Got to the trailhead at 8:30 AM to find space available in the trailhead lot, and the only cars along the road must have been there overnight. The pit toilets were clean, but not stocked. We hiked the Esmeralda Basin Trail (#1394) and turned right on the trail to Lake Ann at 3.2 miles. It's about 0.8 miles and 750 ft on a rocky trail to the ridge overlooking Lake Ann, with about one-third of the distance through a relatively flat meadow. With clear blue skies, the views are expansive from this ridge at 6500 ft. We decided this was a much better place than Fortune Creek Pass to relax and eat lunch. Aside from one other pair of dayhikers and two backpackers leaving from Lake Ann, we saw no other people during our 40-minute stay on the ridge. After crossing paths with about 20 backpackers heading to their cars during the first mile of our hike, we only encountered about a dozen other day hikers.
Details: 8.2 miles RT, 2250 ft. of elevation gain
Road: There are stretches of the 10 miles on the unpaved road with lots of potholes, there are stretches where there are none. Any car can make it to the trailhead
Trail: It's in good condition. The streams are easy to cross without getting wet. There are few places where the stream is running down the trail. A few short patches of mud seem to be drying up. There is one major downed tree at one of the switchbacks at about 2.3 miles. People have made a short trail that cuts short the switchback. There was one small patch of snow - on the flat part of the trail to Lake Ann.
Bugs: Nope
Wildflowers: Plenty of different wildflowers along the trail, with Jeffrey's shooting star being the most prevalent.
I-90 Traffic: Although we planned this hike to avoid the construction back-ups in the North Bend area, we still had slow-moving traffic between Cle Elum and Kacheelus Lake. It added about 25 minutes to our travel time.
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