Backping trip to Lake Ingalls

I've been gone the last two days on a backpacking trip to Lake Ingalls with my good friend Larry Pusey. Great views and great conversation was the order of the last few days.

We made camp just short of the saddle that leads to the bowl that contains Lake Ingalls. We had a beautiful campsite that was protected from the howling wind that whipped through at night but we were still afforded a beautiful view just outside the tent. Can you see Mt Rainier in the distance?

We hiked to Lake Ingalls on Monday and spent the afternoon there having lunch, reading and napping in no particular order. The lake is still frozen but is melting out quickly, you can see little pools of water near the edges of the shoreline. I plan to go back in a few weeks with my daughter Katie when the wildflowers are in full bloom and Mt Stuart is reflecting in a thawed lake so I can fill my memory card on my camera with beautiful images. Speaking of my camera, you won't believe that I forgot it on the front pew of church on Sunday. Fortunately Larry brought along a small digital camera that he allowed me to use for most of the trip.

I have read many trip reports of mountain goats in the Cascades but have never experienced them myself until this trip. We saw goats neraly our entire time near the top. They woke us up in the morning tromping through our camp and hung around us as we ate. At one point we had over 15 goats within about 25 feet of us. They were very tame and most of them had a young kid (is that the right term?) in tow. Mother and child made sounds like a little baby crying quietly. It was fun to watch them run up and down the steep slopes that Larry and I were lumbering over.

I'm taking a group of teens to Spider Meadows on a backpacking trip July 26-28. Anybody interested in coming along?