Esmeralda Basin (Esmerelda), Lake Ann & Fortune Creek-Van Epps — Friday, Sep. 22, 2023

A friend and I did a 2-night backpack up to Lake Ann to enjoy some solitude, and this trip not only met but exceeded expectations.  Yes, there were obnoxious yellowjackets waiting for us at the parking lot when we got there, but they were just curious and not in the sting-y mood, thankfully, and once we left the parking lot, there were no annoying bugs - yay! 

The trail is in good shape and easy to follow, though a little rocky in some places.  It felt like a steady grade much of the way on the way up with a few surprisingly long switchbacks once you're near the head of the valley.  Turn around once in awhile, you'll enjoy the view down the valley! Silly us (me, more accurately) didn't look at our maps closely and thought it was going to be a gentle stroll from the junction with the trail to Lake Ann all the way to the lake.  Well, we got a bonus 500-600 feet of elevation gain getting to the ridge overlooking the lake - oof.  But what a view!

Spent two nights at a nice spot overlooking the lake looking west towards much of the central Cascades - amazing spot, with barely another human soul to disturb the peace.  We had an amazing sunset and starry sky the first night, but the rain on the second day that briefly turned to snow in the evening clouded out our second sunset.  

On Day 2 we enjoyed an off-trail adventure past Lake Ann up to the wilderness boundary between Ingalls Peak and some lesser high points on the ridge - what fun! Saw some mountain goat fur up there, but other than that, a mouse coming to check us out at our dinner spot rounded out our wildlife encounters.  Even so, we were glad to have our bear can with us.  Mr. Mouse was persistent!

Saw a few nice looking camp sites in the basin as we hiked up, and saw one other person camp at the Lake on night 1, but it was just us on night 2 - yay!  I thoroughly enjoyed the sense of being out in the wilderness on this trip, even though you're not technically within a wilderness boundary.  I'd do this one again!