North Ingalls Peak Trip Report

We left Portland at around 6:15 AM and made our way toward the Ingalls Pass Trailhead, breaking up the drive with a couple of charging stops and the essential road-trip fuel: Starbucks and Popeyes for breakfast, followed by Subway for lunch. After a leisurely travel day, we arrived at the trailhead around 12:30 PM.

The hike in was spectacular from the start, but the real payoff came after cresting Ingalls Pass. As the trail opened up, we were greeted by stunning views of Mount Stuart and our objective for the weekend: North Ingalls Peak. After descending onto the plateau, we located the toilet, creek, and various campsites. Nicole eventually found a particularly nice camp spot, and we settled in around 4:30–5:00 PM.

After setting up camp and enjoying some snacks, we briefly discussed making an evening summit attempt. Between the limited daylight and a growing bank of clouds moving in, it wasn't worth rushing. Instead, we headed over to Ingalls Lake to scout the area and get a better look at the mountain and route. We returned to camp around 7:00 PM, had dinner, and were in bed by roughly 8:00 PM. By then, the wind had picked up considerably, making for a cold and blustery night.

Summit Day

Fortunately, the forecast held. By morning, the winds had died down and temperatures were noticeably warmer.

We woke up at 4:00 AM, though none of us seemed eager to leave the warmth of our sleeping bags. After some tent procrastination, we finally got moving around 5:00 AM. Route finding was straightforward. Rather than strictly following the established climber's path, we picked our own line and generally stayed higher on the approach.

Upon reaching the base of the climb, we spent about 30 minutes convincing ourselves that we were actually in the right place. During our debate, a couple arrived and started up the route, with another party close behind. Once we finally committed to the correct start, we hurried to slot ourselves between the two groups. As it turned out, both parties were climbing the route for the first time as well.

Noel built a quick two-piece nut anchor so Ashis could provide a belay while the team got organized. We climbed using two half/twin ropes, with Noel leading all pitches while tied into both ropes. Nicole and Ashis were tied into opposite rope ends.

Pitch 1

About halfway up the first pitch, we encountered our first traffic jam. The couple ahead had begun slightly higher on the route and occupied the belay stance we intended to use. We waited briefly until the follower left the anchor, then continued upward. The leading party linked the upper half of Pitch 1 with Pitch 2 and was already well ahead by the time we reached the belay.

At the top of Pitch 1, Noel brought up Nicole and then Ashis.

Pitch 2

Pitch 2 was essentially a straightforward scramble. We elected to belay it anyway, though Noel didn't feel the need to place any protection given the relatively easy terrain.

Pitch 3 – The Crux

Pitch 3 provided the most engaging climbing of the route. We stayed on the standard 5.4 variation, though the upper section certainly felt closer to 5.6, especially while working up the thin, serpentine, glassy-looking crack near the finish.

Nicole cleaned the pitch and made the thoughtful decision to leave several pieces in place for Ashis. Besides reducing the risk of a pendulum swing, the gear provided useful rope redirects through the traversing sections.

Pitch 4

The final pitch was relatively straightforward and soon delivered us to the summit.

Summit

Standing on top, we were rewarded with incredible views in every direction. One particularly memorable surprise was finally seeing Mount Rainier, which had been hidden behind South Ingalls Peak for much of the approach and climb.

After signing the summit register and taking in the scenery, we began preparing for the descent. While doing so, two additional parties arrived from below, and farther down the route we could see a large group of six climbers—three roped teams from the Mountaineers—working their way upward. It was clear that if we waited for every team to finish climbing, we'd be spending the rest of the day on the summit.

Descent

Once the two parties immediately below us had completed their final pitches, we began rappelling.

1. Single 60 m rappel to the top of Pitch 3, minimizing the chance of rope snags.
2. Double-rope rappel that deposited us just above the top of Pitch 1 in the middle of the easier 4th-class terrain.
3. Another double-rope rappel directly to the base of the route.

Nicole quickly became a fan of using saddlebags for rope management, which significantly reduced tangles and made the rappels much smoother.

Gear Notes

Carried:

• 5 alpine draws
• 3 double-length slings
• Single rack from 0.2–3
• Full set of nuts

In practice, we used almost every cam size, but the rock quality was good enough that a rack from roughly 0.3–2 would likely have been sufficient. The nut set saw very little action; we placed only two nuts at the initial anchor.

Back to Camp and Home

We reached the summit around 9:00 AM and returned to the base of the climb around 11:30 AM. From there, it was an easy walk back to camp, arriving around 12:50 PM.

After packing up, we left camp at approximately 2:00 PM and arrived back at the trailhead by 3:25 PM.

The drive back to Portland was uneventful, ending around 9:30 PM after the mandatory post-climb stop at Dick's Drive-In in Federal Way for burgers and shakes—a fitting reward after a successful climb.

All told, it was an excellent weekend: great weather, smooth route finding, enjoyable climbing, efficient rappels, and outstanding views of Mount Stuart, Ingalls Lake, and Rainier. North Ingalls Peak proved to be an approachable alpine rock objective with enough route-finding, exposure, and movement to keep things interesting, and it delivered a memorable summit day for the entire team.