[bertman]

Better late than never! Ingalls Creek Trail Report 2007-05-27 Sunday morning, I woke up at 5:30AM to a steady rainfall. Right then, I knew I had made the right decision to go over the mountains for a hike. I had hoped to be on the road around 6AM but wouldn’t you know it? I was not prepared enough. I had laid out my clothes and most of my ten essentials but was still missing a few items. Assembling all of this took longer than I thought, plus a light breakfast, and it was 6:35AM before I was ready to leave in my trusty Subaru Legacy. I had reasoned that this early in the morning, Highway 2 should not be crowded. So from home, I headed up I405 to 525 which hooked up with Hwy 2 in Monroe. The steady rain was annoying since I had yet again failed to Rain-X my windshield. Note to self, quit being lazy and just do it! So as I kept gaining elevation, it kept raining. It wasn’t until I was almost at Steven’s Pass that it finally stopped raining and the sun greeted me on the other side. I drove through Leavensworth, then turned south on Hwy 97. A few more miles and I turned on Ingalls Creek Road, drove a short distance to the trailhead, arriving at 8:45AM.

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As I geared up, organizing my Lowe Alpine Storm Peak 40, I was debating how hot it would get and whether or not to switch into shorts. In the end, I decided to just wear my BeyondFleece softshell pants since I had paid good money for it. A couple of guys were exiting.

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They had camped just a short distance in. They told me there had been no rain. Time to hit the trail!

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Start location info, from my Garmin Foretrex 101 GPS. Elev: 1977ft N 47 27.794 W 120 40.369 According to reports, there is supposed to be a lake at around 6 miles into the hike. This was my destination for a turn around point and nice lunch break. The trail pretty much follows the creek, although this time of year it’s a river. The moving water certainly cools the areas near it. When the trail wanders a littler further from the river, the air temperature starts to climb. There were flowers in bloom but not as much as I was expecting. Still, it was a very pleasant hike. The trail climbs slightly but not very noticeable.

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I hiked at a steady rate, sipping water, stopping occasionally to take a photo. By 10:30, my stomach was growling. Well, I had been up for 5 hours at that point and breakfast had been milk and cereal. I broke out an Odwalla bar to snack on and kept moving. I passed several campers, including families. There are sections of the trail that had blowdown.

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Also, one place still had some snow on the ground.

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When the six mile mark was creeping up, I started looking around for a lake. No such luck.

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After 3 hours, I was 6.55 miles up the trail. Since I had no map, I wasn’t sure if I was still short, or if the lake was slightly off the trail, or simply hidden from view. So I decided to head back. Elev: 3705ft N 47 26.826 W 120 48.398 But before that, lunch! I found a boulder to sit on and boiled some water with my Jet Boil. I made some tea, ate my sandwich, orange and chips. Desert was candied peanuts and cashews from Trader Joes. I love eating lunch during a hike! Mmmm… lunch… mmmm. The sun was up, the butterflies were flying, the river was roaring, what’s not to love?

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After a leisurely lunch, it was time to head back. I met several people heading further in, several people just coming in, and one person heading out. Correction. There was a whole campsite heading out, I think 5 adults and 2 boys. I trailed behind them for about half a mile before they finally stopped a bit to readjust their loads. At which point I asked to pass them. I don’t know if it’s just me, but if I was hauling a large overnight backpack and a solo hiker with a daypack was hounding my heels, I would let him pass. I was back at the car at 15:30. I stretched, changed my shirt, put away my pack, and left the trailhead at 15:45. On the way back, I was worried about getting stuck in the later afternoon on Hwy2. So I took 97 to I90 and drove through Snoqualmie Pass instead. I got home a little after 18:00. What a great start to the summer hiking season! Trial report brought to you by all the product placements. Bertman

[Schmidt Altitude]

Were you looking for Ingalls Lake? It is located about 5.5 miles up the North Fork Teanaway trail (Esmeralda Basin), though you can get to it from Ingalls Creek after 15.5 miles. Looks like you had a good day anyways and some better weather, too! Map, next time, right?

[bertman]

No, it's a little lake (more like a pont) and it was apparently on the other side of the river. Yes, map next time. I just couldn't get the TOPO to print to my printer for some reason that morning. I'll probably try to do Ingalls Lake this year in the fall when it turns gold. Bertman