We hiked to Lake Ann on Tuesday and stayed over night until Wednesday. Our journey started off a bit strange. On the drive up NF-9737 we ran across what appeared to be a horse bit and reigns. Soon after a horse appeared on the road. It was packed and ready to go. This prompted us to leave the horse and head back to where I saw part of the harness. We searched the area for a few minutes for a rider. We saw nothing. Headed back up the road we came across a stable. The horse was in the parking lot with a couple of young adults. I gave them the reigns and they explained it had run off from being spooked by a dog. This was a huge relief.

At the trail we geared up. It was hot, probably close to 90 degrees. This area is generally very dry. It's best to bring a bit more water than you'd normally hike with. The hiking can be difficult at times. This is due to the grade and the trail conditions. Horses use the trail and it can get chewed up in some places. 

We made it to Lake Ann in a couple of hours. There we setup camp. There weren't any other campers.

The lake is a great place to take a dip. The water is warming as the snow melt is pretty much gone and the lake is pretty shallow. We weren't sure if we should drink from it and discussed it for quite some time. There aren't many other options for water at or around the lake. Also, the lake water was fairly clear, didn't smell and seemed to be moving a bit. We filtered it and boiled it for 3 minutes. This took time but made sense for the time of year. 

There are bugs at Lake Ann but they weren't too bad. 

The wildlife consisted of marmots and picas. They can be seen and heard from the rocky slopes surrounding the lake. Occasionally mountain goats hang out here, but we didn't see any.

The morning we departed smoke rolled in and visibility was pretty poor. 

All in all, we had a good stay and ran into maybe 4 people on the trail. Lake Ann was a ghost town. 

Brent Magill

Hiked up DeRoux creek to Gallheger Head Lake. Then down the off road vehicle road to the Esmeralda Trail up to Fortune Creek Pass. Once there we headed to Lake Ann and then returned down the Esmeralda trail to the parking lot and road back to the DeRoux trailhead.

Overall 14 miles and 3600’ of elevation.

First of all wow. The trail is in great shape! Maybe one or two trees down but for this distance that was no problem. The trail up DeRoux to GH Lake had ripe huckleberries up to about 4500’. We ate a few and picked a few for the evening cocktail.

The trail up to GH lake was nice, shaded and well graded. As you climb and cross DeRoux creek for the last time there was lots of camping likely for horses.

GH Lake is very scenic but not very deep. You might be able to walk across it but I didn’t try. There were 5 jeeps there camping. I walked down the jeep road wondering “is it really that bad?” Yes. It was quite rutty, rocky, with mud pits. Do not try it without the right equipment and experience.

Once I made it to the Esmeralda trail the climb was maybe 800’ to the pass. There were several switchbacks and the views were lovely. Mt Daniel and Cathedral Rock were constantly in view.

We rested at Fortune Creek Pass and then headed to Lake Ann. It was probably more of a climb than I wanted but again the views and flowers pulled me along. Mt Rainier came into view as we climbed higher.

Once at the pass Glacier Peak came into view and also Lake Ann below. There is basically one switchback and then down the hill to the lake. We were serenaded by pika and marmots.

The lake is full and the outflow stream is flowing. I waded into the lake and took a brief swim. The lake is a pretty color but not that deep. It was colder than I expected due to the snowmelt. There were a lot of bugs.

We had lunch and then departed back to the car. Lots of flowers along the way! Several streams are still flowing which is good because it was getting hot and my pup stopped to take some drinks as we passed.

We passed a string of horses on their way to camp for the night. The rest of the trip to the Esmeralda parking lot was uneventful. Unfortunately we had to walk 1-2 miles on the gravel road back to the car. Next time I’ll walk on the trail as there will be more shade.

Overall a great trip!

If you love wildflowers, now is the perfect time to hike this trail! The abundance and variety of flowers had us exclaiming "wow, look at all the wildflowers!" over and over again. As beautiful as the views are, they really stole the show for us.

The trail is in great condition, albeit the turn off to Lake Ann is quite loose and rocky in several places, which posed more of an issue going down the trail than up. The teensy bit of snow left on the trail was completely melted out by the second day. Road conditions are great as well, just a few pot holes to watch out for. We took our Forester, but I think our low riding Mazda could have handled it too.

