Three Hiking Sisters: Lake Ingalls

Monday, August 23, 2021

Lake Ingalls

We drove out to the Teanaways to hike up to Lake Ingalls. This is a 9 mile round trip hike with an overall gain of about 2,500 ft. The trail enters the Alpine Lake Wildernesss. We were happy to see there were still some wildflowers in bloom and we saw several mountain goats in Headlight Basin on our way to and back from Lake Ingalls.

The trail starts along the North Fork of the Teanaway River for 0.3 mile before heading uphill.

View of some of the Esmeralda Peaks as we hike up to Headlight Basin.

As we got closer to Ingalls Pass, we could see a cloudy Mt Rainier to the southwest behind the Esmeralda Peaks.

Some asters, yarrow and paintbrush along the trail.

View of Ingalls Peaks as we cross Ingalls Pass into Headlight Basin and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Mount Stuart as seen from Ingalls Pass.

We took the Ingalls Way Trail clockwise (the high route through the boulders) on the way to Ingalls Lake and saw 6-8 mountain goats hiking parallel to the trail (zoom photo)

Further down along the trail we saw about a dozen mountain goats resting in an empty campsite.

some zoom photos of these mountain goats

One of my favorite view spots along this trail

There are so many wonderful views of Mount Stuart along this trail.

Looking back across Headlight Basin towards Ingalls Pass before scrambling up the rocks to Lake Ingalls

Lake Ingalls and Mount Stuart, we found a wonderful spot up on the boulders for a long lunch break.

view from the lakeshore

Looking back at Lake Ingalls and Ingalls Peak as we head back out of the lake basin.

We took the alternate Ingalls Way Trail down through Headlight Basin on our way back to Ingalls Pass. There were quite a few wildflowers in bloom along this trail.