Ingalls Peak - North Summit, South Ridge 8.11 - 8.12.12

The Perseid meteor shower was scheduled to peak on Saturday night so I really wanted to get out in the mountains, away from the city lights, to enjoy the show. It seemed like I could talk Sara into playing in the mountains with me, but she required I pick the location since she had to pick Mount Daniel for the previous weekend. I started searching for a good location to go camping. I figured we could do another low key weekend, I just wanted to be out in the mountains somewhere. I searched trip reports on Cascade Climbers and WTA, looked through the WTA hiking guide, and started compiling a list of potential areas with good camping. Sara brought up Ingalls, the other outstanding peak on my list to climb this year. We had planned to climb it with Alicia and Ashley for Alicia's birthday in early June but the weather got in the way. Our schedules hadn't provided an opportunity since to climb with them, and they weren't looking promising the rest of the year. After talking with Alicia, given this was basically the last opportunity Sara and I had before mid October, we decided to go for it. Sara and I had intended to climb Ingalls last Sept but Oktoberfest got in my way. We carried our gear into the pass where we dropped it before finishing the hike all the way to the lake as it was determined that I was not up for the climb. It has been on my list for far too long, I really wanted to check it off. Matt had never climbed Ingalls either so he was in, I just needed to find a fourth to climb with. Unfortunately we decided a bit late in the week which gave me about a day and a half to find a partner - fail. Everyone had already made plans for the weekend, so Matt was kind enough to back out to avoid the awkward 3 person team and let us go for attempt number 2. We decided to take the one day climb and turn it into a very laid back 2 day climb to camp and enjoy the meteor shower - I work best when not under time pressure and motivated by rock to climb at the top.

We left Seattle after 10AM Saturday morning and stopped at our new favorite Riverbend Cafe in North Bend for some late breakfast - we learned they serve breakfast until noon on the weekend. I bought a couple bagels to supplement my food. Sara wasn't feeling up to yet another mountain house meal so we left the stove behind and brought sandwiches - which I augmented with delicious bagels. Vinni made the trek up the forest service road. It seemed to be in better condition than I remembered, only a small area of big potholes that I had to drive slowly through. The trailhead was overflowing with cars as they were parked well down the road. I found a small spot along the road up near the lot that I squeezed into as Sara and I got ready for the hike in. Lots of people walked by as we geared up, the rope and helmets drawing questions from a few about our objective for the weekend. It was another really hot weekend so I was in my new minimal hiking gear that I learned worked well on our approach to Mount Daniel. With warm temperatures forecasted, we brought my tent sans fly again and I finally left the down booties at home, just having my little puffy and 35 degree bag to keep warm. After sunscreening up, we were on the trail just after 2PM. Knowing the heat would kill me, Sara let me lead out. I thought I was going slow up the initial section but soon needed a break after only 0.35 miles in - it was going to be a long, slow, painful approach at that rate. I hydrated and gu-ed, and took off on the trail again. I settled into a better pace and we made it at least a half mile before another quick water break in the shade.

View from the trail heading up to Ingalls Pass

We were going at Alicia speed but were making pretty steady progress. After exiting the nice tree cover and starting the traverse across the open hillside, I decided I should tape up my heels. I just got my new approach shoes that week and was breaking them in on this trip so I was extra sensitive to any potential hot spots. After every break I offered Sara the lead so she could go a bit faster at her normal pace, but she said she was fine going my slow speed.

Sara bringing up the rear on our approach, letting me set the pace

I decided to test this, which soon became a battle of stubborn vs. stubborn. I slowed the pace way down, practicing my rest step along the dirt trail. After any sort of incline or steps up over rock, I took a break. Laughter at first soon turned to stabbing me in the legs with trekking poles, trying to 'help' me along. Word of caution: the metal tips scratch skin easily, stick to the foam handles if you don't want to cause any injury. In this case Sara felt ok causing me injury. Despite my many offers to change leads, Sara insisted on bringing up the rear. Sara's hopes that meeting people along the trail would speed me up were soon dashed as I continued my ridiculously slow pace despite the awkward and questioning looks. After a half hour in which we went a whole 0.2 miles and gained 80' in elevation, I could tell I reached Sara's anger limit and took off at my more normal slow pace that was a bit more acceptable. We had a few more switchbacks up before the traverse to Ingalls Pass.

