Esmeralda Basin (Esmerelda) — Saturday, Jul. 26, 2025

Our plan was Lake Ingalls but apparently we missed the Ingalls Way intersection. We hiked up to the pass and went down the switch back a little bit, turned back after watching a few mountain blue birds. Mt Daniel dominated the north view at the pass.

Flowers were beautiful almost all the way, berries were ripe and tasty. Many hummingbird were flying quickly among flowers, hovering at the thistles. They are so tiny with shining feathers. Chickadees and maybe gray catbirds were active in the forest along the creek.