Lake Ann Teanaway

 Our goal was to hike to Lake Ann in the Teanaway along the Esmerelda Basin Trail, due to weather and trail conditions on the descent to the lake, we turned around shortly after the overlook. Our hike was 7 miles round trip with about 2,200 ft overall gain.
The trail follows along the North fork of the Teanaway River for a short ways up the Esmerelda Trail.

 Esmerelda Peak near the beginning of the trail, there is much less snow than was here one week ago when we hiked up to Lake Ingalls

 Esmerelda Peaks
there were lots of small streams to cross, but they were easy to cross on rocks in the creeks

 We didn't see any fungi along the trail, but we did see lots of this bright lichen

 View of some of the Esmerelda Peaks further up the trail













Creek coming down the hillside

 About 3 miles up the trail, we took the Lake Ann Trail, this is a short steep section up to the overlook
















Watching the clouds descend as we gain elevation

Larches and Lake Ann from the overlook

 We started to hike down the trail to the lake

 There was mixed snow and ice on the trail that we could see, with loose dirt underneath (Mt Ingalls in the background)

The wind was picking up, the exposure was steep and we made the decision to turn around as the storm seemed to be intensifying

 Taking photos as I returned to the overlook

 Lots of golden larches down around Lake Ann.













We also saw some fall color along the trail

Esmerelda Basin

 We drove out to the Teanaway to hike the Esmeralda Basin Trail up to the Lake Ann overlook. This is an 8 mile round trip hike with 2,234 ft of gain. We saw lots of wildflowers in bloom.

 There was lots of water in the North Fork of the Teanaway River

 bright yellow asters in bloom along the trail

















The meadows were filled with shooting stars, Esmeralda Peaks in the background

 Lots of streams went across the trail, these were easy to cross and most were lined with shooting stars

 View of Esmeralda Peaks from further up the trail

Trail opens up as it gains in elevation.

 Cascading creek with lots of shooting stars on the banks.

 squirrel

 About 3 miles from the trailhead, we took the trail on the right up towards Lake Ann. This is a steep trail. There were some glacier lilies still in bloom.


















In the far distance, above the clouds, we could see the top of Mt Rainier









Wide angle view from the ridge above Lake Ann looking northwards. Lake Ann below Ingalls Peak

 North west, we saw Mt Daniles, Hinman and Hawkins Peak in the distance.

 Views of Esmeralda Basin as we hike back down the trail.









some of the many wildflowers we saw in bloom along the trail today: