My friend Haley and I hiked this on Wednesday around 1p and made it to Jade Lake around 6p.

The mileage to Jade Lake says 7, but we tracked it at 8.5. Opal Lake is about .5 miles from Jade, rather than the 2 miles the sign claims. 

Beware of nettle from miles 3.5-5. High brush between these miles, berries are just about ripe for picking. 

Saw bear poop on mile 3.5-4ish that was 2 days old. We were sure to make lots of noises while traipsing through the thick brush. 

On mile 5 you will cross two fallen trees after you hit a campsite with a well-established rock fire-pit. After the first tree-bridge, hang a left and after the second tree-bridge hang a right. The trail is nearly impossible to see at this point because it turns into boulders. You will need to veer right until you see cairns (stacked rocks) that signal where the trail is. This is a bit of a scramble until you get back onto the trail about .3 miles later. 

From here, it is 3ish miles of very rocky and steep uphill. Around mile 6 you will see a fallen tree that obstructs the entire trail. Be careful crossing over if your pack is heavy. 

Bugs at Jade and more at Opal and beyond I imagine. Clear sky. Beauty day. 

Enjoy!

B

I spent Independence day weekend in Necklace valley with my cat and my partner. While we were out, someone broke into my car. Fortunately I didn't have any valuables in there, but it was an unpleasant surprise to hike out to. Also, on our hike out, we found a gray sandal that someone had lost, so I picked it up and left it at the TH.

On to the trip report! When we got to the TH on Fri morning, the parking lot was completely full and there were a couple cars parked on the side of the road. We joined those roadside cars. Even though it seemed crowded, the groups were well spread out across the trail. We did not have a hard time finding a campsite.

The trail was in good shape for the most part, a few spots of mud, a few somewhat overgrown spots, a handful of blowdowns, all easy to navigate. There is a patch of stinging nettle somewhere around mile 4. A short portion of the trail next to Jade lake is underwater, so I took my boots and socks off for that part; if your boots are tall enough you'll stay dry. The snow around Jade, Emerald, and Opal is very patchy and melting quickly. Not too many bugs, but I'm sure they'll be out in full force soon enough.

Other than the break in, it was a great relaxing weekend trip! Will be coming back to do the full East and West fork Foss loop.

Went up and camped at Emerald Lake with my dog. It was a hot couple of days, but luckily there were lots of water crossings to cool us down!

At the East Fork Foss River crossing when you transition to the trail up to Necklace Valley, I got wet up to my knees getting over to the bridge. My dog was not thrilled about this component, but I was eventually able to get her up onto the footlog. The trail up to Necklace Valley transitions between sunny slopes and forest, and I was grateful for the shade. There is one challenging blow-down to get over with a dog and overnight pack, but otherwise blow-downs are easy to hop over. The trail is snow-free until the last 80ft up to Jade Lake, at which point the trail and boulders are covered with what I imagine is rapidly melting snow quite sketchy for postholing. I took the snow route up yesterday, but today I descended the rocks for the upper portion, while my dog braved the snow.

Parts of the trail along the eastern edge of Jade Lake are under water, including some snow-to-water transitions, so we just went ahead and got wet. In the first picture, you can see one of the sections where the trail is under water. There are some areas you can work around on rocks or snow, but there are a few spots where you just have to get in the water if walking the eastern shore. Crossing over from Jade Lake to the trail up to Emerald Lake meant a water crossing with a snowy exit, but this felt surprisingly fairly stable. After that it is mostly snow interspersed with sections of bare or wet trail. We walked up to the start of Opal Lake but didn't want to risk the post-holing route further, so we returned and camped at a nice dry spot above Emerald Lake's western shore. There were bugs throughout the hike and I got bit a few times, but deet kept things manageable.

We hiked to Opal lake and back over 4 days and 3 nights. Could definitely be done in less but we took our time.  First part 4-5 miles of the hike to the main river crossing are pretty easy but the foliage is definitely overgrown so if it's been raining you'll get pretty wet. You can always find the trail though, on this portion. There's a nice large patch of stinging nettle as well that none of us were able to avoid touching at some point as it sticks right out into the trail, but we just barreled through. We camped at a nice spot by Foss River and then hiked up to Emerald lake the next day.  There are a few rivers to cross. One of them has a bridge, but the river has spread a bit since it was built so on the way there, we got ankle deep crossing on an underwater branch, for those that could balance. The rest fell in up to their shins and knees. On the way back it was surprisingly higher because of the rain the night before so we took off our shoes and waded through. It would've been impossible to keep the socks and pants dry otherwise. We ended up walking barefoot back to the campsite by the river since the ground was soft from the rain.  There are also a few downed trees that require getting off the trail a little to climb over, but nothing difficult.  Once you get a bit beyond that, you'll start to hit snow. At Jade Lake, we weren't sure where the path went, but just followed around the edge and then on the opposite side, knew the general direction towards Emerald Lake.  There are a few parts that get a little challenging because the snow is melting and you're not sure if you're going to fall through a tree well or into the lake. If you don't have a GPS or know the area, it might be difficult to know how to get to the rest of the lakes since the path isn't visible. We camped at Emerald lake and then hiked towards Hinman the next day. We ended up not going all the way up due to weather though.  Overall it was a fun hike with lots of different obstacles and bugs weren't too bad at all!

Planned to camp near Jade or Emerald Lake on Wednesday afternoon. Approx 8 miles from the trailhead to Jade with 3000+ elevation gain. All river and stream crossings were easy and safe. The trail is pretty brushy, but still easy to follow. The encroaching brush will get you pretty damp; plan accordingly with gaiters and goretex boots if you have them! There are plenty of sections that are open and will allow you to dry off a bit before the subsequent brushy section. The boulder fields just before and surrounding the lake are still snow covered, but the snow is very thin and the likelihood of punching through and injuring yourself on the boulders below is high. I made it halfway around Jade Lake before punching through for the 5th or 6th time and deciding to turn back. The lakes are still mostly snow-filled, so not as lovely as they will be after melting out. I startled two medium size black bears at around 3200 ft. I was hiking alone and not making enough noise, which was a mistake. Fortunately, both turned and ran when they saw me. 16 mile round trip to Jade Lake. I'll wait until later in the summer to try this one again.