De Roux Creek to Gallagher Head Lake, Esmeralda Basin (Esmerelda) & Lake Ann — Saturday, Jul. 12, 2025

Hiked up DeRoux creek to Gallheger Head Lake. Then down the off road vehicle road to the Esmeralda Trail up to Fortune Creek Pass. Once there we headed to Lake Ann and then returned down the Esmeralda trail to the parking lot and road back to the DeRoux trailhead.

Overall 14 miles and 3600’ of elevation.

First of all wow. The trail is in great shape! Maybe one or two trees down but for this distance that was no problem. The trail up DeRoux to GH Lake had ripe huckleberries up to about 4500’. We ate a few and picked a few for the evening cocktail.

The trail up to GH lake was nice, shaded and well graded. As you climb and cross DeRoux creek for the last time there was lots of camping likely for horses.

GH Lake is very scenic but not very deep. You might be able to walk across it but I didn’t try. There were 5 jeeps there camping. I walked down the jeep road wondering “is it really that bad?” Yes. It was quite rutty, rocky, with mud pits. Do not try it without the right equipment and experience.

Once I made it to the Esmeralda trail the climb was maybe 800’ to the pass. There were several switchbacks and the views were lovely. Mt Daniel and Cathedral Rock were constantly in view.

We rested at Fortune Creek Pass and then headed to Lake Ann. It was probably more of a climb than I wanted but again the views and flowers pulled me along. Mt Rainier came into view as we climbed higher.

Once at the pass Glacier Peak came into view and also Lake Ann below. There is basically one switchback and then down the hill to the lake. We were serenaded by pika and marmots.

The lake is full and the outflow stream is flowing. I waded into the lake and took a brief swim. The lake is a pretty color but not that deep. It was colder than I expected due to the snowmelt. There were a lot of bugs.

We had lunch and then departed back to the car. Lots of flowers along the way! Several streams are still flowing which is good because it was getting hot and my pup stopped to take some drinks as we passed.

We passed a string of horses on their way to camp for the night. The rest of the trip to the Esmeralda parking lot was uneventful. Unfortunately we had to walk 1-2 miles on the gravel road back to the car. Next time I’ll walk on the trail as there will be more shade.

Overall a great trip!