10-07-24
Gary
was free for a larch hike. The
weekend was sunny and warm with crazy big crowds at the best known
sites. We decided to go on Monday to avoid some crowds. Also the larch
looked to be a short of peak. An extra day might help. Monday was
looking to be the last 70F day of the year east and west of the crest.
We met in North Seattle at 6:00 am and headed east. It was my turn to
drive. We drove for an hour before the sun began to come up. The dirt
portion of the NF Teanaway Road is in excellent condition. I was able
to make very good time until the last few miles when I caught up with
two other cars. They parked right outside the entrance to the lot so I
did likewise. It was just above freezing when we arrived at 8:03 am. We
were on our way at 8:07 am. The lot was in sunshine and there was no
wind. Once we started out I warmed up quickly. The start is a steep old
road. At the top of the hill we quickly turned onto the Ingalls Pass
Trail. There was some good leaf color in the forest though without
sunlight it did was a bit drab. Gary hiked the original trail but it
was moved to this alignment by the time I first hiked it. The old trail
was straight up the slope. This one is longer with a much gentler
grade. We switchbacked up the slope. We had views back to Esmerelda
Peaks and views up to Fortune Peak before long.
We reached the junction with the Long's Pass Trail at 8:56 am. It was warm enough that I took of my polypro layer. Just a light long sleeve shirt was enough. It felt warm in the sunshine. The upper trail is mostly in the open. As we hiked higher, more peaks came into view. Koppen Mountain was next. Then top of Mt. Adams also appeared. We were passed several times by faster hikers. We had all day so it did not matter. Just before Ingalls Pass, we saw the first larch trees. They were pretty close to peaking. That looked good. As usual, we stopped at the pass for a food and water break and to take more photos. Mt. Stuart is across the valley and makes a great background for larch trees near the pass. We could see that some of the trees in lower Headlight Basin were still green. Higher up most were golden. We were early but there were plenty of larch that had turned golden. The morning light was excellent. We were soon heading on into the basin.The east side of the pass was in the shade. Once into the meadow the sun was shining. It felt warm. Quite a chance from the trailhead.
Looking back to the pass the larch were backlit and glowing. We headed to a spot looking at Mt. Stuart with green and golden larch below it. We went back to the trail and followed it up the basin. There are groves of larch, individual larch, and more on th mostly bare rocky slopes of the basin. Most hikers seemed to be heading through on the way to Ingalls Lake. We were more interested in just enjoying the golden trees. Our pace dropped to almost nothing. Different angles to the sunshine really change the appearance of the larch. In the pre-digital days of photography we came with a roll or two or film. It was hard trying to decide what was worth one of 36 of so photos. With 512 GB of phone camera memory there was really no limit to how many photos I could take. Different exposure or framing was easy. We reached the big meadow and took the usual trip on the toilet trail. It winds through a forest of larch providing great views of all the colors. The lighting made for crazy bright larch trees. This trip was already well worth the time.
By the time we were back at the meadow, it was 11:30 am. It was now time to head over to Ingalls Lake. There are no larch at the lake. It does have a great view of Mt. Stuart. As we traversed the end of the basin the larch trees thinned and then ended. We could then look back to all the larch. They were nicely lit from this angle. The trail is mostly easy to follow with a few cairns in spots. We passed the other end of the trail from Ingalls Pass down into the lower basin then up to here. After that the route goes through slabs and rocks and is less well defined. We saw two hikers just coming straight down the slope from the lake. We took the trail off to the right then back to the left. It ends with a short steep climb into the lake basin. We arrived at the lake at 12:13 pm. I counted 22 people at the lake. They were spread out and it did not feel crowded. One guy was painting at the shore. On our 2011 trip there were about 70 people at the lake. We had part of our lunch and then headed on.
We decided to take our short cut route over the big rock on the east shore to reach the far end of the lake. It had been a few years since we did it and it took a little poking around to recall the route. We crossed the ledge and climbed up to the top of the rock. Now it was downhill to the end of the lake. We were a little slower and more cautious than when younger but we made it just fine. There is an island that is just off shore. In the fall the lake level is low enough to turn the island into a peninsula. It's a very short peninsula. We were in bright sunshine looking back to the other end of the lake. There was a couple on a rock a short way around the lake. We made a quick stop at a view point over to Mt. Stuart. This was much closer than the views I am used to from Teanaway Peaks. It was 1:30 pm when we started back. On our way on the big rock we met a couple going around the lake. We pointed out the shortcut route to them. As we started back a woman was out in front of us and she turned left. We went right. As we started down the scramble route she reappeared. She followed us back to the lake. We almost never see anyone on our route and this time we saw two groups. We made it back to the trail at 2:05 pm.
