Necklace Valley & Tank Lakes, August 29-31, 2024

I finally made it back to Necklace Valley with a two night stay at Tank Lakes.  I haven’t been in this area for 7 or 8 years and have only visited Tank Lakes on a day trip and have been wanting to stay overnight here ever since.  It certainly did not disappoint.  Since Labor Day weekend was arriving (a warm and sunny one at that), I wanted to get an early start so started my trip on Thursday to beat most of the crowd.  Well, that was definitely a wise decision, more on that later.

The Particulars:

Arrived at the Necklace Valley Trailhead at 9:30am on Thursday, August 29th.  The road to the TH is in good shape, only a few potholes here and there.  There were 15 cars in the lot with about 5 open spots when I arrived.  The privy at the TH was well stocked with TP.

The first 5 miles of the trail to the Foss River crossing was in great condition.  There were 2 blowdowns, one on the first bridge you cross, which is an easy step over and another about 1.5-2 miles up the trail that you need to crawl under.  The trail up (and up) from the river to Jade Lake is also in good condition.  There is one branchy blowdown at about 2,900 feet that you need to awkwardly crawl over and another blowdown up near Jade Lake that is an easy step over.

The blueberries and huckleberries in Necklace Valley are at peak ripeness and deliciousness right now.  These are all along the trail west of Emerald and Opal Lakes.  

The wild flowers are looking lovely along the rocky moraine up to Tank Lakes.  I am always amazed how these fragile flowers grow in such rocky terrain.

Mosquitoes were a bit of a nuisance at Tank Lakes.  I didn’t apply repellent the first night I was there since it was chilly anyway and I put on extra layers.  But I did put a little bit of 30% DEET on the second night when they seemed to be most active between 5:30pm and 8:00pm, which kept them at bay.  The mossys basically disappeared right after 8:00pm on both nights, which is apparently their bedtime.

I measured the water temperature in Tank Lake to be 54 degrees.  A bit chilly for me, but I saw a few folks and many dogs over the two days cooling off in it.

When I arrived back at the East Fork TH on Saturday, Aug 31st at about 6:00pm I was surprised that there were a few open spots in the actual lot, but I assume those spots opened when some folks returned.  However, I counted approximately 100, YES 100, cars parked along the road.  So, a little spoiler alert on how busy it got later.  The privy at the lot was still stocked with TP.

In addition, I gave a backpacker, who did the Alpine Lakes High Route counterclockwise, a ride back to the West Fork Foss River TH and there were at least 50 cars there, many also along the road.  Sorry, I didn’t check the privy there.

Main Report:

Day 1, August 29th

The first 5 miles to the East Fork Foss river crossing is pleasant.  Note that it isn’t as flat as the trail descriptions make it seem to be.  There is still a bit of up and down, but it is relatively easy compared to what is coming up.  As you approach the river crossing, pause and admire the huge cedars that the loggers somehow missed back in the day.  There is a fallen one that is truly massive, at least 10 feet in diameter that you cannot miss.  The first log bridge crossing over the river has a nice handrail.  You walk a bit and then cross another well worn, but sturdy log bridge.  Then the trail goes up and up.  Much of it is in the shade, but there is a particularly steep, rocky section that is exposed to the sun.  Relievingly (if that’s a word) there are a few short stretches of the trail that are more of a traverse or rising traverse giving your quads some brief breaks.  Note too, that there are plenty of water sources, so carry only what you need and refill as required.

After climbing another steep rocky section, you approach pretty Jade Lake.  I passed Jade, crossing the inlet via rock hopping and continued up to Emerald and Opal, passing a boatload of blueberry and huckleberries.  I was originally planning on camping south of Opal Lake at a site I used the last time I was here, but it has since overgrown, so I decided to just head up to Tank Lakes.  I am sure glad I did.  I scored a beautiful site on the north side of the lake with an awesome reflective view of the Summit Chief Mtn. and Overcoat Peak in the lake.  The only downside is that the sun “sets” behind the ridge so it cools off early compared to sites west and south of the lake.  But the view is worth it.  The moonless night provided endless stargazing and a lovely view of the Milky Way reflected in the lake.  I ended up just staying at that site for two nights.  There were about 8 folks camped there at 5 sites my first night.

Day 2, August 30

Today was just a relaxing day to explore the granite slabs and tarns in the Tank Lakes area.  I initially walked west to investigate how much of the Alpine Lakes High route I could see (see enclosed panorama).  Then I was interested in finding the other Tank Lake north of the one I was staying at.  I ventured around more granite slabs and tarns and did find it.  I was getting hungry so I wanted to find a lunch spot with a view down the Necklace Valley with Glacier Peak in the background, which I did along with a few hoverfly friends (see pic).

