of Headlight Basin back near Ingalls Pass, Ingalls Peak on the left, Mount Stuart on the right.

The afternoon sun lit up the red of the huckleberry bushes on the way back down the trail.