View of Ingalls Peak from the pass. We'd be climbing the North Peak, the one in the middle

We dropped over the pass and took a quick look to spot any good camping areas. We could see several tents set up already. Our big goal was a nearby water source to use the filter with, especially because I only brought my 1L platypus and forgot to grab Aaron's 2L as well. We passed a few good areas with a small water source, found Sara's upstairs neighbor who also happened to be camping out there, and then a couple goats. There was a mama goat and kid eating right on the trail. Sara in the lead (she swore not to let me lead while hiking for the rest of the weekend), decided to give them some room and we went off trail. We stopped to take some pictures. Any movement we made the kid was a bit skiddish and would run away. Cameras away and continuing on, past the goats, the mama goat decided it was now time to charge Sara. Luckily I got her attention just in time for her to spin around, face the goat, make some noise, and bang her trekking poles together to get the goat to back down.

The goats along the trail, Mama decided she didn't like Sara and charged

We continued on in search of a camping area, determined to find something and not pass back by those goats again. I checked rocks for a nice flat area as Sara continued on looking for a water source. We finally came to the stream that feeds one of the waterfalls and found a designated camping area close by. We found a great spot right by a sign and a few trees not far off the trail or from the rushing stream. It seemed perfect.

Water source, awesome stream/waterfall

We set up the tent, put some more clothing on and doused ourselves in bug spray as the mosquitoes had found us once over the pass. Sara grabbed the filter and we went to the stream to filter about 3.5 liters. I always seem to have an issue with the filter and this time was no different. Sara pumped while I handled the bottles and of course dropped one of the bottles while I was trying to put the cap on, spilling water all over myself. Super. After that I got a better system figured out to finish the last couple liters. We walked the 30 feet back to camp about 10 minutes after starting, to find a chipmunk had already helped itself to Sara's bag of food she had left on the ground next to her pack. A Gatorade packet was open and poured out while her bagel had a few bites missing too. The wildlife was making quick work of us! After that and figuring out we were camping in one of the goats' favorite hangout spots, we quickly grabbed the gear we needed and put it in the tent while I climbed the nearby tree and set up a sling to hang our packs from.

Camp with our packs hung in the tree [Photo courtesy of Sara]

We collected a couple piles of rocks and had our trekking poles nearby to help fend off the goats. In the tent, away from the wildlife, specifically the mosquitoes, we started in on dinner. It was cooling down and soon I was in my little puffy in my sleeping bag as the sun was still setting. Now all warm and cozy, I soon fell asleep about 7:45PM, but luckily had set the alarm on my watch for 9PM to make sure I'd wake up for the meteor shower. After snoozing a couple times, both Sara and I woke up at 10PM to enjoy the show. Sara had never seen a shooting star before, so luckily not long after we started watching the night sky she spotted them. She had brought Matt's nice camera up but couldn't quite get the settings right for star photography. I had my little point and shoot that does not take great star pictures, but could still help show the amazing starry sky we had. After 2 hours of pictures and spotting probably 30 shooting stars, I fell back asleep. With no alarm set for the morning, we figured we'd take it easy and get going whenever we woke up.

Star picture taken with my point and shoot - increased brightness and shadows to show the stars I could see, and perfect timing of a meteor streaking across the sky

Tent and starry sky [Photo courtesy of Sara]

Any noises outside the tent generally woke us up as we were very aware of the wildlife nearby. About 5:30AM I woke up to some noise, and looked up to see the mama goat and her kid eating literally right outside the tent. They seemed uninterested in us and soon sauntered away. I fell back asleep and woke up about 7AM to more goats nearby - probably close to 10 in total. We watched them for a while before we got up and started getting ready. Our plan was to gear up at camp and leave the packs behind, up in the tree. We put most everything back in our packs except for the sleeping pads and tent. We got harnesses on, Sara racked up while I carried the rope as a backpack, and we grabbed a liter and half each. I finally got to use my new Christmas rope from Aaron, an 8.9mm Serenity. It was so small and clean with middle and end marks, I was pumped. We took trekking poles still, partially to help on the approach and partially as protection against the goats. Sara started out along the trail with me in tow. I had tweaked my right hip flexor that morning somehow so that added to my already normal slowness. As we went along the trail, we finally picked a spot to head up. There was a faint trail that soon lead to slabby rocks.

Sara heading up the slabby rocks as we make our way towards the route

Sara up ahead would reach another ridge to figure out where to head next. Up the rocks we went until we finally hit some patches of snow and had a clear view of the route - there was a pair already on the second pitch.

Sara figuring out the best way up to the route while she waits for me to catch up

After a quick break we started up the first patch of snow, followed by a couple more snow patches broken up by small rock bands.

