My wife and I spent four days hiking the loop from the West Fork Foss River over the high route between Chetwoot and Tank Lakes and back through Necklace Valley. The reports on this hike, both here and at nwhikers.net, are very helpful, and I won't repeat a lot of what is said there. We stayed the first night at Big Heart Lake. The route from Big Heart to Chetwoot is well-defined and easy to follow as it goes up the ridge between Big Heart and Angeline, loses elevation as it angles toward Angeline, then climbs again to skirt the cliffs above Angeline before dropping to a saddle and then climbing to a pass above Chetwoot. Not difficult, but not fast either. Taking our time we got to Chetwoot for lunch. From Chetwoot we headed east up a large talus slope (skirting it when possible) and then traversed a steeper talus slope under the cliffs of the NW ridge of Iron Cap. We camped that night on a level buttress that juts out under the cliffs on the north end of that ridge. It was a spectacular spot, with grassy campsites amid slabs and boulders, though water availability might be a challenge sometimes. The only tarn with water remaining in it looked pretty unappetizing, but I found good snowmelt by climbing down from the north tip of the buttress. The next morning we rounded the ridge, still traveling on talus, and followed the draw up to Iron Cap Lake. From the lake we climbed NE on an accommodating series of slabs, but instead of going up to around 5800', as a number of others have done, we followed a bench (identified by Beckey) at around 5500' that contours around the north spur of Iron Cap. The route, which is cairned pretty regularly, drops steeply to about 5400' to get around the cliffs on the northern tip of the spur and then quickly regains the elevation once the tip is passed. This was Lisa's least favorite part of the route because it's steep--not really exposed, because there is a band of trees below you, but the grass and heather on that steep a slope can make for slippery footing. The bench continues along the east side of the spur, with some ups and downs, skirting the cliffs above, until you reach Iron Cap Pass. Most of the bench is covered by talus, so it entails a lot of boulder hopping, but apart from that it offers a pretty straightforward route. From the saddle we climbed up to Tank Lakes, where we spent the night along with a sizable chunk of the local mosquito population. We were glad we broke the off-trail part of the hike into two days because it allowed us to take our time. The boulder-hopping is extensive, and since a lot of the talus slopes are quite steep, it was good to feel like we had plenty of time and could take the necessary amount of care in negotiating them.

This is indeed a steep trail -- pretty level for the first five miles and then steep and rough for the next 2.5 miles. It's definitely harder than the typical 7.5 mile hike. But the lakes at the top are worth it. Really pretty, and even prettier as you go up toward La Bohn Gap and the Tank Lakes valley. There was no snow on the trail, and only a few tiny spots of mud. The bugs, on the other hand, were bad. They were on us almost all the time, even when we were moving pretty fast. In camp they drove us into the tent as soon as we finished cooking dinner. Let's hope they fade away soon.

Trail into valley is snow free with just a couple of established blow downs. Once you leave the valley snow starts about 5300 feet. The back wall of the valley with the gap leading up to Labonne lakes/chain lakes had too much snow to be passable without climbing equipment. The valley to the right up to Tank, Tahl, Bonnie etc was fine. Did a lot of rambling around up there. Good little lakes for skinny dipping right now. Found a route to Labonne lakes around the backside via Chain Lakes. Upper lakes are still full of snow but are melting out. If you haven't been on this hike before, just a navigation tip. at about 5 miles you'll hit a camp site by the river. Just go straight and a bit to the left and you'll find the continuation of the trail. A bit after that there is a nice river crossing on a footbridge/log with a rail. Continue up the trail on the left side of the stream coming out of Necklace Valley for a bit. The trail will suddenly end and there will be a log off to your right. Follow the trail markings and cairns across the stream on the log and then up through the rock slide to intersect the old trail in about 50 yards from the stream. One other navigation tip. After you get to the first lake, the trail crosses the stream at the head (far end) of the lake just past the big camp site. There are TONS of mosquitoes in the valley. Also recommend NOT camping too close to the lakes in the valley as you'll end up getting soaked in dew.

The East Fork Foss/Necklace Valley trail is a very easy 10.6 mile round trip with only 1200' gain up a gentle narrow woodland valley. We did not actually climb up to the Necklace Valley proper where all the spectacular lakes are. We turned around at the base of the steep part. We were a bit confused about the trailhead. We came to a parking lot off of the West Foss road. There was no sign on the road but inside where the trail actually starts is a sign for "Necklace Valley". The first mile is a very easy, pleasant walk in the woods. Then comes a bridge that is not as scary as it looks. At a little under 5 miles is a really scary log crossing made worse with slippery snow. Beyond that is a log bridge with a handrail. So far so good. Finally at 5.3 miles comes a difficult log crossing marked with cairns on either bank. From there the trail goes straight up into the rocks and snow and clouds. We didn't do that. There is fresh snow on the upper parts of the trail, soft and mushy. We cleared all but two blowdowns and one messy place - all of which are easily crossed. Normal water on the trail from the snow melt. Two blue tags for WTA indicating work points. All in all a very good lowland hike - 3 hours in, 2 hours out. When summer comes, this trail will be overgrown in places, especially on some puncheons which have become nurse logs for new trees.

This is a splendid early season trail with very little altitude gain and lots of deep forest and foliage to admire. The trailhead is well marked at a parking lot just a little beyond the Tonga Ridge road off of the Foss River Road. The first mile is through lush 2nd growth forest to a bridge that is sturdier than it looks. Up to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness sign the blowdowns have been cleared. For about the next 2.5 miles there are some large blowdowns but we cut the branches so they are easy to cross. A WTA crew was working out there today and they constructed some very nice drainage. At just over 3 miles there are nice big rocks down a the river for a rest and lunch. From there to the bluff gets a bit overgrown and then comes the really nasty blowdown mess where we turned around. Lots of flowers if you look for them: bunchberry, bleeding hearts, wild ginger, devil's club, skunk cabbage, foam flower and solomon seal,vanilla leaf and violets. We even found a calypso orchid. Also two frogs. A frog on the trail is good luck.