Quite a few more folks were arriving during the late afternoon and early evening.  I counted about 14 folks at the lake.  Another star filled night.

Day 3, August 31

Took my time getting up and ready.  I eventually departed at 10am.  This is when I started seeing more and more folks coming up.  There were a lot coming up the moraine and they just kept coming as I dropped lower.  After arriving back in the valley area, the number of backpackers just kept increasing.  I lost count after 30 or 40, so it was much much greater than that.  It felt like I was on Mt. Si on a nice day - seriously.  I am not complaining, I am certainly happy that folks are getting out there.  I was just surprised since this isn’t the easiest place to get to, which was my reason to come here.  Even with all of the people I saw, I was still shocked by the 100 or so cars at the TH.  When I was here last, a Ranger told me that this valley can absorb a lot of people, but I am just curious how many stayed at Tank Lakes since even 14 seemed like a lot.  The remainder of the hike out was uneventful, however I took extra time looking at the huge trees, mushrooms and other flora on the way out.

Another fun backpack trip.  I was also testing a new lightweight pack and also packed as if I was doing a long PCT trip.  With the elevation gain and steepness of this trip, I was certainly glad I went nearly as light as I could get.

Have fun out there,

OMG

Started at the necklace valley trailhead and headed up the valley towards jade lake. Very pretty lake, only 1 person camped here. Trail was very straightforward to get there, some elevation at the end but nothing too steep. We continued past jade lake, the trail stayed good where more people were camped at the next lake which was much marshier than jade lake. Continuing past this we stashed our overnight stuff at the fork to La Bohn Gap and Tank lakes and headed up towards the former. Trail became less from this point forward as we steeply climbed up to La Bohn Lakes and Gap. These lakes were gorgeous and reminded us of the enchantments. Great views of Chimney, Summit Chief, and Overcoat with their glaciers exposed. Continuing up from here we crossed many boulder fields on the way to the summit of Hinman. Definitely no false summits on this route. The summit marked on maps isnt the high point of the mountain, not sure where this came from. The Hinman Glacier is not longer a glacier, looked icy but it was very easy to go around with no crevasses visible. The Foss glacier we did cross but it was very mellow, we didnt feel like we were in any danger, only used microspikes and poles. To get to the actual summit you wouldnt need to walk on any snow, it is above the foss glacier on the ridge. You could also use this route to get to the map's summit but walking across the glacier is certainly faster and easier. Coming back down we followed the same route across boulder fields and back down to where we stashed our overnight stuff. We reloaded our packs and headed up towards tank lakes. We eventually reached our campsite at the end of tank lakes with a view across the valley towards the glaciated spires i mentioned earlier. We were able watch a crazy thunderstorm from here before it eventually ran into us but we were in the tent by then. Total stats for first day were just shy of 8k ft up, 3k down, 15 miles, 12 hours. 

Second day we woke up and donned our rain gear as our beautiful views had disappeared and we were in a cloud of mist for the first half of the day. We followed a loose trail and cairns across boulder fields eventually making our way to Iron Cap lake. This was probably the longest in terms of mileage section of off trail this day. Continuing past Iron cap lake we reached Chetwoot, which also had lots of cairn following and boulder field hopping. Past chetwoot to the outflow of big heart lake was a section that we heavily underestimated. It took us 100 minutes to traverse the brutal ups and down of this section. I'm sure it would have been faster without everything being wet and us already being tired but this section takes longer than you think. Once we reached Big Heart Lake, we were finally back on the trail, so with 9 miles to our car we decided to eat the rest of our food and continue to Little Heart lake. The rest of the trail was fairly uneventful and I'm sure others will write more detailed trip reports for this area. Total stats for second day were around 3k ft up, 7.5k ft down, 15 miles, 11 hours.

Much of this was 'off trail' and steep but very do able for good route finders and strong hikers. Very pretty, i will be back to this area soon. 

We hiked the Alpine Lakes High Route counter clockwise over three days.

The Necklace valley trailhead only had one parking spot when we arrived on Thursday. We road walked to the west fork quickly. The trail up to copper lake went by quickly. There were edible mushrooms if you know what you’re looking for and we began to see more berries the higher we went. We continued on to Big Heart Lake and even though quite a few parties were camped there, we were able to find a private site with a view of the unreal blue of the lake. Clouds and fog swirled around the peaks and trees as we made dinner. This was a nice site even in the clouds and potential rain.

