Hike to Lake Ingalls

Leavenworth, Washington

Description

This hike features our expedition to discover the arrival of the golden alpine larches on the Lake Ingalls trail!

“These fleetingly rare sights offer a recipe for what I call ‘the Quest.’ The Quest is the force that motivates us to travel. It’s putting oneself in the perfect place at the perfect time. It’s the insatiable urge to find that quintessential moment.” [Washington AAA Journal]

The arrival of “golden week” on the Lake Ingalls trail inspired my husband and I to set out on a “larch march” hike on Friday, October 3, 2014. This “golden week” happens when the alpine larches (a deciduous, coniferous tree) turn gold right before their needles fall off. Often times the needles are only golden for about a week, depending on the first frost.

The weather report looked phenomenal for the beginning of October – sunshine and patchy clouds with highs in the 50’s in the mountains. We read trip reports on Washington Trails Association (http://www.wta.org) as well as Instagram hashtags and found that the larches were beginning to turn to their golden color. We packed layers of clothing, our top ten essentials, several camera memory cards, plenty of snacks, and tried to get a good night sleep before setting out on an unforgettable adventure.

We left Spokane on Friday morning at 4:30AM (armed with coffee and the best snacks, of course) in hopes of arriving at the Lake Ingalls trailhead by 8:30AM. It was a bright sunny morning at the trailhead as we began our hike! The trail lead us through a pine forest and up the red rock Ingalls pass to Headlight Basin where we anticipated seeing the golden alpine larches and Mt. Stuart.

At 10:30, we arrived at Headlight Basin, or, "Larch Land" and couldn't have been more amazed. We chose to stay on the top of the ridge instead of hiking through the meadow so we could see views of Mt. Stuart and the larches. We met one goat on this hike on our way across the ridge!

After marching through a glorious display of golden larches, we made our way around the lake and ate lunch on the rocky shore of Lake Ingalls at 12:00PM. If you take this hike, I highly recommend exploring the trails all the way around the lake! We stayed for almost two hours exploring and eating lunch. We arrived back at the car at 4:30PM with plenty of daylight.

Total mileage: 9 miles, 2,500 feet elevation gain. Lake Ingalls Larch March success!

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