Did the Esmeralda peak loop. Fall colors are great right now.

Parked at the De Roux trailhead, headed north along the internal trail to Esmeralda parking, then to Esmeralda pass, Gallagher head, and back to the car. My trip time was 4:15 at a quick paste - half an hour to Esmeralda parking, another 1:15 to the pass, another hour to Gallagher head.

Trail is in very good condition, good tread  

Decided to do a clockwise loop around Esmeralda Peaks. And to avoid hiking up to the car - have started from De Roux campground-  instead of Lake Ingalis trailhead.

Road

The road up to Twentynine Pines is covered woth asphalt and joy to drive. After Twentinine Pines campground it's quite rough with a lot of round and deep potholes. But it's passable even in sedans if you drive slow and carefully.

Weather

It was raining almost whole day. From a light drizzle to the heavy rain to light snow on Fortune Creek pass.

Creek Crossing

Dr Roux creek is full of water and impossible to cross at the place marked on AllTrails Gaia maps. We had to walk along the western shore of the creek in a search of a passable place. Found a small island on the creek, jumped over one stream, then built a small dam out of large rocks, complimented it with a log. Passable. Took almost 30 minutes to cross.

Coordinates of the crossing: N47.43258 W120.97581

Going up from the Jeep Trail to the pass - was miserable - about 50 mp/h winds, light snow, exposed to elements from all sides.

hallf way between the junction with the trail to Lake Ann and junction with the trail to Lake Ingalis - a very devastating view of the forest that was cut like with a knife with what seems to be an avalanche. Two separate chutes - where trees are broken around 10 ft from the ground - ALL trees. Each chute is about 500 ft wide. Hope nobly was hurt on injured when it happened.

Overall - nice hike with nice views - even considering the rain!

The larches are not golden yet, but there are still a few flowers in bloom, many other fall colors coming out, and the Teanaway geology is on the display with the beautifully colored rocks, Thanks to yd2003 for the great trip report that showed me the way and let me know the route was free of blowdowns. Thank you Forest Service, the road is in great shape.   

Starting at Esmeralda, I hiked counter clockwise and added a side trip to the pass above Lake Ann (highly recommended, great views). Starting at 7:30 on this partly sunny Monday, I only saw 2 pairs of hikers the whole day over 13.2 miles. When I do it again, I'll start at De Roux and start by hiking up the road to Esmeralda, the connector trail from DeRoux to Esmeralda has lots of loose rocks and goes up 400', not a great way to finish the 4000' of gain over the day.   

The unpaved section of road to the trailhead is in good shape, with the washboard the roughest in the first 1-2 miles. After that, most cars should be able to go at least 20 mph with no problem. Since I hiked the loop clockwise, I began at the Deroux trailhead; the turnoff for it is about 2 miles from the main road end.

The trail varies widely in terms of quality, the worst section being between Gallagher Head Lake and Fortune Creek Pass. The rest of the tread is average to good with no blowdowns and is snow free. There are multiple small areas of water across the trail between Fortune Creek Pass and the Esmerelda Basin trailhead, but nothing that will pose a problem. As far as water supply is concerned, the longest stretch without it is between the crossing of Deroux Creek and the entrance to the meadow below Gallagher. 

The trail crosses the creek almost immediately, and climbs a bit to a junction at 1 mile. Go right here and begin the first extended climbing of the day. As you go higher the trail will switchback numerous times with views back down the valley. The path levels briefly among thinning trees and some flowers before climbing again to finally view the stream you've been hearing as it cascades over the rocks. This is a great place for a rest stop, but you can also go around the corner and relax next to the creek before it plunges over the edge. A very idyllic spot.

The way stays level for a while as it travels through meadows with flowers currently on spectacular display. Soon the way climbs again, although not too steeply with long switchbacks. You come out to the lake at about 4 miles. It's a little too civilized for my taste, with a road accessing the area and a picnic table. The lake is OK, but the wheel tracks in the meadows are a disgrace. I think it looks better than the last time I was here though.

Now begins the bad stretch of the route. There are no signs here, so find the road and turn right, contouring the lake. First there are large pools of water to evade, then the road turns downhill, steep and rocky. Keep right at junctions (two as I recall) until you come to the clearly marked Esmerelda Basin trail on your right, about 1 mile from the lake. Quite straight and steep for 1/4 mile or so, then just steep with switchbacks. This section to Fortune Creek Pass has been degraded by wheels, so be prepared for a bit of slipping and lots of dust. In a seemingly long mile, achieve the pass. Great views of Hawkins Mountain and Mt Daniel, which revealed themselves on the way up. I've been here three or four times and it's always been windy.

Now drop down into Esmerelda Basin with the Esmerelda Peaks on your right. This is nice going through rocky meadows and slowly increasing forest. There is a Y in the trail about a mile or so from the pass that is signed but can be a bit confusing. Go left at the Y; I believe right goes to campsites. It's easy walking from here to the trailhead.

No one likes road walking, so I took the horse trail from the basin trailhead to complete the loop. The trail is not in good shape, but you save a bit of mileage as it lets you out right in the parking area where you started. I think you have to double back if you take the road. Don't take it if you don't like pie.:)

This is a pretty nice loop, but hikers should remember it is multiple use, so the trail can be deep and dusty at times. I saw two groups of mountain bikers and one of motorcyclists, along with two groups of hikers. If you don't want the whole loop, just make it separate day hikes to Gallagher Head Lake and Fortune Creek Pass. You still get a lot of the benefits, but cut out the 2+ miles of poor road/trail between the lake and the pass.  

This was the third time going to Lake Ann for an overnight and my second attempt at the loop. The previous trips/attempt resulted in horrible weather conditions (snow in July, dense fog) - there is something about the Lake Ann area that draws storm clouds. For this trip, however, there was not a cloud in the sky nearly the entire two days. I left my car at DeRoux, took the trail that parallels the road and started at Esmeralda trailhead. 

I hiked about 5.5 miles to the Lake Ann trail and set up camp in the meadow area. The stream that runs through the meadow is still running and is lined with Jeffrey Shootingstars. The evening was windy and blissfully bug-free. The clouds stayed away and the temps dropped while the winds picked up; the trade-off was amazing stargazing including the Milky Way.

The next day, I packed up and headed toward Fortune Creek Pass which has a full-on view of Mt Daniel. From there, I kept climbing steeply, crossing a couple of snowfields, until I couldn't figure out where the trail was. I checked Gaia and saw that I was headed for the summit of an unnamed peak. When I backtracked, I could clearly see the trail I should have taken that descends from the pass. However, it is not so obvious when you are at the pass that the trail goes over the other side, so keep that in mind.

From the pass, the trail descends, gently at first, then more steeply until you come to the road which is a 4x4 jeep road. It is not an easy stroll as it ascends the head of the valley without switchbacks and has plenty of standing water in places. After all that work, you will be at Gallagher Head Lake... and will probably want to keep moving. Bugs, tire tracks in the meadows and a little trash - not a pristine wilderness experience. Once you get on a trail again, you will mostly descend. One highlight is the meadow below the lake which has some nice camp areas. Otherwise, not too exciting of a trail.

Flowers: Lupine seems to dominate so far, but there is also Jeffrey Shootingstar, Columbine, Paintbrush and others. 

Social Distancing: I was thrilled to note that 100% of hikers on the loop wore a mask and gave space when passing. Wow! Good job, Teanaway hikers - keep it up!