Like many others, I found it impossible to stay inside on such a nice day, so I took the day off and hit the trail. I was looking for a nice, long-ish, snow-free hike on a trail I hadn't been on before. After scouring recent trip reports, I selected this one. It has its pluses and minuses. The first five miles of the trail consist of flat, endless, straight-ish path. Aside from occassional glimpse upward at the surrounding peaks there isn't much in terms of scenery until the river crossing. So, lots of green. Not a lot of wildflowers right now. Nevertheless, any time on the trail on a nice day is better than a day in the office. There were a couple of splash-across stream crossings, a little bit of mud on the trail, some bugs (though not many), a couple of minor blowdowns, and several piles of shoo-do-do-wanna-be-like-you-doobie-doo (that's bear scat, if you couldn't figure it out). Nothing too unpleasant or even particularly unusual for this time of year. After the river crossing, I pushed ahead (and upward) for maybe another mile. The trail was snow-free as far as I went, though there were several larger blowdowns on that section of the trail.

Beautiful! Got to the trailhead at 6 am . Overcast but never rained on us. Dense Forest . Great trail we only went 3 miles in but I cant wait to go back ! In the fall the colors here would be unbelievable! Couple of little streams to cross over no biggy, pretty flat atleast as far as we went.

Beautiful late spring hike through a valley forest rich in wildflowers. Much of the trail winds along softly carpeted needles & cones. Three rustic bridges are crossed to get to the 5 mile turn-around point, the cedar bridge across the boiling white water was our favorite. Along a section on the trail near the river were several piles of bear scat. Poles were handy to step over the scat (just kidding) and especially handy for the stream crossings encounted along this peaceful meandering trail.

East Fork Foss River Trail 6/4/11 Solitude with a capital S. Only one other car at the trailhead. 15 creek crossings, 3 with bridges. Downed logs to cross. Excellent forest and flowers: trillium, calypso orchids, and yellow violets in profusion. The silence of the forest, birds calling, frogs croaking, water rushing and roaring. Some views of high snow capped peaks abover us too. 6 of us alone on the north edge of the Alpine Lake Wilderness. No snow. This is a low elevation trail that doesn’t climb much. Try it , you’ll like it.

Three day trip to Tank Lakes via Necklace Valley. Started on a Tuesday and only encountered one group of three, on the way out. Bug free! First five miles are a scenic forest stroll. The next few to Necklace Valley, however, are not pretty - rooty, rocky, muddy, wet, and steep. Not for the faint of heart, and, unfortunately, the lakes in the Necklace Valley are not worth the work - some are pretty (turquoise Ilswoot in particular) but the others are shallow and swampy. Press on to Tank Lakes, however, and you'll be in a pristine wonderland of granite, lakes, and tarns. A very special place. To get there, just follow the trail south to the end of the valley and keep an eye out for cairns, eventually ascending a medial moraine. It's a lot of boulder scrambling, but not too difficult if you take your time. There is no official trail, so have good route finding skills, appropriate gear, and be in good physical condition. This area is still in good shape - if you do go, follow Leave No Trace and help keep it that way!