The hike back to the larch side of Headlight Basin was easy hiking. We saw more hikers coming in and heading out. When we reached the larch we slowed down again. The lighting was much different than in the morning. We strolled along the trail. The afternoon larch were more lit up than I recall on other larch trips. Some of my best photos came from this time of day. It was quite warm now. Half of the hikers had short sleeves and/or shorts on. It was October 7th. That is most unusual. I was actually looking forward to crossing back into the shade near Ingalls Pass. We arrived at the pass at 3:20 pm. Time for one last break. Mt. Rainier was clearly seen in the morning. Now it was hazy. The only cloud we saw all day was in front of a part of Mt. Rainier. We headed down at 3:25 pm. That was 5 1/2 hours after we arrived at the pass. It was time well spent.
The hike down was pretty easy. There are some rocks in the trail higher up then it is pretty smooth. We found that a quite a few hikers were in more of a hurry and zipped on by us. The most unusual thing we saw was just below the Long's Pass junction. Gary noticed some bright red. It was a scarlet gilia plant with more than half a dozen flowers in bloom. That would have been normal in June but not in October. It was many months later than I have ever seen these flowers. In the last mile, the sun was now behind the bulk of East Esmerelda Peak It rises almost straight up above the trailhead lot. It instantly became much cooler. We reached the car at 5:13 pm. When we could see through the trees to the lot I noticed a picnic table. I thought, " table and outhouse means a forest pass is needed". Then I recalled that I had forgotten to put up my pass that morning. In all the years since the passes were instituted I have forgotten to put up a pass one one time. That day we caught up with the ranger who wrote the ticket, showed him my pass, and he tore up the ticket. I was sure I was getting a ticket this day. Much to my surprise I did not. I was very lucky.
The drive home was much like the morning drive. It was light until about Snoqualmie Pass and dark the rest of the drive home. It was Monday and we were late enough returning that traffic was not an issue. This turned out to be a fantastic trip. Last week we had great leaf colors at Green Mountain. This week we had really outstanding larch colors. They were a little short of peaking but close enough to provide great colors in much of the basin. There were lots of other hikers seen but just a fraction of the crowds described in reports for Saturday and Sunday. The sky was completely blue and the temperature was way above normal for this date. Conditions could hardly have been better. I hope next year we have conditions close to these. We hiked 10 miles with 3200' of elevation gain. It was a terrific day to be out in the mountains.
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Trips - 2024
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We reached the junction with the Long's Pass Trail at 8:56 am. It was warm enough that I took of my polypro layer. Just a light long sleeve shirt was enough. It felt warm in the sunshine. The upper trail is mostly in the open. As we hiked higher, more peaks came into view. Koppen Mountain was next. Then top of Mt. Adams also appeared. We were passed several times by faster hikers. We had all day so it did not matter. Just before Ingalls Pass, we saw the first larch trees. They were pretty close to peaking. That looked good. As usual, we stopped at the pass for a food and water break and to take more photos. Mt. Stuart is across the valley and makes a great background for larch trees near the pass. We could see that some of the trees in lower Headlight Basin were still green. Higher up most were golden. We were early but there were plenty of larch that had turned golden. The morning light was excellent. We were soon heading on into the basin.The east side of the pass was in the shade. Once into the meadow the sun was shining. It felt warm. Quite a chance from the trailhead.
Looking back to the pass the larch were backlit and glowing. We headed to a spot looking at Mt. Stuart with green and golden larch below it. We went back to the trail and followed it up the basin. There are groves of larch, individual larch, and more on th mostly bare rocky slopes of the basin. Most hikers seemed to be heading through on the way to Ingalls Lake. We were more interested in just enjoying the golden trees. Our pace dropped to almost nothing. Different angles to the sunshine really change the appearance of the larch. In the pre-digital days of photography we came with a roll or two or film. It was hard trying to decide what was worth one of 36 of so photos. With 512 GB of phone camera memory there was really no limit to how many photos I could take. Different exposure or framing was easy. We reached the big meadow and took the usual trip on the toilet trail. It winds through a forest of larch providing great views of all the colors. The lighting made for crazy bright larch trees. This trip was already well worth the time.
By the time we were back at the meadow, it was 11:30 am. It was now time to head over to Ingalls Lake. There are no larch at the lake. It does have a great view of Mt. Stuart. As we traversed the end of the basin the larch trees thinned and then ended. We could then look back to all the larch. They were nicely lit from this angle. The trail is mostly easy to follow with a few cairns in spots. We passed the other end of the trail from Ingalls Pass down into the lower basin then up to here. After that the route goes through slabs and rocks and is less well defined. We saw two hikers just coming straight down the slope from the lake. We took the trail off to the right then back to the left. It ends with a short steep climb into the lake basin. We arrived at the lake at 12:13 pm. I counted 22 people at the lake. They were spread out and it did not feel crowded. One guy was painting at the shore. On our 2011 trip there were about 70 people at the lake. We had part of our lunch and then headed on.
