Lake Ingalls — Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018

I don't count a few logs to step over or duck under or boulder scrambles as obstacles. After reading reports from a few days ago, I was worried about the snow. There was no snow on the trail when I hiked along with the other hundreds of hikers who took advantage of a beautiful, sunny, fall day. When my hiking partner and I left, there were 150 cars in the lot and down the road. Luckily, I left Seattle at 4:45 am and got to the trailhead at 8 am and there weren't any cars lined up down the middle of the parking lot yet.

 I started with all layers as it was 32 degrees to start out. I had removed several layers by the junction with the Longs Pass trail, a little more than a mile up the trail. Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams were clearly visible from the top of the entry to Headlight Basin. That's when the larch trees are stunning. Even though I was about a week late, the colors were still wonderful - and no snow like the week before.

There were always greetings as hikers passed each other about the weather and the stunning views. Only a few dogs and the owners were very respectful of other hikers. 

One hiker made the plunge at the lake, but after his loud expletive deleted exhalation, no one else ventured in. I actually saw one hike do a back flip. I have never seen that on the trail before.

We got back to the parking lot at 1 pm. Pretty good for two 70+ year old hikers. Didn't see many others of our age bracket. As we hiked out, about 20 people looked like they were going to camp and about 50 people looked like they wouldn't make it to lake at all.

I look forward to going again next year but timing it for optimum larch tree views.