TBT Post from Hubby - Ingalls Lake Backpacking Trip

It's Thursday!! That means time for another "Throwback Thursday" post from Hubby. Today's post is a backpacking trip together to Ingalls Lake. It was a memorable one as we got really close to a baby goat. :) 

Ingalls Lake, October 7-8, 2006

Sharon and I wanted to go on an early Autumn trip to see the larch at their peak, so we camped at Ingalls Lake in the Teanaway area of Washington. This is one of the best places to see them.

This is Sharon at the start of the trail. What you don't see is that there is a busload of children also about to proceed up the trail.

   

Hiking up towards the pass that takes us into Headlight Basin.

This is Sharon with Esmeralda Peak in the background as we approach the pass.

Sharon and me at the pass. This was our first view of the yellow larches. They were quite a sight!

Sharon among the larches. They are just about at their peak color. :-)

Next, we tried to find a campsite that would be secluded away from the crowd following us up the trail. We hiked down these rocks that were vaguely reminiscent of Moab.

   

Another look at the larches in Headlight Basin. Notice our tent among the rocks. It was a perfect site!

   

After setting up camp, we set off for the lake to explore and play around on the rocks. Here's my first view.

   

In addition to the lake being spectacular itself, you also get a great view of Mt. Stuart, the tallest peak between Mt. Rainier to the South and Mt. Baker to the north, which are both volcanoes.

  

Some other hikers told us to keep an eye out for the goats as we approached the lake. We didn't see any, so we decided to scramble across some rocks to the other side. Much to our delight, we came across an adult and younger goat over there. We were able to get nearly close enough to touch them. Here the younger one is taking an interest in Sharon. Even goats realize how nice she is!

  

We were so happy to see the goats, we had to celebrate. That's Mt. Stuart in the background.

  

Afterwards, we went back to camp with hopes of climbing South Ingalls the next day. First, we enjoyed a great dinner together at our "dinner table" with wonderful views all around.

  

Unfortunately, the weather forecast was wrong and we were hit with rain starting around 1 AM. On the bright side, our tent held up well. We waited in our tent until nearly noon, hoping for it to pass, but we eventually decided to ditch our plans for the summit. Instead, we packed up and headed out. The larches were still pretty, though, even with the weather.

  

It was somewhat nicer on the other side of the pass, but still cloudy. We enjoyed the Autumn colors as we went down.

  

The hike wasn't too long, so we got back pretty quickly. Too bad about the rain, but this still is one of the best places to go to see Autumn larches.