This is a nice, easy hike along the East Fork Foss River. The first two miles are on the road leading to the summer trailhead. The road is open to motorized traffic, but on a nice Tuesday there was nobody except two cross-country skiers. No snowshoes are necessary, as I made out just fine with cleats. Good hiking boots would also have sufficed. What a change when entering the actual trail portion! It was like a tunnel into the forest primeval. There were lots of trees down, the trail is rather primitve, and there were plenty of big trees. I felt like Lewis, and I think my dog Daisy felt like Clark. We only went about three of the five miles of trail until you would then have to climb up the avalanche chute to the Necklace valley. There are lots of side trails and such off to the river on your right. This would be a great rainy-day hike, or anytime you wanted to see some good old-growth without doing a lot of vertical feet.

Fleetfoot and I started hiking at 1:15. One couple in front of us. Parking lot full. Couple of guys just came down. Many cedar stumps with springboard notches in them. Temp. is great for hiking. Many ups and downs- we begin to wonder if we are going to get to the river crossing. We pass young couple and lone hiker just before river. Large campsite in here is taken. We break at river- lone hiker goes on. Just on other side of river we meet a guy trying to give away food before going out. We trade a quart of water for a can of spam. Just about 4 o’clock as we head up rocks. Gain several hundred feet quickly then traverse uphill some. About 12 ladies come down from dayhike. Even though it is overcast it gets warm in here. Lots of bugs on lower section but not too bad as we go up. Pass lone hiker and break at Memorial Bridge. Couple adults with kids going down to site by river. About 800 feet of elevation from here but with lots of mud, rocks and roots. Trail seems to go on forever. Hopefully most people are out as we are tired and now plan to stop at first spot we see- had hoped to go to Ilswoot. On and on but we finally reach Jade lake- site at north end is taken. We spot another tent at south end- lucky us there is another spot. We stop. Lone hiker comes right behind us-he finds a spot. It is 6:45 –put tent up and get dinner going. Young couple come by. Call it a night at 9o’clock. Up at 7o’clock. Have warm Spam on bagel. Would like to see Al and Locket lakes but first to Emerald with lighter packs. Pass tents at Emerald and Opal lakes. Check at shelter built in 50’s.Trail is friendly in here as we go to end of basin. Take a break to decide if we want to go up by La Bohn lakes. No ice axes so we go toward Foehn lakes. Follow stream up rocks and decide to go for saddle between peaks 6263 and 6585. Take break by large rock- we set a 1o’clock turnaround time- 9:30 now so we leave our packs and head up more. Sloan peak and Glacier Peak come into view. Still some snow fields in here. Fleetfoot finds glacier glasses under a rock. About 10 o’clock we are heading up to saddle. Lots of loose rocks as we get off snow-little better above. WOW! What a view-Summit Chief, Chimmy Rock and Overcoat Pk..We can see a little of IronCap- La Bohn lakes and Foehn lakes. Our turn around time has arrived so we will not get to Tank lakes. Slowly down this section and back to our packs by 110’clock. Marmots and pika in the area. We want to get to Ilswoot as the food guy said the color was out of this world. A group camped here. We ask if a short swim will disturb their fishing. No! It has been sunny this morning but overcast now. I am not to sure about a swim but fleetfoot goes for it. I must also get the first swim of the year in. Cold- in and out. Little cross-country gets us to Jade at 1:15. Side trip to Ilswoot worth the delay- will have to get to Al and Locket some other time. Start back at 1:40. One couple and group of four going in. Back to car at 6:30-very tired. First backpack of the year. Excellent!!

