May 27, 2007, - Ingalls ridge/Esmeralda Basin

an injury free season means i can try to get my 12 months in this year, so to sneak in my may day i headed towards Esmeralda Basin for a day trip yesterday...thanks to coldiron and chris_fast for the recent info on the area

left the parking lot at 11 am and decided to head towards the obvious southern slopes of the ridge line leading to Ingalls Peak...followed trail 1394 into the basin before branching off and heading north...a little steep in sections and probably would have been better off heading in on trail 1390....reached consistent snowpack at 5,700' and skinned my way up to the ridge, topping out at 7,100...first 6"+ was heavy slop for the first 500' descent with significant snow slides caused by each turn...once down to my stashed hiking boots, i was able to ski more directly for another 500' or so before hiking out the remainder...total trip time of 6.5 hours....sunny and windy day with some flurries moving in on my hike down

quite a few hikers and skiers out....group of 6+ heading out shortly after me which may have been the same group i saw from the ridge ascending towards Ingalls Peak via the opposite side/trail 1390...chatted briefly with another pair heading into Esmeralda Basin (hope you had a good day!!)....quite a bit of snow remains on eastern slopes of Ingalls Peak and around Lake Ingalls...skiing possibilities also looked good for some of the northern facing slopes of the Esmeralda Peaks and Hawkins Mtn. area