Esmeralda Basin (Esmerelda) — Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011

Snoqualmie Region

Did this hike with my 4-year old. I wanted to make it up to Lake Ann but it was too difficult with a kid in tow. There are three significant climbs to get up to the lake. One is mid-way between the trail head and the County Line Trail intersection. The second is right after that intersection steeply up to a basin. The third is another climb up to a ridge above the lake. The trail was very crowded. The views are ok but not spectacular. I guess wildflowers are the real highlight. A photography club was there on a field trip. We made it as far as the basin below the climb up to Lake Ann. There were some people camping here. I decided at this point that I couldn't carry my kid all the way up to the lake and he certainly wasn't going to walk any farther on his own. A couple of additional photos here: http://www.flickr.com/jasonracey