Great hike with amazing views, some challenging trail finding and conditions, and an outstanding mix of Northwest landscapes.
Leaving from the Esmeralda Basin/Ingalls Lake trailhead, we hiked up to Lake Ingalls then down to the Ingalls Creek trail and then up to Longs Pass and then back down to the Ingalls Lake trailhead to complete the loop. Our trip took almost exactly 48 hours at a leisurely pace.
We got a late start on a Friday at 4pm and started hiking up to Ingalls Lake. The trail up is a moderate incline. Nice and steady up with views out the whole way. Taking our time (and adjusting to a new pack and boots) we stopped for a snack with an outstanding view out. At the pass we went right to go towards the camp sites. The trail here is a little steep heading down into Headlight Basin but totally manageable and relatively easy to find. To our surprise there’s a spectacularly sited and clean toilet here with some of the best views anywhere. We managed to snag the camp site just North of the toilet (but thankfully far enough away) that had crazy views of Mount Stewart. The landscape here is stunning with large boulders and gorgeous little meadows with wildflowers and streams. We managed to get our camp set up around 8pm and once darkness fell we had incredible stargazing. We also had some miserably cold conditions and a blowing wind that managed to coat us and everything we had in a micro-fine layer of dirt. It was a chilly day so I imagine this would be much more reasonable on a warmer summer day.
Waking up we had a slow morning and then packed up to head up to the lake. The hike up to the lake from here is a bit of a scramble but pretty manageable. The lake is stunning. We sat in the shade on a hot day for lunch and then took a swim in the lake (surprisingly not as cold as I thought it would be). We then headed off to the West side of the Lake to make it to the other side. The way around has two intense sections of scrambling over rocks. With a heavy pack it was definitely a little tiring and took around an hour to make our way around the lake. There are a decent number of cairns to guide the way but there certainly could be more. Still, it made for a fun adventure. This is also when the crowds thinned out (although it was never so crowded that I would have avoided this trail).
The other end of the lake is gorgeous and far prettier than the Southern end (which is spectacular as a baseline!). Here there are some trees and a stunning mirror reflection of Mount Stuart. I had read that the trail down to Ingalls Creek which super hard to find so I was prepared to do some hunting. There was a very obvious and worn booth path with numerous cairns so we didn’t see a problem. The trail down was basically an express elevator straight down the hill and something I can’t imagine hiking up. As it was, we were scrambling and sliding a bit on the way down (wish we had brought our hiking poles) but had plenty of cairns guiding the way. At the bottom, once we wound down our nerves, the trail just disappeared and we were in the middle of a meadow with some streams. After looking at the map again it appears that the main trail doesn’t drop so steeply and slowly descends down a ridge. Where we missed it we have no idea. We were certainly following a trail though so who knows where it came from. Regardless, we spent some time using our route finding skills to find the Ingalls Creek trail but got to enjoy some beautiful vistas in the meadow with some dried up streams. Super pretty and I was happy for the diversion.
Ingalls Creek trail is a nice mix of shady forests and open meadows filled with wildflowers. Super pretty, sparsely traveled (we saw 2 people in 8 hours) and a highlight. Just pass the junction to Longs Pass we camped out at a nice horse camp site. It was below 5000’ so there was a fire ring although we didn’t use that because of the fire ban. There was a beautiful creek at camp and plenty of water. The bugs in the evening were manageable but when we woke up in the morning it was bug insanity. We packed up pretty quickly as it was a little too nuts being attacked by bugs every ten seconds and then headed up to Longs Pass.
I had read that the trail up Longs Pass was a little less traveled, steep, but completely manageable. We had no trouble finding the lower half of the trail and it was a good mix of grueling vertical terrain with some horizontal shady walking. At the end of this forested section though, I looked up at a cliff and decided to move forward because there was no way that cliff was the trail. It must have been just out of my view, right?
Nope, that’s the trail. The upper third of this trail is just a straight run up a super steep and scree filled trail under direct sun. It was manageable but definitely a little nuts. At the very top though we had to crabwalk up as were just off of vertical and probably a few degrees away from needing ropes. You’re going to want your poles and boots with excellent traction. The path forward at the top is super challenging to find (I’m sure the trail washes away each winter under avalanches of snow) and just a little crazy. I think I only made it up without freaking myself out as I was face down 6” away from rock climbing up and didn’t really get to see how gnarly this was. Once we found the logical path up the trail flattens out for a few feet and then flattens out right at Longs Pass. This is really where I wish I had saved a beer to drink.
The views from Longs Pass are stunning. It is worth a little side hike up to the adjacent rise as well for some great views in all directions. Once we had some lunch we headed down to meet up with the Lake Ingalls trail and the stroll down was easy and peaceful and just a classic Northwest hike in a mixture of trees and meadows. About 48 hours from the time we left we made it back to our car and headed to get that beer.
Absolutely fantastic hike and even with the hairy Longs Pass adventure I’d do this again in a heartbeat. Highly recommended. I also recommend doing the hike in this direction vs. going down Longs Pass as I think the order of things is a little nicer.
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