Quick report for an overnight at Tank Lakes on 8.15-16

Road to trailhead was fine for all vehicles with a few potholes to avoid. The lot was already full when I got there at 6.20 a.m. on Saturday but I got a spot on the side of the road easily. There was a sign at the trailhead saying no fee required.

The first 4 miles of this hike were super mellow through the woods, changing to abrupt uphill after the river. Maybe a little brushy in spots, but not too bad. Loads of berries! We huffed up to Jade Lake in the heat, where my friend took a swim and we had lunch before carrying on.

Saw two (maybe three) bears by Emerald Lake in the bushes on the other side of the lake from where we were.

The way up to Tank past Emerald and Opal through the moraine was actually more difficult than I had expected, with no super-discernible path, lots of boulders to hop (always fun with an overnight pack on a sweltering day!) and just exposed to the sun. The trail on my map followed the ridge up, which would have probably been easier than what we did which was staying lower on the side of it for a ways before cutting up.

Tank Lake was beautiful and there were quite a few groups of people camping there although there is quite a bit of room to spread out. Mosquitoes were HORRIBLE. Maybe the worst I've had this season. I hid in my tent for a while and was also glad I brought a headnet and light rain gear to keep them off. I still got eaten though.

The next morning we made our way partially to Otter Point but ended up off route and decided to just turn back after scrambling to a spot on the ridge with a good view of the Upper Tank Lake, wandering by Foehn Lake in the process. The whole area was lovely, full of tumbled granite, lakes and tarns (mosquito breeding lands!) and just fun to wander around in.

We got off trail again in the moraine although we did follow the ridge down this time, but ended up rock hopping down the river instead and met up with the La Bohn Lakes trail which we took back to the trail we came up on.

Started out on Friday morning about 11am, took the last spot in the very small lot. We made it to the river crossing no problem, then the fun began. We had intentions of making it to Emerald lake for the night but it took us 7 hours to get to Jade lake so we found a spot on the north end and camped.
The bugs were horrendous. 3/5 in our group had mosquito nets that seemed to work, they were everywhere!
Woke up to soggy and misty conditions and decided to hike up to emerald, opal, Lockett and Al lakes. We took a little scramble up the ridges in hopes of seeing Tank lake and the other mountains but it was too foggy. The trail isn’t well marked and there are lots of side trails leading to the different lakes but we found our way back easily. It was crowded on Saturday too wjth lots of people looking for sites.
We heard rumors of bears at Jade lake, but luckily hung our food bags before we left and nothing was disturbed.

Sunday was beautiful for the hike out, bugs were much better after the major descent to the river crossing. Made it out in about 5hours.

Started out on Friday morning about 11am, took the last spot in the very small lot. We made it to the river crossing no problem, then the fun began. We had intentions of making it to Emerald lake for the night but it took us 7 hours to get to Jade lake so we found a spot on the north end and camped.
The bugs were horrendous. 3/5 in our group had mosquito nets that seemed to work, they were everywhere!
Woke up to soggy and misty conditions and decided to hike up to emerald, opal, Lockett and Al lakes. We took a little scramble up the ridges in hopes of seeing Tank lake and the other mountains but it was too foggy. The trail isn’t well marked and there are lots of side trails leading to the different lakes but we found our way back easily. It was crowded on Saturday too wjth lots of people looking for sites.
We heard rumors of bears at Jade lake, but luckily hung our food bags before we left and nothing was disturbed.

Sunday was beautiful for the hike out, bugs were much better after the major descent to the river crossing. Made it out in about 5hours.

My friend Jack and I arrived at the trailhead Friday night around 9pm. We managed to get nearly 4 miles in the dark to a nice campsite by the river. It was warm and humid - there was no dew in the morning and I slept mostly out of my sleeping bag. We started hiking again at ~8:30am Saturday and the trail quickly got hot and difficult going up the valley. I had chosen to wear big boots the whole trip instead of a mix of boots and trail runners (which Jack did) and it became clear this was a mistake as soon as we hit the uphill, as I could tell that I was already developing blisters. 

Once we reached the cabin at ~7 miles we looked around for a spot in the area (all the nice Jade lake spots were taken) and found a really nice one on the N end of Emerald. I was curious about Lake Ilswoot but we weren't sure how much of a detour that would be so we didn't scout it out (it looked very pretty from Hinman though). We then started hiking up to La Bohn gap in the early afternoon (~1pm). Make sure not to follow the trail that veers right soon after the Necklace Valley cabin if you're trying to reach La Bohn gap as that will lead up to a different part of the ridge (though I went that way on a previous trip and it was also very pretty there). We made that mistake and corrected partway up by bushwacking back to the right trail - it was not a long detour.