We decided to take our short cut route over the big rock on the east shore to reach the far end of the lake. It had been a few years since we did it and it took a little poking around to recall the route. We crossed the ledge and climbed up to the top of the rock. Now it was downhill to the end of the lake. We were a little slower and more cautious than when younger but we made it just fine. There is an island that is just off shore. In the fall the lake level is low enough to turn the island into a peninsula. It's a very short peninsula. We were in bright sunshine looking back to the other end of the lake. There was a couple on a rock a short way around the lake. We made a quick stop at a view point over to Mt. Stuart. This was much closer than the views I am used to from Teanaway Peaks. It was 1:30 pm when we started back. On our way on the big rock we met a couple going around the lake. We pointed out the shortcut route to them. As we started back a woman was out in front of us and she turned left. We went right. As we started down the scramble route she reappeared. She followed us back to the lake. We almost never see anyone on our route and this time we saw two groups. We made it back to the trail at 2:05 pm.
The hike back to the larch side of Headlight Basin was easy hiking. We saw more hikers coming in and heading out. When we reached the larch we slowed down again. The lighting was much different than in the morning. We strolled along the trail. The afternoon larch were more lit up than I recall on other larch trips. Some of my best photos came from this time of day. It was quite warm now. Half of the hikers had short sleeves and/or shorts on. It was October 7th. That is most unusual. I was actually looking forward to crossing back into the shade near Ingalls Pass. We arrived at the pass at 3:20 pm. Time for one last break. Mt. Rainier was clearly seen in the morning. Now it was hazy. The only cloud we saw all day was in front of a part of Mt. Rainier. We headed down at 3:25 pm. That was 5 1/2 hours after we arrived at the pass. It was time well spent.
The hike down was pretty easy. There are some rocks in the trail higher up then it is pretty smooth. We found that a quite a few hikers were in more of a hurry and zipped on by us. The most unusual thing we saw was just below the Long's Pass junction. Gary noticed some bright red. It was a scarlet gilia plant with more than half a dozen flowers in bloom. That would have been normal in June but not in October. It was many months later than I have ever seen these flowers. In the last mile, the sun was now behind the bulk of East Esmerelda Peak It rises almost straight up above the trailhead lot. It instantly became much cooler. We reached the car at 5:13 pm. When we could see through the trees to the lot I noticed a picnic table. I thought, " table and outhouse means a forest pass is needed". Then I recalled that I had forgotten to put up my pass that morning. In all the years since the passes were instituted I have forgotten to put up a pass one one time. That day we caught up with the ranger who wrote the ticket, showed him my pass, and he tore up the ticket. I was sure I was getting a ticket this day. Much to my surprise I did not. I was very lucky.
The drive home was much like the morning drive. It was light until about Snoqualmie Pass and dark the rest of the drive home. It was Monday and we were late enough returning that traffic was not an issue. This turned out to be a fantastic trip. Last week we had great leaf colors at Green Mountain. This week we had really outstanding larch colors. They were a little short of peaking but close enough to provide great colors in much of the basin. There were lots of other hikers seen but just a fraction of the crowds described in reports for Saturday and Sunday. The sky was completely blue and the temperature was way above normal for this date. Conditions could hardly have been better. I hope next year we have conditions close to these. We hiked 10 miles with 3200' of elevation gain. It was a terrific day to be out in the mountains.
 Parking Lot |
 Muted Unlit Leaves |
 Fortune Peak |
 Esmerelda Peaks |
 Gary On The Trail |
 Koppen & Adams |
 Mt. Rainier |
 First Larch Tree |
 Larch & Blue Sky |
 Mt. Stuart & Larch |
 Muted Colors |
 Larch Near Pass |
 Framed Stuart |
 Larch Needles |
 Nicely Lit Up |
 Slow Progress |
 Larch & Cones |
 Ingalls Peaks |
 Larch & Mt. Stuart |
 Green & Gold |
 Looking Back |
 Larch On The Slope |
 Stuart Over Forest |
 Me At Work |
 Lower Basin Larch |
 More Muted |
 Half Framed |
 Looking At Pass |
 Mt. Stuart Close Up |
 Big Tree |
 Bright, Dark, & Blue |
 Really Nice Colors |
 Another Frame |
 Bright & Dark |
 Gary & Larch |
 Many Shades Of Gold |
 More Dark Background |
 The Big Meadow |
 One More Framed Stuart |
 Stuart & Creek |
 Creek & Meadow |
 Larch Behind Meadow |
 Gary In Basin |
 Towards Ingalls Pass |
 Leaf Colors |
 Ingalls Lake |
 Painter At Lake |
 Gary Above Lake |
 Gary Scrambling |
 Distant Headlight Basin |
 Gary Descending |
 Purple Flower |
 Gary On Island |
 Looking Across Lake |
 Mt. Stuart Close By |
 Heading Back |
 Dropping To Route |
 Gary Crosses Ledge |
 Colorful Grass |
 Larch Are Ahead |
 Back To Great Colors |
 Near Big Meadow |
 Crazy Bright Colors |
 More Blue Sky & Gold |
 Peak & Almost Peak |
 Moving Slowly |
 Shadows Growing |
 Lone Lit Larch |
 Nearing Pass |
 Best Leaf Color |
 Gary Descends Trail |
 Scarlet Gilia In October |
Trips - 2024
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