Heading over a rock band in between the small snowfields with the South Ridge in view

Almost to the base of the route, we took a quick break to discuss things. At this point I was super pumped and my energy level increased in anticipation. I made Sara pick who was leading what pitches and she had finally decided to take the first and third while I got the second - the supposed crux. We checked out the route, talking about where the pitches ended, where we wanted to rope up, and what route up the chossy gully to the base of the route we wanted to take.

South Ridge of the North Summit of Ingalls Peak with route information. Our climbing route shown in yellow, 5.4 variation on pitch 2 shown in blue, and rappel route shown in green, with the start of each rappel signified by the red dot with number.

We heard voices as two guys were soon cresting the little hill behind us, so we hurried up to get to the base of the route before we lost our spot in line. The guys were right behind us and talking about simul-climbing the route. We asked if they wanted to go ahead, but since we were already geared up, they decided to rest and eat lunch to wait for us to get a couple pitches up - very nice of them. We each left our approach shoes, trekking poles, and a liter of water at the base of the climb among the rocks. As we had approached the route we scared a marmot away. While at the top, we found out from the guys behind us it had been chewing on the shoes and packs left by the two climbers on route as we approached.

Since Sara was leading, she started the scramble up the corner. She went until we felt it was a good time to rope up, conveniently at a nice little ledge. The big crack up the first face was to our right a ways, but straight up looked interesting as well. Sara traversed over to the big crack and found it full of the slippery green rock. She pulled her piece back out and traversed back to me to go straight up. She finally put one piece in, then another, before running the rest of the face out as she reached the ledge above.

Sara leading the first pitch. After checking out the large crack on the face, she went straight up the smaller cracks above our belay ledge. She placed a couple cams before topping out on the ledge to continue on.

Some walking across the ledge led to another small face where she finally placed another couple pieces of gear before anchoring into the slings around the large boulder already there. She quickly brought me up and transferred the gear over.

Pitch 1: We scrambled up the corner gully until we reached the ledge by the 0, then we roped up. Sara traversed over to the large crack up the face but decided to head up the little cracks from the ledge instead which had a little less green rock. She walked across the ledge, up another small face to a slung boulder above the big rock in the picture, near line 1.

The second pitch started up a bit to a ledge where you had the option of a 5.4 crack or 5.6 crack to reach the bolts at the top of the second pitch. I decided I was going to go for the 5.6 pitch so I wanted to save my cams. I took the far left line on the face. Sara thought the middle line was the better option but my line went, with some nice airy moves on the corner. I placed a couple nuts and slung a rock, immediately after which I regretted dreading the rope drag. I did use double slings to try and counter act this. I traversed right on the ledge, passing the 5.4 crack and started up the 5.6. I placed a piece a few moves up with my last double sling, which greatly helped limit rope drag. I placed a #0.75, a nut, and a #0.4 before I topped out on the pitch and reached the bolts. I clipped into the bolts just below the old rusty piton and brought Sara up.

[Left] I'm at the top of the second pitch after taking the far left line before traversing right above the shelf like feature to reach the 5.6 crack. [Photo courtesy of Sara]. [Right] .

Pitch 2: I took the far left line up, middle line I think goes too. Above the shelf-like feature (shadow line) I traversed right to reach the 5.6 crack. The first crack, blue, is 5.4. The 5.6 angles up a bit to the left and the pitch ends at a bolted anchor just below a rusty piton.

The 5.6 was fun and not overly challenging, I was glad I went for it. There were a few fun moves and when the crack thins a bit as it angles up, you're forced out onto the face a little. The green rock scattered throughout the cracks throughout the entire route made the climbing a bit more challenging. Sara quickly followed up and took the gear back for the third and final pitch.

Sara at the anchor at the top of Pitch 2 with a great mountain view to the west

She started up, placing a #1 mastercam and #0.5 C4 before gaining the dihedral. A couple more pieces above that in the corner on the left lead her to the bolted anchor - a bit tricky to find.

[Left] Sara starting up the third pitch, heading up from the bolted anchor to the top corner of the dihedral. Then she moved onto the dihedral to gain the ledge before continuing up. [Right] From the ledge above the dihedral, the rest of the third pitch. Head left into the corner and up the left face to find the bolts - you can just see Sara's orange helmet sticking out at the bolted anchor.

Pitch 3: Start straight up the cracks just to the left of the bolted anchor to the top corner of the dihedral. Once in the corner, climb out onto the face to gain the next ledge. Head left into the corner, and head up the wall. The bolts will be at the top of the left face of the corner.

Sara brought me up, we stashed the rope, and did the little scramble up to the summit. I'm not sure if we were on the true summit which looked like it might be the sloping face of slab, but we were content on our high spot on the rocks. We took a few pictures and enjoyed the view of Mount Daniel, where we had been just the weekend before.