Bugs were non-existent on the trail, and not too much of an issue for us at camp. Mosquitoes were somewhat annoying in the evening, but not enough to bring the bug spray out. I think the story would have been very different had we camped at one of the sites right by the lake, but we stayed at the site on the ridge side of the trail, which provided great views of the surrounding mountains.

As others have mentioned, there aren't too many camping sites by Lake Ann, and by Friday evening(July 4th) it seemed every viable spot was occupied. The sites are pretty spread out, however, and it felt quiet and peaceful.

If you have the time an energy for a little more exploration, make sure to continue down the trail past the lake for a few tenths of a mile. The scenery(and wildflowers!) really took my breath away. But even if you only hike to the ridge above Lake Ann, this trail is well worth your time. We'll be back!  

Over July 4 weekend, we attempted a 2 night backpack loop from the Esmerelda TH > Lake Ann (night 1) > Van Epps Trail > Jack Creek Trail > Lake Ingalls (night 2, at campsites below lake) > exit back to TH. In total, about 17-20 miles.

We made it, but readers should know that the Van Epps Trail is effectively nonexistent and the Jack Creek trail is extremely overgrown and covered in blowdowns. Kind of a suffer-fest. This loop is only possible if you're cool with 5+ miles of off-trail hiking through a burn scar. Once we left the jeep track by Van Epps Mine, the trail very quickly petered out into nothing, which left us navigating by dead reckoning through the 8-year-old Jack Creek Fire burn scar. The footing was actually ok, with a lot of open ground and good visibility between the dead snags, but we still had to climb over tons of dead trees and the going was slow. Because we were already bushwhacking, we opted to "cut the corner" transitioning from the Van Epps drainage to the Jack Creek basin, as shown in the Gaia screenshot, which probably shaved 2 miles off. Our ascent up the Jack Creek trail to Stuart Pass went better - there was at least a trail to follow there, though it was in quite poor condition (faint, overgrown, covered in blowdowns) until the last couple miles below Stuart Pass where the trail quality finally improved. 

Overall, I would not recommend this route for anyone but the most experienced hikers comfortable with off-trail navigation and challenging terrain. This adventure was a reminder that trails marked on Gaia don't always exist in real life. 

On the bright side: no snow, minimal bugs everywhere but right at Lakes Ann and Ingalls, beautiful wildflowers, and lots of solitude. 

Yes, we went back to Lake Ann AGAIN, because, well why not? We always go away for fireworks because I hate them as much as the dogs do. Last year we were at Lake Ann and it was perfect, so we went and did it again. 

Overall it was an amazing trip. The mosquitoes tried to ruin it, they were blood thirsty maniacs. I brought everything but the kitchen sink and the bug spray, so ended up wearing my hoodie and pants for the better part of three days. There were a few hours where they seemed to take a break, but they never failed to come back.

The flowers are basically at peak right now so get moving if you want to see them in Esmeralda and the Lake Ann area. They're phenomenal. I saw some thimbleberry plants but all the berries were gone. 

We arrived on Wednesday morning and were the only ones at the lake when I set up camp. Later in the day another group showed up, but it was pretty low-key until a lot more people started coming in on Friday night. I don't normally hike or camp on weekends so it probably wasn't even a lot of people at all, it was just more than I am accustomed to. Everyone was perfectly respectful and neighborly. 

We hiked down Fortune Creek probably about a mile on Thursday. If you get a chance, it's a little sketchy in a few spots but looking back up at the waterfall is beautiful. There is a light boot path in some places. I found a mylar balloon (uggh - balloons) deflated in the water down there so I hauled it back up and packed it out. 

Friday we scrambled up high on the north side of Fortune Peak. I wanted to do the summit again but it was a bit hot for my Penny dog, so we just went up below the gully and came back down. Rock hopping makes me happy regardless. 

We packed up and came home this morning (Saturday) after three nights of quiet and NO fireworks. This was our first time camping with Penny and she did great. I just forgot how much more 'EVERYTHING' it is with two dogs rather than just one. I'm spent.

Go see the flowers! Stop by the Teanaway Country Store too! The cutest stuff, gift ideas, plus the necessities. I love the Teanaway!! And yes, we love Lake Ann.