Esmeralda Basin (Esmerelda), Lake Ann — Monday, Jul. 12, 2010

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

In search of elevation (well, I *am* DestinationUp, after all), my friends J, J, and I, and the Wonder Pup, headed east to Esmeralda Basin. Our plan was to intersect the County Line trail (1226.2), and head up to the pass overlooking Lake Ann. The road is great, until you leave the gravel section. After that, expect miles of unavoidable potholes. It's much better uphill of Camp Wahoo. I was very grateful for my new-to-me 4Runner; this is not a place for a small car. There were a couple of graders out and about, so that's a good sign. Except for a few trail maintenance crews, doing their wonderfully appreciated work, the only other folks we saw were two people on very large mules. Let's just say that the 100-lb Wonder Pup was rather nervous. But since they trotted off before us, we literally had the place to ourselves. The trail is in great shape. The handful of streams were easy enough to cross on logs and rocks, and while there were a few places where the trail *was* the stream, it was easy to negotiate. There was so little snow on the trail that by the time I actually publish this (two days late) I'm sure it'll be gone. I do have to say that the wind was howling with an attitude. It started getting noticeable just above the intersection with 1226.2, and the gusts kept increasing in strength. My guess is somewhere in the 40mph range, which was enough to make us stop and crouch to reduce our profiles, at least on the steepest parts. We stopped on the unnamed pass, at 6400+ feet (our occasionally fluky GPS recorded high 6400's and very low 6500's). The campsite, to the left as you reach the crest, is a great place to have a bite, and shelter from the wind. A melted Lake Ann was a beautiful turquoise, and the Esmeraldas were glorious, but for me, the best part was having Mt. Ingalls right in our face.