Lake Ingalls Oct 2021

We got to the trailhead at 7:10 and it was full already. We parked about half a mile away from the trailhead!

The trail was crowded, the permit sheets were gone. Of course, it was prime time for the larches' colors and it was probably the last sunny weekend day of the year.

This time I didn't plan anything, and Karla was the leader.

We were a strong group, and hiked swiftly on the way up. The weather was great so we had great views of Esmeralda Peak.

As we started to climb higher up, we became part of the alpen-glow.

As we reached the pass we saw all the pretty colors and were stunned by them. We all wanted to just stay there, but at the same time we wanted to go searching for a good camp spot for all of us.

Off we go looking for a camp spot. In the way there, walking on the ridge and side-hilling it, we could see some ice in the trail. We were close to freezing. The temperature was supposed to remain like that, but the windchill would make it feel like below freezing at night.

We reached Karla's first option for camp. Turns out it was available! We had this big flat area to ourselves! We had dirt to stake down our tents and an amazing view of the impressive Mount Stuart right from our tents.

We set up camp and headed on to the lake.

We soaked the sun and I took a nap iguana-style. In a rock, soaking up the sun.

After spending some time there we went back to our camps. Meandered around, cooked dinner and mainly just wasted time outside braving the cold as we'd spend over 12 hours in our tents!

It was a windy, chilly, but pleasant night. I even ended up being too hot. In the morning we had our breakfast and head back to the cars. The walk downhill was a bit slower as I had sprained my ankle a week before.