Hiked this trail yesterday with 2 dogs after seeing recent trip report from PiperMarmalade. There is indeed lots of water for dogs which was great.

Only saw 3 orher cars in the lot on a Friday and encountered just one pair of hikers which meant ai had the lake to myself. I was surprised not to see more people.

No snow until the flat section after the lake cutoff. No traction needed here but having a downloaded map was useful here even though the section is short since the trail occasionally disappears.

Then no snow until the descent to the lake. Here I opted to make may way down the boulder field to avoid snow descent. Lots of pink snow here which isn't pretty but an indication of climate change as we see more of this in late spring.

Mostly straightforward hike but a few steeper sections along the way. The dogs loved it but it was difficult to keep them from the pink snow.

Arrvied to the trailhead around 0800 this morning. There were only about 10 cars. The road is easily driveable. There are some potholes that can be avoided and some washboard.

This trail is very well graded! The first three miles don't feel steep, more so just rolling hills with a few switchbacks. We counted 25 stream crossings today - nothing difficult, as there are rocks and logs to step on. Only a few downed trees, again, nothing difficult to navigate around. 

Once at the junction for Lake Ann, the trail gets a bit steeper with scree and large rocks. Around 3.5 miles in, we encountered some snow on the trail. The last few piles of snow that remain are quickly melting. 

As we neared the view point of Lake Ann, a mountain goat appeared! He was pretty curious and a little territorial. I walked back down a bit because we had our dog. A few other individuals passed us to go summit a nearby peak, and the goat took interest in following them. As we went back to the overlook, we saw the goat coming back, so we decided not to go down to the lake today and found a great spot a bit lower down on the trail to watch climbers headed up some of the Esmerelda Peaks.

This trail is absolutely beautiful. Views of all of the peaks, the blue lake and Mt Rainier made for a perfect hike. We heard some pikas and saw a marmot as well. It never felt busy, we only saw a few larger backpacking groups on our way down.

It took us about 4.5 hours round-trip, with a lot of stops for photos. 8.2 miles with 2300' gain. Will definitely be back to backpack and check out the larches in the fall.

Penny's first hike up to our favorite, Lake Ann, was today! Wow, I cannot believe how much less snow there is than there was at this time a year ago! The lake is melted out. I was shocked. The trail down to the lake is almost melted out. There are some deep piles of snow on the way up to the ridge above Lake Ann, but nothing even remotely similar to last June. I didn't have to find the trail. 

This is the best time for hiking this trail if you hike with dogs because there is plenty of water, so you don't have to carry extra for them. They were very happy because it was hot. 

We arrived a bit late to the TH, around 9. There were maybe a handful of cars in the lot. We saw a couple just starting off to Long's Pass in the parking lot and then no one else all day. There were no pens or pencils in the registration box.

I got one or two mosquito bites but considering how long we stayed at the lake it wasn't a big deal. Daisy had to swim in every section, of course. Plenty more flowers than this time last year as well. 

I have a huge headache but the girls had a lot of fun and are snoring so my job here is done. Happy hiking!

A dusting of new snow fell last night, most of which had burned off by mid day but upper elevation shaded areas still held snow into the afternoon. It wasn't enough to need our micro spikes but enough to make the rocks and logs pretty slick and iced over. The majority of the trail is well graded and gradual making for an easy climb with just a bit of a steep push right before the drop down into the lake basin. Most people stop here at the lookout point, but a quick 300' down to the lakeshore offers a nice perspective of the towering surrounding peaks. Lots of water sources along the route for our dog to stop for a drink so no need to carry too much water at once. This is a nice less-crowded alternative to Ingalls Lake, where dogs are not permitted. Larches are well past their golden peak and have dropped most needles by now... i wouldn't really consider this a "larch hike" anyways since there are only a handful scattered around the lake.

Gaia track showed 8.75 miles and 2500' vert. It looks like the stats listed on WTA don't account for the last drop down into the lake basin, since most people stop at the saddle. 

got to the trailhead around 10:45a, and realized that a lot more people had indigenous people day off than I thought. parked about 0.5 miles from the th.

the initial parts of the hike are gradual climb, picking up at the end. the hike down to the lake from the saddle seems squirrelly, and it is. the view from the top is pretty great, so I think some people had a nice lunch there and headed back. I went down to the lake and hung out a bit.

total moving time was about 3.5 hrs, with 9.6 miles (though I have been suspecting that my Garmin watch is overestimating the distance), and 2600ft elevation gain.

https://strava.app.link/hS77b31qINb