Two of us did a day hike to the river and back (10+ miles).  For this section, there was no significant snow (except for one low ridge), and few obstacles (3-4 downed trees that were no more than a minor inconvenience to get over).  I understand from folks we met on the trail, however, that the snow increased significantly after the river and route finding became necessary.

Most of the trail that we hiked was in great shape.  Not much in the way of great vistas, but a lot of variety along the trailscape, and some very interesting tree sculptures.  The minor elevation changes never presented a challenge, and the bugs, though plentiful, were not particularly aggressive.

The trail was lightly travelled, so we did not run into very many people.  We saw, what looked like, 3-4 inviting camp areas along the route, but only one real campsite (with room for 5-6 tents, if you don't mind the company) at the river.

The trail starts as an easy, straightforward hike with plenty of native plants and trees. Trillium ovatum and viola sempervirens were in full bloom. However, it becomes steep and more difficult as it progresses. The mosquitoes were a bit annoying and will probably be worse later in the season. The snow melt is creating some lovely streams/ falls at this time of year; be prepared to get your boots wet.

Hiked a ways up the trail and admired plenty signs of spring. The mosquitoes plentiful, so bring repellent. We we only encountered one other hiker. This is a fine destination if you want a snow free route. Recent trail work fixed the failed bridge (big thanks. That was a big job).  I thought I remembered a sign identifying the trail head. It's gone. Mark your mileage from US2 and use the first trail head past the 4 mile mark (it's on the left)

After bonking last week while coming down with a nasty cold, I wanted something easy to stretch the legs and get some fresh air to help me recover. Necklace Valley delivered! What a gorgeous hike. I can see bringing kids and "non-hikers" to at least the first bridge (~1mile round trip) to show off how beautiful our mountains are.

US2 was clear all the way to Foss Lake Road. Both Foss Lake Road and FR 68 were damp but clear. There are some minor potholes and washboards on FR68, but I had no issues in my FrontWD compact.

I intended to head up to the valley and get to the Foss River bridge, or solar noon - whichever happened first - and then have lunch and go back. I arrived at the TH at 0830, no other cars. I took a leisurely pace, stopping for lots of pictures. The promised rain never happened, but there were scattered sun showers. I didn't see snow until about 2000', and then only off-trail in open (in the sense of devil's club and viny maple) meadows. There wasn't any snow on the trail until about half a mile from the Foss River bridge, and that was shallow and melting fast. I was about a mile from the bridge at solar noon, so I pushed on for it. My pace was especially pokey because I'm sick and I had to take lots of photos of the waterfalls. I encountered one other person and his two dogs, he said we were the only cars in the lot.

The Foss River bridge took a direct hit from a blowdown. It's still there, but it appears that that the river pushed a blowdown over it, wrecking about half the handrail and putting a sizable obstacle across the tread. This is why I mentioned "Obstacles on Trail", but be advised the trail up to the bridge is in good shape.

I double backed to the camping area, fixed lunch, and made it back to the car in about 2.25 hours. Overall I spent about 7 hours on the trail; GPS shows 10.4 miles and 1000` of elevation for a very leisurely, warm, sunny hike. The rain came at about 16:00, and it was dumping really well for a while, slowing all the ski traffic on US2 even more. I had assumed that if I got back onto the road before dark, I'd miss enough of the traffic from Steven's Pass - I was wrong. I'll probably stay off US2 on the weekends until the ski area closes.

Yay!  The funky bridge across Burn Creek has been rebuilt!  Thank you, whoever did this work.  The East Fork Foss trail is an easy, pleasant walk in the woods from the trailhead all the way to the Foss Creek crossing.  It is 5 miles one way with a gain of only 600 ft.  The first section up to the bridge has a few rocky parts but otherwise a gentle ascent.  A ways after the bridge is a small blowdown, easy to step over.  Alturas "Lake" is about the midpoint of the hike.  It is really a marsh rather than a lake but it does open up the forest a bit for some views.

Past Alturas is a series of old puncheons, overgrown, mossy, and crowded on both sides by vegetation.  It would take a crew several days to clean and refurbish them.  There are two washouts further on which consist mainly of stony debris over the trail.  Easy to cross and we built cairns at the larger one.   We turned around at the small ravine which is bridged by a slippery wet log.