Larches! 
Remember -- dogs, drones, campfires, and camping within 0.5 mile of the lake are all prohibited and enforced.

Packed trailhead, with some cars parked awfully, obstructing the road. There's only space for one car to pass -- you may need to backup for a bit if there's an oncoming vehicle on weekends.

Trail is in good condition, but largely dry on the way up, aside from one small creek. No mountain goats or marmots, which are typically common here. 

Many campers, mostly well-dispersed away from the trail. There are more sites if you take the right fork into Ingalls Way. The other camp area (to the left) sits next to a boggy creek, and will be cold at night as the cool air sinks. 

A forest ranger was posted at the junction to the lake, evicting folks who camped too close to the lake. In many places, you can camp 200ft away from water, but it's 0.5 miles here (or about the length of the entire lake). 

There are no larches at the lake, or anything beyond -- just Headlight Basin and the lower cliff on Ingalls Way. 

Circling Ingalls Lake / looping via Longs Pass

There is no official trail to go around the lake, nor is there a particularly obvious path. 

The easiest is on the left (head up the rock slab, and then hop across the large boulders back down to the shore). Its largely a 'pick-your-path' method. The right side is harder to follow, and requires you to hug a cliff and vault up some narrow corridors. You'll see a twisted 'U-shaped' tree you'll climb over when you're near the top. We passed a number of folks who couldn't find the path or thought it was too dicey. 

At the northern end of the lake, you can follow the path that leads to Mt Stuart and the climbers basecamp. Though a little windy at night, they may be less cold than the larch basin. 

The Ingalls Creek Trail junction is also up here, for those eyeing a loop via Longs Pass trail. Jack Creek is also here for the adventurous, via steep switchbacks that put you into a quiet wildfire burn with considerable wayfinding -- I struggled to follow the trail here a few years ago. 

Was debating hiking at all today with all of the rain and potential snow on the forecast but decided we would make it happen. Didn’t get to the trailhead until 10:50 and was the last spot in the parking lot. Park ranger was on the trail making sure everyone had signed in and was also letting everyone know it is snowing at the pass and at Lake Ingalls. The hike up to the pass wasn’t too cold but pretty rainy. Once we got to the pass we decided to go left, at that pointed it started snowing and getting super windy. Some of the rocks were slick but nothing too crazy. Stayed at the lake long enough to have a couple snacks and take a few photos. The larches are out but still have a little ways to go until they’re at their peak. I came into today so excited for the larches but all of the other fall colors surprised me and was amazing. Didn’t need any spikes today. Round trip 9 miles and 2,927 feet elevation gain. Never got to see Stuart without all of the clouds today. We ended up having rain, snow and hail today. Don’t forget to be extra prepared this time of the year!

We arrived at the trailhead at 7:30 and there were 4 other cars. It was very windy and a few brief flurries Larches were starting to turn and will likely be in peak color in a few days. The last half of the trail can be a bit challenging between way finding and some scrambling. Follow the cairns!

I stayed with my hiking buddy near Cle Elem and we made a nice early start for the Teanaway Mountains!  Even arriving at first light like we did, the parking lot was quite full.  We found a good spot, and headed out.  The trail up to the pass was in great shape and the views started to open up!  We took the right/lower trail at the pass and descended into beautiful series of mini meadows under larch trees!  We found lovely little camp site near a stream, set up, and then continued on to Ingalls Lake!  The last time I’d been here was when I was a teen, so seeing this lake again was a TON of fun!  We ate our lunch and after taking some photos, followed the climber’s trail up to the ridgeline just below the route up to Ingall’s peak.  We watched the climbers and their rope techniques for quite a while before returning down to Lake Ingalls.  What a beautiful day!  The weather was perfect!  Slept snug as a bug in a rug!

    The next morning was sunny, but overnight there was just a hint of snowfall; my first snow of the season!  The ground was frosty, and my tent was cold to put away lol!  Winter is coming!  We packed up and enjoyed a lovely hike all the way back to the truck.  Basically a perfect trip with ideal conditions. 

Nice weather, beautiful scenery and a great hiking destination are a wonderful combination for my first visit to this part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The hiking experience certainly equaled the anticipation!

The first 3+ miles of the trail to Ingalls pass are a steady climb, gaining about 700 feet/mile, but this section didn’t feel difficult thanks to a generally smooth tread and sufficient shade provided by trees and the low morning sun behind the hills. On this clear day, Mount Rainier and Mount Adams were visible from the higher portions of the trail, and cresting Ingalls Pass provided the first view of Mount Stuart -- a “wow” moment.

After Ingalls Pass, I stayed on the main trail, keeping to the left to maintain the elevation. For a trail that looks mostly flat on a map, it proved more challenging than expected with talus fields to navigate, rocky and uneven steps, very little shade, and some route finding required (the cairns helped). But slow and steady wins this race and takes you to the final climb up a very short ridge to the Ingalls Lake basin. All of the trail challenges are forgotten when the deep blue water of the lake comes into view.

I elected to follow a hiker’s route clockwise around the lake. Occasional cairns marked a “path” among the rock and boulders, but, where possible, the going seemed easier traveling along a beaten path near the shoreline. It took about 30-40 minutes to navigate 3/4 of the way around the lake, with the reward being many lovely viewpoints and a quiet place along the shore to enjoy a lunch break.

Because much of this hike has a great deal of sun exposure, be sure to pack in your water needs. At this time of year, the only water available for filtering is at the lake or at one of the tarns (halfway between Ingalls Pass and Lake Ingalls).

Some numbers: 16 cars in the parking area at 8:30 a.m. on a sunny Tuesday, and 20-25 cars at 3:00 p.m. Encountered 1 hiker on the trail during my hike to the lake, with 3 hikers at the lake when I arrived. Passed another hiker on the north end of the lake and about 10 hikers during my hike out. Saw 2 ground squirrels, 4 marmots (among the boulders along the northwest side of the lake), 4 grouse, and 5 turkeys. GPS recorded 10.6 miles with 2800 feet elevation gain, which includes exploring around the lake.