Basic Rock Climb - Ingalls Peak/South Ridge

Our group of 6 departed the TH just after 5am. We stopped for breaks at Headlight Basin  (pro-tip, there is a backcountry toilet there) and then at Ingalls Lake to filter water. We each carried about 2.5L of water up for the climb, and no one ran out of water. Most people felt that 2L would have been sufficient. 

From the lake, we scrambled up low angle slabs, then transitioned onto large, stable talus on the climber's left side of the gully. Near the top of the gully, we crossed a short section of scree to reach the base of the climb at 10am.

One party  that camped in Headlight Basin was finishing their rappels as we arrived, and another party of 4 passed us and finished the route quickly by simul-climbing. The route was pleasantly free of other parties during most of our climb. Leaders carried a single rack, BD 0.2 - #3, nuts, and 8 alpine draws which was sufficient for protection. Newer leaders might want a few extra "comfort cams". We scrambled up to nice ledges to start Pitch 1 and were able to link P1 & P2 with a 60m rope. We took the climber's left variation for pitch 3 and participants really enjoyed the feeling of exposure off the side of the mountain. We summited around 1pm. 

For descent, we did 3 rappels: (1) a double rope rapppel w/ 60m ropes off of the bolts on the summit which got us back to the large ledge at the top of pitch two, (2) We did a short single rope rap to the top of pitch 1, (3) a single rope rappel w/ a 60m  dropped us off on the nice ledges where we built our initial anchors. A short scramble led us back to the gully and we started scrambling down at 4pm. (Note for the future: a double rope rappel w/ 70m ropes would have allowed us to rappel from the summit to mid-pitch 2. From there, it would have been possible to scramble back to the anchor at the top of P1. This would have eliminated a rappel and saved us a significant amount of time.)

Once back in the gully, we opted to try descending the remaining snow patches to see if that would be quicker/easier than boulder hopping the talus. The first snow patch went well, but then we encountered a significant moat which was difficult to cross and most folks preferred to go back to talus hopping. We reached Lake Ingalls at 5pm, topped off water, and started the hike out at 5:30pm. We reached the cars at 8pm. 

At 15 hours car to car, it was a long, but successful day. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful views and the high quality climbing. To save time in the future, I would consider refilling water at Headlight Basin, then taking a high traverse to the base of the climb so that we don't have to lose then regain elevation by dropping to Lake Ingalls before the climb.