My wife and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary by taking a fantastic seven-day backpacking trip to the Necklace Valley (6/30/01 through 7/6/01). Once again Washington Online Weather was right on and we enjoyed blue skies the entire trip. The Necklace Valley is virtually snow free, all the campsites are open, and the snow line is consistent at approximately 5,500 feet. We had a great time investigating most of the lakes and the countless social trails, but the highlight of our trip was a hike to Foehn and Tank Lakes (both lakes starting to melt, up to three feet plus of snow but South facing hillsides were clear). The views from Foehn to Glacier Peak and from South Tank Lake to Summit Chief and Iron Cap Mountain were fantastic! That entire area has outstanding scenery and cairns from the valley floor marked the route. My wife and I also visited the “Streeter” cabin and enjoyed reading all the messages. We were particularly impressed with the Marken family history spanning three generations from 6/76 through 8/00. Despite the great weather there were very few backpackers in the area. We did see evidence of two reported backpackers who lugged their skies up the trail and skied down the large snow patch that ascends from the end of the valley floor just SW of La Bohn Lakes. I assumed they went on to greater adventures. We also met two day hikers and several other overnight parties. We saw marmot, pika, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and a garter snake, tons of birds, frogs galore, and fish. (Oh, did I forget to mention mosquitoes!) There were no signs of any large animals such as deer or bear. As I write this report my body still aches from hiking out on 7/6/01. The final three miles of trail from the East Fork of the Foss River to Jade Lake isn’t difficult just because it gains 2,400 feet, it’s because it gains this altitude through an obstacle course of roots, rocks, and mud. However, the effort is well rewarded. The bridge across the East Fork Foss River is damaged at the West end but is passable with minimal caution. Parts of the first five miles of trail through the Foss river valley is heavily overgrown with devils club and nettles next to the trail. Lastly, be prepared for low over flights by military jets coming down the Necklace valley at about 350 knots, they are very loud and very low. We received an early Fourth of July show on 7/3/01 at 18:38 while eating our dinner at Emerald Lake.

We looked for a one overnight trip in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness that would provide adventure and views without the crowds. We planned on first making it to the Necklace Valley and then deciding on whether to continue to the Tank Lakes. We left the parking lot, 1600 feet elevation, at around 10:45. The first 5 miles, relatively flat, were pain free with a couple logs over the trail that were easily passable. After a lunch break, we began the grueling 3 mile ascent to the Necklace Valley. The way was steep and a little rocky, but our swift pace made the going tougher. By 3 p.m. we reached the first of the lakes, Jade Lake, a spectacular sub alpine lake at about 4,700 feet. All the lakes and surrounding area were snow free. Continuing past Emerald Lake, we took a break near a cascading stream. From this area, an alpine high route outlined in Beckey's guide climbs up through the sub alpine forest and rock terraces to the Tank Lakes plateau. Descriptions of a “unique alpine tableland” with “ice-polished granite” and “scattered evergreens” motivated us to continue. We found a faint trail, but it ended within 100 meters. Compass and map came out and a cross country adventure began. In this portion, the mosquitoes were in a frenzy. We hurried to the snowfields above reaching the half-frozen Foehn Lake (5,600+) where the mosquitoes were nowhere to be seen. After a magnificent walk across the plateau, we reached Tank Lakes (5,800) at little over 5 p.m. The higher lake was still about half frozen and the lower lake was ice free. The descriptions of the tableland were accurate. Setting up camp on a grassy knoll between the two lakes, we enjoyed a commanding view of Chimney Rock and Summit Chief mountain. The calm, mosquito-free conditions prevailed throughout the evening. After a beautiful sunset and wonderful weather in the morning we decided to climb higher to Otter Point (6,350) which is described as a “stroll”. In actuality the ridge is very long, involved some precarious boulder crossings with exposure on both sides, and potentially dangerous snow patches. After gaining the ridge at about 6,100 we decided not to waste the time (possibly 2 hours) to gain a little more elevation. We enjoyed views of Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, Mt. Hinman, the Olympic mountains, Mt. Rainier poking out from behind Chimney Rock, and host of other mountains. We began our descent at about 11:00. A quick glissade and jog through heather meadows brought us back to the trail in 25 minutes. Continuing down, we reached the West Fork Foss River for lunch at 1:00 and the parking lot at 3:15.

This was our first hike in the Cascades since moving here from Alaska. It was a great trip! Since we haven't hiked in a while, the grind up to the lakes was tiring but definatly worth all the pain! The trail is in pretty good shape with some wet and muddy spots at the upper end of the trail. We didn't encounter any snow until right before Jade Lake. It's only patchy snow and for the most part, could be walked on without punching through. All the lakes are 100% open. Some of the good campsites are still covered by snow but with a little patience a nice place to rest our weary heads was found. We did venture up towards La Bohn gap but did not hike through. Decided to explore all the lakes in the valley instead. We camped for three nights and only saw two groups hiking out on Sunday. It was great to have this whole place to ourselves. Even the bugs weren't there to enjoy it with us. Not much wildlife was seen except for frogs and snakes. We saw three snakes in one spot on the way up and another in the same spot on the way down. Since Alaska doesn't have snakes we were very surpised and shocked!! Keep your eyes out for them!