View to the west from the summit with Bears Breast Mountain and Mount Daniel

Lake Ingalls and Ingalls Pass in view - a look back at where we camped and part of our approach

The guys were starting the second pitch when I started following on the third pitch, so I figured they weren't too far behind. We decided to head back to the top of the third pitch where we left our rope to wait for them to top out so we could start the rappels down. As we made it to the bolts the guy leading popped over the rock. Sara directed him to the bolts and he brought up his partner as we chatted. Soon they were both up so I grabbed the rope and set up the rappel. After my slow hiking stunt the day before, I wasn't going to give Sara an opportunity to leave me on route so I went first on all the rappels. In total we did five single rope rappels to reach our gear at the base of the route. The first rappel was straight forward. Each rappel had several slings with rap rings, and in the end we decided they were good enough and did not add any more slings. We rappelled down from the bolted anchor at the top of the third pitch to the top of the second pitch.

Sara on the first rappel from the anchor at the top of the third pitch, heading past the dihedral, to the anchor at the top of the second pitch. The rope got stuck on the rock just below the anchor of the third pitch

As we pulled the rope it got a bit stuck on the rock. Luckily we were able to free it after working the rope back the other way. Our 60m rope did not reach the start of the second pitch so I traversed climbers right to reach a high point at the corner of the face where I found another rock with slings and a rap station. The green rock I had to traverse across made it interesting, so Sara cut over to the corner earlier so she didn't have to fight her way across.

Looking up at the corner of the face from the bottom of the second rappel. Sara went to the corner up higher near the colorful lichen so she didn't have to traverse across the green rock face

We rappelled down from there to the start of the second route at the end of the rope. This rappel was over a bunch of loose rock and unfortunately some got set off - fortunately there was no one at the base of the route to get rained on. From there we had to walk down just a little to the next big slung boulder and rappelled down to the start of the first pitch where there was another rap station.

Sara rappelling down the first pitch past the large crack, on rappel number 4

We could have downclimbed but thought it'd be just as fast to rappel down. Finally on the fifth rappel I got some good rope tosses and didn't have to mess with tangles on the way down. About a half rope length rappel brought us right to our waiting shoes, trekking poles, and water bottles - free from marmot chews! We quickly geared back up and started down. We went straight down towards the lake from the base of the climb over the snowfields we could see. After figuring out how to pick our way across the rocks and another snowfield, we picked up a trail of cairns to take us down the rocks and slabs. We were slowly traversing back to our right as we went down. As we neared the lake, we decided to just head to the lake since we knew the trail from there, instead of wandering more. At the lake we crossed one more patch of snow to reach the hiking trail and spotted another marmot - possibly our friend from up high?

Lake Ingalls and Mount Stuart

Ingalls Peak, we just summited the North peak on the left

Sara made quick progress back down the trail to our camp. We were looking forward to filtering some nice cold water and rehydrating a bit. Since it was so warm and having learned from last week, I unzipped the bottoms of my pants and sunscreened up for a hike back to the car in my shorts. After filtering water and sunscreening, we finished packing up camp and hit the trail. About a 20 minute hike brought us back to the pass, and an hour and 10 minutes from there we were back at the cars. Sara actually let me take lead as we half ran down the trail. Unfortunately we'd be getting to North Bend too late for blueberry picking, so Sara settled for dinner at Qdoba instead. After patiently waiting through a few traffic backups on I-90, we rolled into the Qdoba in Issaquah for some post climbing burritos. It was a great weekend. Fantastic weather - although a little hot - awesome meteor shower, and a fun climb to finally check Ingalls off of my list.

Times:

• Trailhead to Camp: 3.5 hours (generally 3 hours via Alicia pace)
• Camp to Base of Route: 2 hours
• South Ridge Ascent, 3 pitches plus scramble to summit: 1.75 hours
• South Ridge Descent, 5 rappels: 1.25 hours
• Base of Route to Camp: 1.25 hours
• Camp to Trailhead: 1.5 hours

Gear: #1 Mastercam, #0.3 - 2 C4s, set of nuts, 8 singles, 5 doubles. Used most of the gear on route, not all the singles though.

View Larger Map Map for this adventure

Our route for the weekend

First part of the trail in to Ingalls Pass, third time for me on this section

Trail on the north side of the pass, around the basin and up the North Summit. Approach is the track on the left, descent down to the lake is the track on the right

Ingalls Peak, North Summit - South Ridge Climbing Topo