Esmeralda Basin (Esmerelda) — Saturday, Jul. 29, 2006

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

We intended to hike the Ingalls Way trail in hopes of avoiding the rain on the west side, and because the book did not say ""no dogs"" and we were bringing our small shelty. Unforturnately, the Ingalls way he trail said ""dogs prohibited"" so we elected to hike to Esmerelda basin instead, where dogs, horses, mountain bikes and people are allowed. We met very few people, no other dogs, no horses or bikes. There were no bugs either, but perhaps that is because of the weather. The weather was rainy and cold -- hard to believe how cold after the 95+ weather last weekend. I was wearing all the clothes that I brought by the time we got to Fortune Creek pass. I think it was about 48 degrees, with wind and light rain. Some backpackers we saw said that it snowed during the night above 6000' The flowers were absolutely beautiful, fully in peak bloom, both in the dry and the damp meadows, and all the way up to the alpine meadow of the pass. We saw many different kinds of buckwheat including several kinds each yellow and white, scarlet gilea, red and yellow paintbrush, red columbine, monkshood,alpine bistort, a small alpine lupine, cotton sedge, many different species of yellow asters and some large purple asters, thistles. A botanist dream. Literally hundreds of species of flowers blooming. While the flowers are beautiful, the trees are another story. There is so much budworm infestation that the fir trees look dead, especially in the vally below the trailhead parking lot. The higher firs are not as infested.