Lake Ingalls Aug 22 2021
It all began with a trip to Spider Meadows. Spider Meadows??? Yep, everybody canceled that trip and we end up doing this instead.
The hike up to the pass is somewhat boring. It starts next to a creek and quickly departs it. You go through rocks, more rocks and some boring scree fields that you can see on the mountains.
Right as we made it to the pass, we got views of the meadows below, alpine rock surrounding us and of course the imposing Mt. Stuart.
There are two ways from here. One goes through the upper part, very close to a ridgeline. The other goes down to a valley that has some meadows.
These meadows were home for the night. It was a chilly night in the 5C/42F with winds of 10mph and gusts of up to 30mph. We needed a sheltered space to retain some warmth and for piece of mind.
We found a nice spot embedded between some trees that would provide some shelter. Just careful of not camping below one that could top off.
Water was nearby, but it was a very poor source, so we opted to go to the creek up in the way to Lake Ingalls and carry our water from there on the way back.
After lunch and some time spent at camp we went to the lake. It's a tricky route that requires the use of hands at times. Navigation is not very difficult, but definitely not trivial.
We followed some cairns along the way and built a few others. I took note of places that would look like cliff-outs on the way back, but were actually the route to camp.
After gaining the ridge and going down to a basin, you get to enjoy pristine Lake Ingalls.
It's an alpine lake that has some eerie touch to it. It was late and it was a Sunday, so nobody else was there. High winds, and no trees around us gave the message that this was an inhospitable place. Definitely beautiful, yet I feel like an intruder just for being alive.
Being the anxious person I am, I spent our hike looking at places to bivouac if we needed, so I didn't have a chance to appreciate much of it. My night was filled with thoughts of our tent being ripped by strong winds and flying to the cliff along with us inside. I hope someday to be able to look at these thoughts and just laugh at them. Meanwhile, I'll have to go back to hopefully appreciate it with a clear head.
The next day it was beautiful. We made our way back through the upper trail to scout for larger campsites. We saw a bunch goats there and lots of potential places. They seemed more exposed to the wind though.
The views from up there were stunning and let us appreciate the beauty of the place. (Ok, maybe I just had a clear had that day)
Here I am after a long night having my breakfast and sipping some coffee. I look funny, but who looks good in the backcountry?
We had pizza and beer at Dru Bru on our way back :)
