This was Daisy's first backpacking experience and she did great! Both of us loathe fireworks and since Ellensburg has a huge show on the 3rd and then other people light off their own all day and night on the 4th, we took off for the mountains on Monday to escape all of it. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of crowds but was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of parking in the Esmeralda Basin lot at 5:45pm on Monday.

We didn't see anyone else all evening and when we arrived at the lake, we only had to share it with 1,462,873 mosquitoes. Yes, the mosquitoes were monsters. I brought bug spray, thank god, that helped a little, but they weren't all that disgusted by it apparently because I am covered in bites. I quickly set up our lakefront estate so we could seek refuge before watching the sunset.

It was really windy overnight, but thankfully we had no issues with the tent and I actually hoped the wind would get rid of some bugs. The next morning I made coffee and went outside to watch the sunrise and immediately the mosquitoes swarmed me. It's just so maddening!! As long as we weren't standing or sitting still it was somewhat tolerable, so we must have circumnavigated the lake 5 or 6 times on Tuesday and hiked down the Creek bed and just tried to keep moving. A few people filtered in and out. Then Jen and her pup, Lucy, showed up and Daisy and Lucy had a blast playing together. Unfortunately they weren't staying all night. After they left we were alone again until just before sunset when another couple came down and set up their tent on the west end of the lake. 

This morning when we hiked out, we didn't see anyone and there were only a handful of cars in the lot. I stopped at the Teanaway Country Store on my way out - SUPER AWESOME PLACE - and she said that even the actual campgrounds were only about 1/3 full for the holiday. 

Daisy got to swim a lot and play in the snow and climb on big rocks and sleep in a tent! We definitely appreciated the solitude and we didn't hear a single firework, and guess what? I can still be thankful for my country without blowing stuff up. Yay America! Silence is a beautiful thing. 

There is a lot of water on the trail right now for pups. Mosquitoes weren't too awful on the trail itself unless you lingered. Keep moving. I lost Daisy's bright pink dog leash on our way up the Esmeralda Basin section of the trail. I had so many things in my hands and on my backpack and on my front (pack) - it was a trip- you all would have laughed at me - I didn't even notice I had dropped it until we were almost up the ridge overlooking the lake. Was hoping someone left it at the trailhead but it was nowhere to be found. 

Flowers are everywhere. Probably close to peek. Oh and please remember the Teanaway is free range this time of year and there may be cows on the road. On my way out I came around a corner and there were two baby calves standing right in my lane. Thank goodness I was paying attention. 

Toilet at the TH was clean and there was a little bit of TP left when I arrived on Monday but it had been nicely restocked when I left today. A +

Happy Hiking! 

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.

Trail is snow free except for 2-3 small patches on the flat section. No major blow downs. Ran into a mountain goat at the pass above the lake, it didn’t seem aggressive but a good reminder that it’s smart to keep dogs leashed.

Were intending to go for Esmeralda Basin, but also took the side trip up to the ridge above Lake Ann.

Stunning views - the peaks are snowy and beautiful. Snow basically from the parking lot, plenty of route-finding required. Make sure you have some navigation tools you're comfortable with. 

We tried to traverse along the ridge for a bit, but were getting into waist-deep drifts - it's just going to get deeper. Probably a good place to have more gear. 

We also took a little dip in the swimming hole right before the parking lot - plenty refreshing!

I went looking for larches in a dog friendly destination, and they didn’t disappoint! This was my first solo backpacking trip, and it went okay! I got a very late start (arrived at 3:30) so luckily people were leaving and I got a spot in the lot- there were cars allllll down the road. There were lots of little streams along the trail even in late fall, turns out I didn’t need to bring extra water for the dog. I found the trail pretty pleasant, up until the turn-off to Lake Ann, where it gets steep and rocky. Just as I started regretting my life choices, a view of Mt Rainier appeared to cheer me up. The lake was prettier than the trail description led me to believe, especially surrounded by golden larches. There were 3 other tents on a Saturday night, and I only saw one other unoccupied established tent site. In all, a really lovely hike!