It was raining and raining hard as I left Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Issaquah.  Near the highpoint of I-90 near Rattlesnake Ridge, there was sun and blue sky to the east.  Rain ceased just after North Bend and there would be no further rain, only cloud, on my drive to Cle Elum (bakery closed on Tuesdays), the Teanaway  River Road, and the North Fork of the Teanaway dirt road (in surprisingly good shape given the lateness of the season; still blind spots, so drive carefully), almost to the trailhead parking for Long’s Pass, Lake Ingalls, and Esmeralda Basin (the lot was full and people were parking on the sides of the road just below the trailhead lot).  Used the relatively clean and supplied facilities and then started up with blue sky and sun behind me and dark cloud and mist before me.  I was anticipating rain.  Never happened.  The cloud and the cool breeze/wind made hiking a pleasure.  Sunflects made for great pictures from landscapes to understory plants (Figure 3).

Went all the way to Ingalls Lake (still cloud) and back.  Guidebook says 2500 feet of vertical, my GPS unit both up and down said the same; that is, 2,927 feet (ok: the 27 feet might be the vertical interval between where I parked and the trailhead parking lot.  An extra 400 feet would not have notice 50 years ago, but for someone 7 days away from a major new age group, it was cruel but offset by the scenery especially the subalpine larch.  6 hours round trip with, according to gps watch, one hour plus for lunch and photographs (waiting for the right sunflect).

I’ve never been swept away by Larch Madness but this year I was feeling it.  I don’t think I could tolerate the weekend frenzy so was fortunate enough to be able to go today.  Rain was in the forecast and cold temps to start so figured there would not be as many people.  Left town early and go to the trailhead at 0730 with maybe 5-6 cars in the lot and a few still left on the road from previous days.  The trail in the forest is moderate and a bit dry.  So so quiet when getting away from the river.  Then after a mile in, you start the exposed switchbacks up to the pass.  There are a few rock exposed areas to cross and the serpentine can be slippery.  Used poles which are always helpful.  High clouds rolled in but no precip as we got to the pass.  The breeze kicked up so we layered up and had a snack while watching the clouds occasionally lift from the summit of Stuart.  The larch looked fantastic and I’d say about 60-70% peaked but there is still some green on several trees.  There was some sunlight peaking through the clouds to add to the color palate for the day as it was delightful to just gaze at your surroundings.  We stayed higher on the ridge, off to the left and took this trail all the was to the lake.  There is talus crossing just past the pass and about 1/2 mile from the lake which also offers a descent scramble up a rock gulley to the lake.  The lake was still and Mt Stuart was mostly socked in.  No goats to be seen today. The large rocks to traverse over create additional technical aspects to this hike.  Good footwear is essential.  Remembering the serpentine can be slick places.  Saw 2 others at the pass on the way, maybe 25 people on the trail heading in after us and 1 dog (which are not allowed on this trail).  All and all a great day in Teanaway to see the larch in bloom this season.   

Prime time to see the larches. Parking was fine at 6:50 am, and we were parked just outside the lot. Long line of cars on the drive out at 1 pm and we were glad to be in a compact SUV as there were many poorly parked vehicles along the road. Two tree across the trail within the first 1/4 mile one of which would be very hard / impossible for stock to pass. Backcountry toilets were in good condition. Pit toilet at the trailhead was not.

A beautiful day and a great hike!

Got to the trailhead around 10am, which was absolutely packed. Not surprising at all given larch season and the beautiful weather. Cars were parked along the road for approximately 0.7 miles. If you're hiking next weekend, definitely leave early if you're hoping to get a spot close to the trailhead. There were just a couple spots starting to open as folks who were backpacking started to get back down. The road had just a couple small potholes- cars with average or higher clearance will do just fine.

The hike up was great- beautiful views the whole way after a brief section at the beginning in the trees. Just a couple of blowdowns near the beginning, and a couple spots toward the top with a little mud- both barely worth noting as they were easy to cross.

The lake was otherworldly. The water was a deep blue and Mt Stuart peacefully reflected on it was stunning. There were probably about 10+ groups at the lake at any given time, but there was plenty of room to spread out still.

And of course, the larches were absolutely beautiful! There are still some with a bit of green, but most of them seemed to have either fully turned or are very close.

After spending 30-45 at the lake, we set off for the trailhead and got back around 4pm. In total, the hike took around 6 hours with an average pace on the way up and slightly higher than average pace on the way down.

We got to the parking lot around 530am and it was full. Don't forget to fill out a wilderness permit!

We started up with our headlamps, and the trail was easy to follow. The sun started peeking out when we were about halfway up, and by the time we got to the larches it was bright and sunny.

The last push to the lake was a little rough, but worth it. Gorgeous place!

We were out there around 6 hours total.