Just a very quick trip report to say the larches are still yellow(although starting to head a little more brown/lose needles). Also, a note that the trailhead is very small and cars will likely have to park far down the road if you get there late.

We arrived at the TH around 11 and it was packed - but once we hit the trail we saw very few hikers headed up to Lake Ann - everyone was headed to Lake Ingalls. And we were the only ones who spent the night. We brought our beefy MHW Skyview 3 and were glad we did - it was COLD! If it hadn't been windy we probably would have been ok, but the windchill was probably in the 20's so we hunkered down in our tent and cooked in the vestibule. We did see the most amazing phenomena - as the sun was setting in the west it lit up the cliffs over Lake Ann to a bright orange. It was amazing! The larches are golden but you can tell they are close to dropping their needles. 

We packed up quickly in the morning - no breakfast due to the cold weather - and stopped at one of the campsites further down the trail that was more protected for breakfast. On our way out we passed a number of hikers headed up to the lake, but very few backpackers. I remember hiking out on a Saturday in 2020 from Lake Ingalls and passing numerous backpackers heading up - I don't know how they were able to find a spot. 

This was our pups first overnight - and she did great! BTW - if anyone finds a blue water bottle with a folding lid I would love to retrieve it (it's one of those lids you flip up for your dog to drink out of).

First visit to Lake Ann, and she was a beauty this weekend.

TL;DR;

• Full Larching
• Esmerelda TH is the expected zoo...
• But 95%+ of folks heading to Lake Ingalls, not Lake Ann,
  • So the crowds disappear at the turn-off
• Trail in great shape
• Great views from saddle, and wonderful exploring round the lake

Approach:

• The road is in good shape, but the parking was an adventure
• Thanks to trip reports we knew it was going to be bad, so we just planned on an extra mile of walking
• TH Toilet un-stocked and a bit ripe, but not unexpected given the volume of folks this time of year

Lake Ann:

• Trail starts rocky, then gets much better up graded switchbacks, before getting a little rocky for final push up to the pass, and drop to the lake
• From the pass the views are amazing from rainier to glacier
• Lake Ann itself was much prettier then I expected
• Cool serpentinite to satisfy geology nerds

Great day, with great friends, thank you!

Daisy and I arrived at the Esmeralda Basin TH at around 8am on Thursday morning and got one of a few remaining spots in the parking lot. My pack was ready for 3 nights at Lake Ann, so off we went. Note: there were no pens or pencils in the registry box and I didn't have any so I was unable to sign a hiking permit.

We made it to our camping spot in less than 2 hours and had not seen a single soul. Everyone was at Ingalls, naturally. The lake was still in the shade at 10am and it was very windy so putting the tent up was a challenge but I got it done. We rested a bit and then wandered up to Van Epps pass just for fun. I wanted to summit but I hadn't carried any water and it was pretty hot at that point for Daisy so we just came back down. 

It was super windy, almost the entire time we were there. I am impressed that my tent held it together perfectly but it was very loud and made it hard to sleep. We ended up coming home a day early because I didn't want to spend another night inside a tornado and it was still windy on that side of the basin when we hiked out today. Daisy did great and had fun swimming and hopping rocks with me, she's so silly. 

On Friday we stayed around the lake and a few people filtered in and out but really not too many. The larches were perfect. The last time I was up there with the yellow larches, there was already quite a bit of snow. We hiked quite a long ways down Fortune Creek, until it flattened out. There are some pretty little waterfalls along there. 

Today, Saturday, we packed up and hiked out after deciding the wind was never stopping. I lost count of how many people were coming up to Lake Ann with their super friendly dogs. I've never seen so many people, but nothing like Ingalls, NOTHING remotely like that. Everyone was happy to not be on the other trail. Haha! 

When we were driving out, the cars were lined up along the road, both sides at times, almost 3 miles from the trailhead. It was a nightmare. I cannot even fathom how many people were at Lake Ingalls today, but I am so glad I was not one of them. I just hope they all pack it out. 

It took me forever to get out and the sheriff passed me at mile 1 going in, as i was leaving. When i got home I heard him on scanner ask for traffic control assistance from the forest service because "numerous vehicles" were stuck up there and could not move their vehicles. All for larches? Really? You can just drive over Blewett Pass and see larches. People know that, right? Lol. I just don't know how people have that kind of patience? Tolerance? Stamina? Sanity? 

Serenity now!! That's my mantra. I'm with Frank Costanza, 100%.

Oh god, I left my Rx sunglasses in my car and of course there were zero clouds for the entire time. So annoying. Don't do that! 😎

Happy hiking!

I did this hike five years ago. It was harder than I remembered mostly because of how rocky the trail is much of the way. The coarse rocks on the trail require watching your footing and work your ankle muscles.

We arrived at about 10:40am on a sunny Wednesday to a full parking lot and lots of cars parked down the road. We had to park at least half a mile below the parking lot and outhouse. It seemed that more folks headed to Lake Ingalls, but there were a good five groups we leapfrogged with going up and just as many coming down as we came up. We were still able to enjoy plenty of peace and quiet, though.

The trail description will get you there if you don’t miss the sign for Lake Ann looking at your feet like we did. We accidentally continued straight beyond the right hand turn and got to an alpine ridge line. We turned around, kept our eyes peeled for the sign, and found it nailed to a tree on the right bad sides of the trail as you climb up.

Make sure to look West as you get close to the ridge line above the lake to see Mt. Rainier frames by near peaks.

We didn’t hike all the way down to the lake because we’d had our fill of climbing once we got to the ridge. The few larches up on the ridge were at their peak, and I love looking down to the northeast and seeing the larches among the firs and pines below. The fall colors on the way up were equally beautiful.