Larch Lust

The western larch is a deciduous conifer so its needles are shed every fall. Before the needles are shed they turn a brilliant golden color. Not wanting to miss out on such a sight and after reading that the larches were reaching their peak color we searched for hike that would quench our larch lust.

We headed back to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the cental Cascades. The beginning was early and chilly as we followed the North Fork of the Teanaway River for the first little bit.

Soon we reached an intersection and followed the Ingalls Way Trail to the right. We switchbacked up through the forest before finding ourselves in subalpine meadows, with squeaking pikas all around and incredible views of the Esmerelda Peaks.

We then reached the next intersection. Ingalls Way Trail to the left and Longs Pass Trail to the right. According to our trail book Longs Pass provided excellent views of Mt. Stuart and is only a "scant 1/2 mile" from the intersection. We decided to add Longs Pass to our hike and started up the trail. After making it to the pass we questioned the distance but agreed with the analysis of the views. From Longs Pass Mt. Stuart stares right back at you.
We hiked back down to the intersection with Ingalls Way Trail and continued our way toward Ingalls Pass and the larches. After several steep switchbacks we made it to Ingalls Pass and more views of Mt. Stuart while surrounded by the golden western larches. Below is a short video of the views with a cameo by Bridget.

Our final stop before heading back for the trailhead was Ingalls Lake. We took a break on the rocks overlooking the lake, ate our lunch and took in the views of Mt. Stuart off to the right.

We made our way back to Ingalls Pass again hiking through the groves of golden larches.

At the pass we took one last look at Mt. Rainier to the south then headed back to the trailhead.