fortunately it’s fall | fortune peak scramble

10.5 miles . 3400 ft gain . 7370 ft high

Alpine Lakes Wilderness

I’ve hiked dozens of larch hikes already, so it’s definitely getting harder and harder to find new hikes when my MO is to explore new trails. Yes, yes, I know it’s totally fine to go back to the same hikes and all but I just get so much more stoked to hike something new! Enter: Lake Ingalls, but different, aka Lake Ann and Fortune Peak. While I’ve spent a good amount of time by Lake Ingalls day hiking, climbing Ingalls Peak and backpacking Ingalls trail, I’ve never quite explored the nearby areas despite knowing that larches exist a bit further. I love adding extra details to my larch guide and sometimes first-hand experience is the best method.

Fortune Peak is a great beginner scramble. Maybe I should add this to my scrambles blog haha. There’s so much I want to share with Washington hikers but only so much time! I’m not entirely sure when Fortune Peak reached my radar, but I was simply looking at Lake Ann as a hiking destination and thought, what else could I add to this hike for some extra oomph?

When some hiking partner scheduling conflicts worked out to make a perfect match, we landed on something not too far and not too long. Lake Ann still remained as an option. Alone I think it would still have been about 8 miles and 2500 ft in all with the ups and downs and if you parked at the trailhead.

But at this rate, the Esmeralda Trailhead gets packed rather quickly and with our 8:30am arrival we still had to add about a half mile each way.

To make a fun loop (not even a lollipop loop!!), we started with the much less traveled Lake Ann trail and went clockwise. Technically this is the Esmeralda Basin Trail. It’s well graded for easy hiking so we made great time and also met up accidentally with some other people we knew. Crazy that we had the same idea to loop Fortune Peak. We first took a little detour to Fortune Creek Pass (extra 0.5 miles round trip) because I wanted to check out the potential for larches on the other side. Sad to say, no larches to note of here. But now you know too!

Onward to Lake Ann or Fortune Pass (can I call it that if it’s between Small Fortune and Fortune Peak??) We passed a few great camping spots and found a few other people on the pass. Several people were below at Lake Ann but we all opted out of descending. My personal opinion is that lakes are often best viewed from above, but maybe it would’ve been worth being able to touch Lake Ann.

Now, it’s time for 800 ft of easy scrambling to Fortune Peak! I say easy only in that it felt mostly class 2 to me with an occasional optional class 3 move at times. It is however, loose in parts. In the band between 6600 and 6800 ft, it’s important to stay on the ridge or else you get a tad cliff-ed out. Largely following the ridge and faint trails will suffice. There weren’t any cairns that I saw but it’s straightforward enough if you don’t somehow let yourself to traverse cause it looks easier. Remember, follow the ridge!

The last 100-200 ft mellows out dramatically and we were also met with high winds. No time to stop for a break here! Just quickly soak in the 360 views and maybe don a windbreaker or else just head down the other side! There’s a lot of ways to get down but I rather liked the method I took (different than my friends). From Fortune, I headed east to a neat shelf for views and then found an easy gully to descend without too much loose rocks. My friends decided to head down around 7200 ft (vs my 7100 ft) and they had a lot more loose rocks to deal with.

The other well-traveled method is to descend the SE ridge of Fortune before heading NE to the east flank of Fortune Peak around 7100 ft.

Either way, you’ll get funneled down to a series of shelfs and light down-scrambling, maybe class 3- at the most. Overall it is less steep than the west side and you can pick your own path, being judicious about your scramble ability. Once you reach the edge of the larch grove, it becomes flat and you’ll have descended 1000 ft. Congrats! But now the tricky part is to find a good path to avoid trampling the meadow.

This is important since we are now re-entering a popular trail where you definitely should not go off trail and you don’t want to make an impression that it’s okay. We followed the creek bed till it met the trail to be most on durable surface. Another method is to try to hit the backcountry toilet and taking that trail out.

Here in Headlight Basin, our two groups split up. One to Lake Ingalls, and mine to the trailhead. I’d been enough times to pass on the lake. Plus, again, Lakes are better viewed from above. And there are no larches by Lake Ingalls, just Headlight Basin. Oh and since it’s popular here, I didn’t feel like fighting too much crowds anymore after our solitude earlier in the day.

So we headed back along Ingalls Way Trail for a smooth way back to the trailhead, enjoying the last little bits of the golden larches. See ya later larchies!

Notes

• Stats: Mileage can vary since we took a little detour to Fortune Creek Pass. You might add extra distance for going to Lake Ann or Lake Ingalls
• Parking: You will likely have to park on the side of the road. If you do, be mindful of spacing such that other cars can easily pass you. Go with the assumption you’ll need to add extra mileage for the parking situation.
• If you’re attempting to go during peak larch season, it will be the busiest. This is early October.
• There is some off-trail required for Fortune Peak. Follow Leave No Trace principles and stay on durable surfaces, such as rock and dirt. Take care to not trample the fragile vegetation please!
• If you’re unfamiliar with off-trail scrambling and route finding, please get yourself acquainted first. My blog on learning to scramble has been helpful for many people!

Photos taken on Canon 5D Mark IV