The trail disappears at the edge of the boulder/scree field. We were checking a route Jack had saved on Gaia which said to go up left towards the waterfall, but it looked impossible that a trail would exist there so we decide to scramble straight for the saddle, which was fun and not too challenging. Once on top, we headed up the ridge towards Hinman. The Beckey book said 2 hrs for this scramble - it took us far longer. It's 1.7 miles of mostly scrambling over boulders and between that and not being able to see the cairns were significantly slowed down. Near the summit there's a small snowfield but we were able to cross that without crampons in just ~10 minutes and reach the top. The views from here were amazing and we spent awhile admiring Bears Breast and Summit Chief to our immediate S as well as a view of Stuart across the valley past Daniel. Glacier and Adams could also be seen at a distance.

We started descending at around 6:30pm. Our original plan was to try and do a big circle and also do La Bohn Peak and Otter Point before circling back to our campsite, but this was clearly not an option anymore if we were to make it back before dark. The scramble down was much quicker but it still took us awhile to reach the Gap again. We made our way past a few people camping to the edge of the gap. On the way down, we actually found the route that we had dismissed on the way up - this is an amazing and steep trail that follows the waterfall. I was very enchanted with the scenery at the gap and with the trail in particular - one of the coolest I've experienced in awhile. I'll definitely be back sometime to camp somewhere up there rather than experiencing it in passing. 

We made it finally back to our campsite at Emerald around 10-10:30pm and found that another party had camped in our general area as well. We ate a quick dinner and went to bed, rising again at a little past 7 in the morning. The hike out Sunday was brutal, as I was tired from the previous day, and now my feet were especially hot and blistered. Nonetheless, we slowly made it out and reached the trailhead around 2pm. 

I strongly recommend this area! I think the ideal way to do this would be with 3 full days and to camp up at La Bohn Gap both nights, using the middle day to scramble the surrounding peaks. The campsites we found were also very nice but after seeing the area up there, that seems like the place to be. We both felt that it had the beauty of the Enchantments but without all the people.

My friend Jack and I arrived at the trailhead Friday night around 9pm. We managed to get nearly 4 miles in the dark to a nice campsite by the river. It was warm and humid - there was no dew in the morning and I slept mostly out of my sleeping bag. We started hiking again at ~8:30am Saturday and the trail quickly got hot and difficult going up the valley. I had chosen to wear big boots the whole trip instead of a mix of boots and trail runners (which Jack did) and it became clear this was a mistake as soon as we hit the uphill, as I could tell that I was already developing blisters. 

Once we reached the cabin at ~7 miles we looked around for a spot in the area (all the nice Jade lake spots were taken) and found a really nice one on the N end of Emerald. I was curious about Lake Ilswoot but we weren't sure how much of a detour that would be so we didn't scout it out (it looked very pretty from Hinman though). We then started hiking up to La Bohn gap in the early afternoon (~1pm). Make sure not to follow the trail that veers right soon after the Necklace Valley cabin if you're trying to reach La Bohn gap as that will lead up to a different part of the ridge (though I went that way on a previous trip and it was also very pretty there). We made that mistake and corrected partway up by bushwacking back to the right trail - it was not a long detour.

The trail disappears at the edge of the boulder/scree field. We were checking a route Jack had saved on Gaia which said to go up left towards the waterfall, but it looked impossible that a trail would exist there so we decide to scramble straight for the saddle, which was fun and not too challenging. Once on top, we headed up the ridge towards Hinman. The Beckey book said 2 hrs for this scramble - it took us far longer. It's 1.7 miles of mostly scrambling over boulders and between that and not being able to see the cairns were significantly slowed down. Near the summit there's a small snowfield but we were able to cross that without crampons in just ~10 minutes and reach the top. The views from here were amazing and we spent awhile admiring Bears Breast and Summit Chief to our immediate S as well as a view of Stuart across the valley past Daniel. Glacier and Adams could also be seen at a distance.

We started descending at around 6:30pm. Our original plan was to try and do a big circle and also do La Bohn Peak and Otter Point before circling back to our campsite, but this was clearly not an option anymore if we were to make it back before dark. The scramble down was much quicker but it still took us awhile to reach the Gap again. We made our way past a few people camping to the edge of the gap. On the way down, we actually found the route that we had dismissed on the way up - this is an amazing and steep trail that follows the waterfall. I was very enchanted with the scenery at the gap and with the trail in particular - one of the coolest I've experienced in awhile. I'll definitely be back sometime to camp somewhere up there rather than experiencing it in passing. 

We made it finally back to our campsite at Emerald around 10-10:30pm and found that another party had camped in our general area as well. We ate a quick dinner and went to bed, rising again at a little past 7 in the morning. The hike out Sunday was brutal, as I was tired from the previous day, and now my feet were especially hot and blistered. Nonetheless, we slowly made it out and reached the trailhead around 2pm. 

I strongly recommend this area! I think the ideal way to do this would be with 3 full days and to camp up at La Bohn Gap both nights, using the middle day to scramble the surrounding peaks. The campsites we found were also very nice but after seeing the area up there, that seems like the place to be. We both felt that it had the beauty of the Enchantments but without all the people.