Spent several nights at locket - a secluded, difficult to reach lake involving several hundred steep, rooty, brushy feet of ascent *and* descent each way with incorrect paths that cliff out 30' above the lake. On the way back each night I was cursing my decision to not stay closer to the head of the valley, but the solitude was nice and the lake was slabby and deep. 

There's only one campsite with 2-4 tent spots. I didn't see anyone until Friday night, and the group declined my cozy invitation. Shame, because I'd carried a bottle of whiskey up before I remembered I can't stand the stuff, and lugged (most of) it back down too.

Some campers at la bohn on grass in the meadows near the likes... yikes.

Spent three nights at Tank Lakes and took day hikes to Iron Cap Mountain and Otter Point. Fourth night at Jade Lake. 

Sunday 8/21 hiked up to Tank from the Necklace Valley TH. The mosquitoes at Tank Lake made quite a show of force, to the point where eating outside of the tent, even with a head net, was pretty uncomfortable. Was glad I brought my Crazy Creek chair so I could sit and hang out in the tent and escape the swarming clouds of mosquitoes, even if I could still hear them buzzing around constantly. 

Monday 8/22 day hike from Tank Lakes to Iron Cap Mountain: Getting to Iron Cap Gap was pretty straightforward and well-cairned. However, I couldn't quite figure out the route to the summit of Iron Cap approaching from Iron Cap Gap. The route up/around Iron Cap involve lots of boulder/talus traversing and I spent some time crossing through trees higher on the mountain and employing a lot of "tree belays" to make it across. I made it to the east peak of Iron Cap which is about 200 feet below the true summit, but quite a ways traversing to the northwest to get over to the actual summit. There is no easy way to get directly from the east summit to the true summit, as there is basically a chasm separating the two. 

Tuesday 8/23 day hike from Tank Lakes to Otter Point: While on Iron Cap I looked over at Otter Point to the north and it appeared to hold potential for a beautiful ridge walk, so I gave it a go on Tuesday. You can get up to the ridge by approaching from the second/northern Tank Lake, and then immediately to the northwest there is a fairly gradual ridge of large boulders. After a couple hundred feet of third class scrambling over said boulders, you're up on the ridge and can enjoy ambling along for a ways, with a bit of third class here and there, until you reach the summit of Otter Point. There are a few places where you need to cross over from the north to south side, but it's pretty straightforward. Just follow the most obvious line and try to avoid heavy tree/brush bushwhacking. There is a path that is discernible at times, but it didn't seem like Otter Point gets a ton of visitors. In the summit register which we were somewhat surprised to find, there were only four other ascents in 2022. 

Bugs at Jade Lake were not bad at all -- hardly any mosquitoes and mostly just tiny, innocuous flies. 

Overall a great time out in the mountains!

Jogged up Hinman today via East Fork Foss (Necklace Valley). I went up the Waterfall Route to La Bohn Gap then took the standard climber's route (class II) east to the summit.

Trail conditions: There are a few blowdowns before and after Jade Lake which will be annoying for backpackers. There's some brush in the lower portions of the trail, but not enough to slow you down or be painful (if you avoid the devil's club). Between Jade Lake and La Bohn Gap, the standard route (what's on opentopomap.org) is in great shape with no obstacles. There are great bridges on all the water crossings which can't be hopped over.

The scramble and gear: Above La Bohn Gap, I made a few deviations from the standard route based on where the snow patches are. The snow conditions made me wish I had magically acquired skis at the summit; there was 2-3 inches of corn/slush on a firm layer. This means spikes are almost useless (since they fill with slush) and any steps you do kick are slippery (unless you have boots and can really dig into the firm layer). There were one or two little patches of ice, but not enough to warrant gear. I brought spikes and put them on for the last push to the summit, then kept them on for half a mile on the way back (to the top of the short stretch of steep snow leading up the little point at 7250'). I stayed on lower-angle snow rather than rocks much more going back down, and should have heeded previous advice and done the same going up. The steep slope just before the summit was doable but it would have been more comfortable to wrap around further, following the standard route. Going down from the summit, I had a nice fast glissade down 75' and across 250' (my watch says I only hit 15 mph, but it felt faster, probably because it was quite bumpy). I'd have preferred to stay under 10 mph, but didn't want to dig my fingers in. If I were doing this again tomorrow, I'd leave the spikes at home and bring full-fingered gloves instead. The snow was perfect consistency today for finger cramponing.

Water: Every few miles. Last significant water before the summit is La Bohn Lakes, although there's a few little puddles and streams above that. The biggest of La Bohn Lakes is still 15% snow-covered.

