My initial plan was only to climb Fortune Peak. I wasn’t sure if I’d come back to the area soon. So I decided to include South Ingalls Peak. The route also looked feasible for the pups.
See more trip photos here.
Fortune Peak and South Ingalls Peak at a Glance
Access: Lake Ingalls Trailhead
Round Trip: TBD
Elevation Range: 4280′-7382′
Gear: none
GPS Track: not available
Dog-Friendly: with guidance
The Preface of Fortune Peak
It was another typical late start for us. So by the time we pulled into the parking lot, there were a dozen or so cars. After gearing up, the pups and I started walking.
Thanks to SeanSullivan86‘s report, I had a better sense of the snow conditions. It’s been almost a month since their trip. So by now, much snow has melted. That also meant I could leave the snowshoes behind.
See more trip photos here.
Fortune Peak Climb
The terrain ended up being quite moderate. Plus, the elevation gain was much less aggressive than I had expected. Fortune Peak was practically a walk-up. But we had somehow missed Ingalls Pass beforehand.
The dozen mountain goats we saw below the pass was quite the sight. They all gathered by the boulders above a campsite. Later they checked out the campers below the rocks. But it looked like they were looking for food.
See more trip photos here.
En Route to South Ingalls Peak
We spent 20 minutes on Fortune Peak. But I was anxious to check out South Ingalls Peak. So we traversed north along the east of the ridgeline. Later it was a bit tricky to go back up on the crest. It was a bit slushy in some places.
But from the base of the peak, it was only a short, class 3 climb up to the top. The dogs needed help to go up a couple of tricky spots. But that was the extent of the excitement during the traverse.
See more trip photos here.
South Ingalls Peak
Later we met a couple on the summit. It turned out that they had climbed Mount Stuart several times. So they told me about their adventures. How cool!
From the top, I watched climbers rappelled off the north peak. It looked thrilling. So I knew I’d want to try that at some point. The Stuart Range always looked impressive no matter from what angle.
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Outro
We left the top an hour later. But I regretted leaving my backpack on Fortune Peak. Otherwise, we could have bypassed it by contouring the basin on snow.
Later from Fortune Peak, we went down the snowy southern slopes. So that made the drop into Esmeralda Basin much faster. At the same time, we bypassed everyone on Lake Ingalls Trail altogether.
See more trip photos here.
We reached a full parking lot on a warm afternoon. But it was yet another gorgeous day out in the Teanaway Backcountry!