THE ROAD. The dirt segment is long, but very good. I was mostly 25-30 mph in a Ford Fusion.
PEOPLE. Only a few vehicles at the Esmeralda Basin TH lot this Wednesday when we arrived 8:30 a.m., and a few more at our 9:45 start. Met 15-20 on the trail, mostly in pairs, never crowded.
TRAIL. Walk in the park til nearing Ingalls Pass. Icy/slippery for a while on the other side. (We met a guy returning from his hike that started at 4:45 a.m. -- he reported much more caution-requiring slippery and icy parts so early.) From Ingalls Pass you descend to the small, lovely Headlight Basin, with great views over its eastern edge to Stuart. A ways after Headlight Basin, the trail deteriorates -- fine for now, but I wouldn't want to do this part under ice and snow. Needed hands for some parts, and some head-scratching. We "enriched our hike experience" with a couple route-finding mistakes, the first and worst when hitting a place where the trail seemed to tee into up-to-the-left and down-to-the-right options. We should have gone down to the right.
WATER. There is running water in the creek at Headlight Basin, and still water at Lake Ingalls.
WEATHER. The season is turning. A happy dose of larch gold remains, though it is mostly gone. Stuart mostly (and entirely in our time at Lake Ingalls) resembled this hiker: head lost in the clouds. Temp on arrival at the TH lot was 27 degrees. Later varied from lower to upper thirties. Still some ice on parts of the Headlight Basin creek in late afternoon. Very pleasant, apart from the cold wind reminders of mountain weather. There were periods above freezing with many snow flecks dropping from above. Big cloud cover over Ingalls Peak, threatening or not? With good weather and longer daylight, excursions up around Ingalls Peak would have tempted. Not this day. My friend has been out the "trail" on the left side of the lake (as you approach the lake) is doable but not very nice (though it connects you to more). So on this day at the lake, we just ... chilled ...
SUM. The snow-frosted sparse trees and ridges around the valley up through Headlight Basin: wonderful. Grand view of Mt. Stuart off the basin lip. Lake Ingalls, even on not its best day, quite nice. The stretch from TH to Ingalls Pass has some nice views too, with not-long forest stretches. It's a hike where you're never paying dues to get to the good part. 9.3 miles, 2500' gain, a relaxing amble. Fine day.
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