Crowds: A ton of backpackers (~20 groups) up to Emerald Lake, but I didn't see anyone above that. Saw one or two sets of tracks up on Hinman, probably from yesterday. I got to the trailhead at 7 am and there were several spots open but quite a few cars along the road, presumably from backpackers arriving yesterday before day folks left.

See my route in the CalTopo map linked below, titled "Hinman 14AUG22" in the "Summer Hikes" folder. Also see a Google photo sphere I took from the summit.

Overall stats: 23.3 miles, 7100' gain, 8.25 hours (including 1 hour of breaks)

Day 1: Necklace Valley TH -> Jade Lake 7.4mi:

With some minor washboarding and shallow potholes, this gravel road was a dream for my sedan. Trailhead outhouse was stocked with toilet paper, plus someone put air fresheners inside, so all-in-all quite pleasant.

Trail starts off relatively flat, with the occasional bug. After the trail draws closes to the river ~3mi in, the bugs improved a bit, while the trail grew increasingly brushy. At 4.5mi, the trail crosses the river on a log bridge, then winds aggressively up through alternating talus, forest, and brush. Trekking poles were a nice bonus but not absolutely necessary for this section. Also noted several straightforward blowdowns to navigate. All water crossings were bridged or simple to rock-hop. Took almost 6hrs to reach Jade Lake including breaks/lunch.

Bugs descended en masse starting at Jade Lake and higher elevations. My blood generated so many free meals for mosquitoes, I believe I deserve a humanitarian award. Bug-spray seemed to grant a temporary reprieve, at best, and still I managed to get breakthrough bug-bites.

Camping situation at Jade Lake: PSA no campfires allowed after crossing the river above ~2200ft elevation. At Jade Lake, 1-2 sites at the outlet (cross the logjam), then 3 sites near the inlet (2 of these being shoreline prime real estate). If all these sites are taken, keep on going, there is a 4th site after the inlet on a mini plateau, and then many more between Jade and Emerald Lake. It seems like most people are taking the first available spots at Jade Lake, but spotted many open sites after Jade. Sites at Emerald Lake were divided between those overlooking the lake from above (right off the main trail), or taking a side trail down to the shoreline. There is also a very buggy public use log shelter with wooden slats right before Emerald Lake. Would have searched for Opal Lake's campsites, but the bugs cut my explorations short.

Day 2: day-hiked from Jade Lake to Tank Lakes ~2.1mi oneway

Spoiler alert, bugs did not improve while gaining elevation. Trail was straightforward to follow for the most part, with the occasional cairn, but lost track of the cairns in the endless talus field right below Tank Lakes, so some GPS assistance was beneficial. Trekking poles were also helpful in this section, as the cairns at times followed a ridge edge along a crumbly steep loose gravel path. Crossed two non-dangerous flat snowfields right before Tank Lakes, but otherwise no snow on the trail.

Camping situation at Tank Lakes: plenty of sites, but mostly exposed due to lack of trees, and so very buggy. Wandered around the lakes for a bit, but sadly could not sit still and enjoy the scenery, as any lack of motion seemed to be a beacon for mosquitoes. Ended up exploring some of the other lakes including Al Lake (but no lake was spared by bugs), and the bottom of the talus field below La Bohn Lakes. Hid in my tent to nurse my bugbites. Other than the bugs, it was a beautiful day to be outside.

Day 3: Jade Lake -> Necklace Valley TH:

Woke up at the crack of dawn, since I couldn't wait to escape the bugs. The mosquitoes were marginally less bothersome while packing up our gear, but still managed to get some bites. Hightailed it out of there, took ~4.5hrs to reach the car.

Visited Tank Lakes and crossed over towards the West Fork of the Foss River as part of a six day backpacking trip from Snoqualmie Pass. After straightforward hiking on the PCT to Waptus River, we hiked up and over Dutch Miller Gap and up the Spur Trail to Williams Lake. Cairns and a faint trail led us past the La Bohn Lakes and down into the Necklace Valley (8/4/2022). Relatively little snow remained; ice axes were not necessary.

After hiking into the Necklace valley, we hiked Opal Lake to Big Heart Lake on 8/5/2022 (on the Alpine Lakes High Route mentioned on the East Fork Foss page). Most of the snow is gone and only a few short easy snow crossings remain. Ice axes did not seem necessary. The largest challenge was route-finding near Iron Cap: GPS navigation can help with sparse cairns and some zig-zagging through small cliff bands. The ridge between Chetwood Lake and Big Heart Lake is not to be underestimated. While the trail is not too hard to follow, the steep grades were a challenge at the end of a long day.