Ingalls Lake - Teanaways, WA
July 16, 2014 |
This was plan 'C'. For plan 'A' we waited in line at the Leavenworth ranger station to be drawn for Enchantment Permits. When we arrived at Leavenworth, the sky was brown and smoke was thick from the forest fires all around. As the lady ranger was giving her briefing, ash began to fall. That's when Teri and I decided that hoofing it up 7,000 feet through thick smoke was probably not the healthiest plan. Since Ingalls was on out list and only a few hours away, that's where we went.
The Teanaways are just across the Ingalls Creek drainage from the Enchantments - in fact you can practically reach out and touch the Enchantments from the the banks of Ingalls Lake. So surprisingly, the air was clear and the sky blue as we trampled up the trail. It's only a few thousand feet gain to Ingalls Pass but it does feel further in the heat of the day.
When we reached the pass, we broke out the stove and cooked up some lunch with the peaks of the Enchantments spread out in front of us. The trail from the pass leads a few more miles through subalpine country up the Ingalls Lake. The conditions were perfect - some lingering snow but mostly dry trail and plenty of water and flowers along the way.
After a short nap at the lake we headed back. Stopping at Ingalls Pass again, we relaxed and watched as the distant fire flared up over the top of Mount Stuart. It raised an enormous plume like a bomb. I felt bad for the people on that side of the drainage and for the loss of some beautiful wildness. |
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