Why haven’t I hiked this trail before? I guess I figured it was “too far out of the way” but turns out it is a quick 4.2 miles from Hwy 2 and you’re ready to hike! I was very happy to see my dog Mittens get so excited at the trailhead in the rig. She almost couldn’t wait for me to get ready and loaded up with gear before letting her out! She is learning quickly…. The day was absolutely perfect for forest photography: thick overcast and occasional showers to make the lush green glow with life! There is no dirt in the Necklace Valley since the lush carpet of moss and flowers covers it all! I didn’t hike a step all day without having dozens of trilliums and yellow violets within view. We passed a huge herd of calypso orchids in full bloom at about milepost 1.5 and Mittens wondered why I came to a screeching halt and was looking through my cameras for the next 15 minutes! The moss covered rough sawn “boardwalks” were so beautiful as they winded through marshy areas filled with the huge leaves of the skunk cabbage plants. At three miles we passed the small lakes off of the river and by milepost 4 we were eating lunch down smack on an overlook of the mighty East Fork Foss River. The roaring torrent of the spring melt was so loud I was having a hard time hearing what all Mittens was trying to tell me! Ha ha ha. We turned back just prior to the river crossing at five miles as I knew we wouldn’t be trying to cross THIS river on a foot-log with a hyper 15-month old border collie in tow! Hiking back we both were re-energized from our break and food break (Mittens loves P&J sandwiches as much as I do!). We finally actually saw other humans on the trail when we got back about two miles from the trailhead as two middle aged ladies were on their annual hike up this lovely forest valley. Where were the people? This is one of the longest low elevation spring forest hikes available in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and yet no one was using the trail the day before Memorial Day weekend? Strange. We took one last long 30+ minute stop at the incredible mossy bridge over a huge creek about 1.5 miles from the trailhead as I photographed many angles of the bridge, the water, the waterfalls, the mossy rocks, and the lazy dog by the bridge. It was nice to see that both of us were ready to succeed at hiking eight miles together, and we should be well ready to tackle the summer and fall mega-trips for our next photo project together that will take us to all corners of the Northwest together over the next 15 months! Got my first skeeter bite of the 2003 season also, which is well worth commemorating. FLORA NOTED: (partial list) Western trillium Fairy bells Wild ginger Yellow violet Devils club Thimbleberry Salmonberry Twinflower

I managed to get my Subaru wagon up to the Tonga Ridge road junction, and probably could have driven farther, but why risk getting stuck to save a half of a mile? The snow ended soon after the summer trailhead was reached, and stayed snow-free for almost 2 miles. The snow kicked in again around the wilderness boundary. It was 6 inches deep at it's maximum. At about 3 to 3 1/2 miles from the car was a beautiful swampy, grassy meadow leading down towards the river. Only two other people were seen, and I was there all day. This is a much better winter hike when you don't have to walk almost two miles just to get to the trailhead. I started at 10 am and finished up at 4 pm, 6 hours to go 7 miles with a little bit of off-trail exploration thrown in also.

We set out Saturday afternoon for an overnight excursion up the east fork Foss River. Following the directions listed in Snowshoe Routes-Washington. We parked just before the railroad trestle on Foss River Road, and set out with winter gear, snowshoes strapped to the packs. There was up to six inches of snow on the road as we followed it 1.8 miles to the trailhead. The snow on the trail varied from nothing to four inches or so. The only tracks belonged to us and a deer. Since we got a late start we only went a mile in. There was a campsite just past the Burn Creek bridge. The creek roared us to sleep that night. The next day, awakening to enough fresh snow to fill our tracks from the day before, we headed on up the trail a ways with partial packs. About two miles away from camp we stopped to admire a wide spot in the river that had iced over. It was framed with perfectly flocked trees and beautiful towering mountain sides. We found this a peaceful place to have some lunch. The birds sang to us for a while but soon became silent as the clouds started to drop along with the temperature. Before we had packed up the remains of our lunch it was snowing. It was back to camp for us and then back to the car and home. On the road hike out we amused ourselves by attempting to catch the falling snow on our toungs, giggling all the way. Our spirits had been refreshed!

Four of us were on the East Fork Foss River trail # 1062 at 8:20 AM on Friday, October 11, 2002 under overcast skies and temperatures in the 40s. The trail into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness is in great shape as it meanders for five miles gaining only 600 feet through forest before the crossing of the river. The fall colors were subdued by the gray skies. As the bridge area is approached, the old broken bridge comes into view first, which brought on fallen feelings, as it would not have been passable. Travel a few more feet to see the nice new bridge, with a handrail too! Across the bridge the going becomes more challenging as it crosses a big log and heads up a steep talus field to the trail. Over the next 3 miles, the trail gains 2,600 feet through mostly forested slopes. The trail was in generally good condition although a few patches could be described as mud bogs. There are also enough roots, rocks, and water in a few places to suit most anyone’s fancy. A couple of downed trees were easy to get around. The trail along the shoreline of Jade Lake has been built up of rock to provide a lake edge trail with views into the clear depths of the lake and of LaBohn Peak beyond the end of Necklace Valley. Pressing onward, we arrived at Emerald Lake (4,800 feet) at 3:00 PM. The snow of the previous day still clung to the trees and in patches on the ground. The lake is disappointingly shallow. The Adirondack shelter on the west side was built in 1950, is now rather rustic, but is still usable. We pitched camp a hundred yards or so away where the views of the shelter amidst the rugged mountain setting added a measure of ambiance. By 5:30 PM, the temperature had fallen to 28° F under partly cloudy skies. Shorter days this time of year brought darkness by 7:00 PM and bedtime. Saturday morning was cold enough to solidly freeze the mushy and muddy areas. Hoar frost was everywhere under foot. After breakfast in the low 20s, we continued south-south-westerly toward the end of Necklace Valley, passing Opal Lake under bright, clear, warming skies which melted off the snow on the trees and ground. One party member waited for us there while the other three of us scrambled up a lower snow field and steepening talus slope toward LaBohn Gap, with the goal of summiting LaBohn Peak. The upper snow field in the visible gap was thoroughly iced over. Too hard to kick steps into. An ice axe could not effectively penetrate it. Crampons were needed, but not available. While one skilled rock enthusiast managed to scramble up to the ridge, the other two found the rock walls too challenging. After trying for an hour and a half, we all turned back toward camp. A twisted ankle of one party member on the return significantly slowed our return to camp and exit on Sunday. Saturday night was cool, clear, and breezy with mild frost on Sunday morning. The fall colors were brilliant along the lower five miles of the trail on Sunday. No bugs to speak of all weekend.

Trail is in decent shape, although lots of mud in the last mile. Completely snowfree until about a mile beyond Emerald. There was about 10 overnighters in the area that I noticed but there's a lot of camping space - especially around Emerald. Footlogs makes all the crossings very easy. Nice recent footbridge at the 5 mile crossing. Lots and lots of bugs.