Lake Ingalls — Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024

Arrival at the trailhead: road up was in excellent condition. As expected it was very busy. I arrived around 7am and parked just outside the already full parking lot. Mostly drivers were parking in appropriate spots and maintaining a single driving lane on the road. A long line had formed for the pit toilet.

The trail: it’s been a few years since I was up here the trail is in great condition. Really gently graded for the elevation gain. After the split with the longs pass trail this trail becomes more exposed (though still very moderate) and felt a bit steeper/had to watch my step more. The lake was lovely as always. I heard lots of talk about the last bit of trail being a scramble- but I didn’t find it to be much of one- it’s just steep. It was busy on the way up but nothing like how it was on the way down. Remember uphill hikers have right-of-way on trail. So coming down took a bit longer than anticipated with all the stepping out of the way.

Fall color: larches are peak! It was larch mania up there. There was some lovely bright ground cover turning red/yellow/orange too!

Returning to trailhead: parking situation had clearly gotten fast and loose as the day wore on as a number of cars parked where they shouldn’t be (see photo with sign to only park on the left). It was fully 2 miles of cars on the road heading out. Most parked out of the driving lane- a few were a bit in the way-do better!

All in all folks were very friendly and happy to be out seeing the magnificent larch! A different sort of day in the mountains- a more amusement park feel than normal.