NorthwestWanderer
Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2018
- Messages
- 291
After my monday day hike on Poet Ridge I finished packing for a Tues-Wed over nighter to Lake Ingalls in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. I've been to lots of places in washington but Alpine Lakes Wilderness is one I can say I haven't really been to yet. Mainly because of the huge amounts of crowds it draws from Seattle. Hence why I spend most my times around Mt. Adams or the Pasayten/GPW areas. I figured if I was ever going to camp in that area it would be during the work week before school gets out. So I went for it.
All I can say is I can see why it's crowded. It's a super short drive close to a population center and it's amazingly beautiful. There is no camping at Lake Ingalls as it's under restoration efforts, partly due to the crowds this area sees (to delve further into it you can read about what happened to the Enchantments and the lottery permit system). The parking lot was basically full when I arrived on a Tuesday afternoon thankfully most were day hikers or people who camped out monday night and were returning.
The hike was scenic from the get-go so there was no downtime for my camera and my eyes. I loved it. In the valley it was almost 80 and was kind of crappy levels of hot for me but as I got higher up the wind picked up and it felt a lot better.
I saw a goat at Ingalls Pass who wandered off when I got close. Once I arrived at the lake I kicked back for a bit and took in the views before dropping down to find camp. Had a new tent along and I did what every good planner does... Not practice set up, don't read directions, just wing it. It went O.K.
10/10 will definitely bring Lacey there.
Also cool info about the geology of Mount Stuart... Overwhelming evidence suggests its from Mexico!
Headed on up
Esmeralda Peak
Goat is watching my every move on the way up.
Ingalls Pass. Big boy is Mount Stuart
Headed to picture center,right.
Keep climbin.
Getting closer. Follow the green.
Lake Ingalls! There are 5 perfect camp sites along it which cannot be used at the moment
Ingalls Peak watches over its little water hole.
I wasn't alone at the lake.
Dropping back down to find campground. First one I found was INFESTED with ants. Like, I couldn't sit down infested. Moved back up to mid-range CG's
Almost sunset. A wall of clouds moved in and ruined the to-be alpenglow.
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