Beautiful (and quiet!) day at Lake Ann! Got to the trailhead around 9:30am. Temperature was 28 degrees and the trail was hard frost, but not slippery. Saw a lot of interesting 'hair ice' - see last photo. The trail was snow covered (2-3 inches) after about 3 miles, just before the climb up to the pass above Lake Ann. Didn't need any traction gear. Pass was cold and windy, but had absolutely beautiful views with the contrast of the larches against the fresh snow. Ground had thawed and the trail was muddier on the way back down. Back to the car around 12:45pm. I would estimate there were 60 or so cars at the trailhead, with the vast majority going to Lake Ingalls. I passed about 10 people all day. 

Arrived at a packed trailhead around noon on Friday. We joined the rest, parking on the road. The crowds thinned immediately after the Lake Ingalls turnoff and we saw almost no one on the way up. Gorgeous larches reward the effort, and the scenery in general is amazing. We did get multiple stings by ground hornets on the way out, about 1.5 miles from the trailhead. That sucked, but didn't detract too much from the awesome hike!

Rant alert: There was an off-leash dog bounding through the forest, and I witnessed it scare a grouse. Not cool, dog owners. Off-leash dogs present a problem for wildlife and environment, not to mention other hikers. It's illegal for many reasons. Please don't be that person that giggles and says "oh she's friendly!" as your unleashed dog runs up to strangers.

Here's the TL:DR

This trail is completely underrated

The larches will only be good for a few more days

The road is in good shape

Parking was packed by 8:30

Bring your own TP

We arrived at the trail head at 8:30am to a full lot. Parking had extended on the left an 1/8^th of a mile down the road. The bathroom is usable, however there is no TP so you better have your own. The road is in good condition, no major potholes, wash-boarding, but a lot of that has been compacted down by other cars. There is enough room to pass(narrowly) so that's a nice change from some mountain roads.

Fortunately for us all the people in those cars were bound for lake Ingalls. The turnoff for Esmeralda basin is marked less than ¼ mile into the trail, everyone going right is going to lake Ingalls, so we went left.

The trail is a really gentle climb, slowly making it's way up the valley. The mountain views start immediately and get better from there. There are a few switchbacks but like I said, very gentle. We passed some beautiful golden meadows and yellow ferns. The larches aren't the only fall color on this trail!

We also did have the trail to ourselves 95% of the time. We passed less than 24 people and dogs going in and out. Unlike lake Ingalls this larch hike is dog friendly, so just about everyone we saw had their fur-baby, and they were all adorable!

This trail is also apparently graded for livestock, and we did see evidence of people having ridden their horses all the way to the lake. Must be an amazing trail-ride!

After a few steeper switchbacks up the scree slope we came to the sign for lake Ann. Keep an eye out, it's a nice wood sign on a tree on the right. The Esmeralda trail continues to make a long loop, so if you keep going that way have fun!

Once we started climbing to gain the ridge above lake Ann the trail gets steep. Halfway up it levels off into some pretty meadows, followed by the final ascent. I would rate the ascent as moderate, nothing crazy, but a beginner would probably find this section steeper. At the flat meadows we also saw a few really nice little camp spots.

This hike and lake are UNDERRATED! I gasped when I got to the top of the ridge and looked down into the basin/valley and the lake. The lake is bigger than it appears in pictures, and is a really unique mint color. The sheer eroding side of the mountains(Fortune peak and Ingalls Peaks) are amazing. The valley is sweeping, and there is a fantastic viewpoint to see for miles.

And did I mention the larches! You do not see them coming until you gain the top of the ridge. All of the larches have hidden in this valley and are nowhere else along the trail. So that moment when you reach the high point is really magical.

The larches are at or just past their peak. They will not last much longer. The larch at the top is perfectly golden.

We didn't go down to the lake(for timing reasons, saving it for another adventure). But the top of the ridge is more than reward enough. And did I mention we were alone?! A few other hikers with their pups passed us on their way down to the lake. But it is a special feeling being at a larch hike at peak season and having it all to yourself.

Also the scramble up the ridge to the top of Fortune mountain looks pretty fun(once again, an adventure for another day).

I've been on a lot of hikes, and said this many times. But I have to say that of all the places I've been this applies the most to this lake, “Pictures do not do it justice”. This is one you need to see to appreciate, it is gorgeous, and the pictures just don't capture the scale of this insane valley and mountain slopes, or even the size of the lake. Have I gushed about this trail enough?

We hiked back down, really easy descent. The hardest part is the rocky sections on the lake Ann spur. After that it's smooth sailing.

Another thing about this trail is the serpentine. These slopes erode serpentine, so there are a lot of really cool examples of the mineral along the trail, all shades of green.

The parking lot and road was insane upon our return. Saw some really creative parking at the lot, and the road did have people parking on both sides. Most people obeyed the rule to only park on the left, but not all. Didn't have trouble getting out so that was nice.

All in all an amazing trail, underrated, and full of magical larches!

Arrived around 11:30am and parking at the Lake Ingalls/Esmerelda Basin lot was crazy as predicted. Thankfully a Tacoma in a fun spot was just leaving and I parked my Jeep on the incline.

Originally I was going to do Esmerelda Basin but I talked to someone who had just come from Lake Ann and he mentioned great views and Larches (why I came) were plentiful at Lake Ann so that's what I did!

Hike is fairly exposed, so bring sunscreen or something to cover up if it's going to be sunny. The trail is well established and very pretty. This isn't a hard hike in my opinion, but it does offer great views and the lake is small but amazing, especially when surrounded by Larches. There's lots of large rocks around the lake to eat lunch at and enjoy the views.

Gaia reported 2394' of gain spread across 9.27 miles. The climb is a pretty steady one with small spikes here and there. The trail down to the lake might be the steepest part.

After four days of grey sky, the weather forecast for Friday was good. We wanted to go somewhere new and not crowded. A friend suggested Esmeralda Basin. So the friend, my wife and I drove to Esmeralda Basin Trailhead. The parking lot was full at 9:30 in the morning. We had to park 0.2 mile short of the trailhead. Most hikers headed to Lake Ingalls. The weather was sunny.  The temperature was chilly 31F.

We hiked Esmeralda Basin Trail and the trail was in good condition except one muddy spot and a tree down on the trail. After 3.5 miles with 1600 ft elevation gain, we reached the junction to Lake Ann Trail. We decided to take Lake Ann Trail. The trail is rather steep. After about 0.7 mile and 700 ft elevation gain we reached the saddle. We had great views overlooking Lake Ann surrounded by golden larches. We had lunch there and hang around over an hour to enjoy 360 degree mountain views. We were able to see Mount Rainier, Glacier Peak, Mountain Daniel and other Cascade Range mountains. We only met four people,  a backpacking senior couple on the way up and two ladies on a day hike on the way down.

More photos and our GPS track are in the links below.