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Hiking |
"Golden" Larches and "Fortune" Peak anyhow
Sorry JacobSmith, I could not help myself. I presume there is now a hit on my head.This album is the nice outing that cyomah sponsored to see some Golden Larches near Ingalls Pass. The trail head was packed and there were plenty of folks up there searching for treasure. Relatively few braved the cold night and the morning was mostly solitude. Our original intent was to climb South Ingalls, meet-up with a friend and tag Fortune on the way (which I mistook for Not-Hinkhouse Peak). The snow-climb up Fortune was fun and had great open views of the Volcanoes, Chikamins, ALW and Northwest Cascades. Unfortunately we could not meet up with our friend since we were out of communication and decided it was best to head down while things were going good.
The crowds were easygoing and contained all manner of people. Usually I'm in drastically more solitude in high-country.
 taken from the very crowded Ingalls Pass |  taken from very crowded Ingalls Pass |
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 Sorry no larching at the lake |  By Ingalls Lakeshore |
 from the lake |  |
Even though the lake wasn't frozen the temps were dropping and I could feel it even with a puffy coat on. I dined on a ham jalapeno-cheese-bagel sandwich and watched some guy and his dog skinny dip in the lake which made me shiver and quickly pay attention to something else. Cyomah and I mulled over the idea of South Ingalls on this day but left it for the next considering the lack of daylight and lowering temperature. We were the second to last out from the lake and by the time we got back into camp the place was mostly void of people with only the well prepared or ill-advised left at Headlight Basin and the area around Ingalls Pass.
The evening was 15 degrees colder than forecast and quite chilly for my 15 degree bag. Frequent urination was the result which added to the already golden landscape. I tried to take a few photos of the night but those were somewhat failures. I managed to get some sleep after putting a puffy coat and fleece on. Cyomah was quite comfy in his -15 bag and I definitely regretted not bringing my -20. I awoke sometime before sunrise, mostly to stay warm and get breakfast going to be ready for the summits and amateur photography that would ensue.
More to come soon.