During the night it rained and we woke to clouds so thick we could barely see the lake. But we pushed on hoping they would lift and the rocks wouldn’t be too wet. Thankfully the brush wasn’t too wet, and the short steep rocks between us and Chetwoot lake offered good grip. The tarns and flat granite before Chetwoot would make nice campsites. Berry eating slowed our travel as did a nice break at Chetwoot. Beyond the lake the route truly becomes more of an off trail adventure. However all the tools of navigation were present and we felt pretty confident even in the socked in conditions. Intermittent paths, cairns, and Gaia gps all helped us navigate easily albeit a bit slowly in the conditions. The ups and downs were painstakingly slow and the lack of views were disappointing. Upon making it to Iron Cap Gap the clouds finally started to bubble away and the views began to open up. By the time we were at Tank Lakes we could see blue sky and distant peaks. This is a truly nice place to camp, and I hope tor return. Rolling granite, tarns and alpine park lands abound.

The next morning we woke to totally clear skies and the views across to Overcoat, Summit Chief Mountain, and others were ample reward for all the time spent in the clouds the day before.
Heading down to Necklace valley was steep, and loose at times, but the views remained beautiful and the navigation was easy. The forest from
Jade Lake to crossing the Foss river had some very nice Alaska Cedars. after crossing the river there were some truly giant trees of different varieties as well as more mushrooms to spot. The final miles past alturas lakes were not super interesting, but we were also tired and ready to be done.

I feel like this loop could be done with similar difficulty in either direction. Probably simply matters where you want to camp and on which days. I’m so glad we had our clear night at Tank Lakes. The technicality of the off trail section never felt particularly intense, mostly just boulder fields and making sure you’re on the right path. I’m glad we pushed through, even with the less than ideal weather.

Challenging, rewarding, and disappointing backpack in dense fog conditions. 

Day 1: TH to Little Heart Lake: Drove from Portland to the West Fork Foss Lakes TH and started our hike after a quick lunch at the parking lot picnic table. The ascent to Little Heart Lake was relatively steep on a well-tended trail. There were nice water crossings for cooling off.

Day 2: Little Heart Lake to Chetwood: It was so foggy we could not see Big Heart Lake from the outlet crossing! We were rewarded with misty views of Big Heart Lake and Angeline Lake as we climbed. The maintained trail ends just past Big Heart Lake, but the route along the Atrium Peak Ridge was easy to follow. 

Day 3: Chetwoot to Tank Lakes. Hopped from one boulder to another for much of the day, relying on cairns for direction. We had virtually no views and the clouds were increasingly soaked throughout the day. Back at Copper Lake, a ranger suggested we stay high on the trail past Iron Cap Lake at ~5600' to avoid a cliff ledge. We did but ended up crawling through bushes to get back to the main route and we don’t know if this was the preferable route or not. The descent to the low point west of the Iron Cap Gap was surprisingly steep and we were quite glad we were on a route previously traveled. After the Iron Cap Gap the route was relatively easy to walk and navigate. Photos of Tank Lakes look amazing, but we could barely see the lake from our lake-front campsite and nothing of the surrounding area.

Day 4: Tank Lakes to Iiswoot via La Bohn Lakes: With no views in the morning we packed up our wet gear and navigated by cairns to a very steep, gravelly ridge to descend into Necklace Valley. As the sky had cleared, we ascended to La Bohn Lakes. The route climbs 950' in 0.5 miles along boulders and then a boot path. The difficult climb was worth the effort. We were rewarded with views of Necklace Valley, La Bohn Lakes, Chain Lakes, and surrounding mountains. We camped at lovely Iiswoot Lake.

Day 5: While the descent along the first 3 miles out may be considered steep, it was gentle in comparison to the off-trail segments we had already completed. The Necklace Valley trail was thankfully recently brushed! From the East Foss TH we walked the road back to our car but were able to hitch a ride the last mile or so.

Few mosquitoes, the worst at Iiswoot Lake. Very few other hikers from Big Heart Lake to Emerald Lake. Ripe blueberries, huckleberries and thimbleberries. We hung our food but did not see any bears or other large animals. We did hear and see many pikas. The forecast called for cloudy skies. We didn't grasp we'd be in the clouds, so dense we could see the raindrops and little of the surrounding area.

Friday, Aug 9th

This hike has been on the top of my To-Hike list for some time and the Time was Right!  My hiking buddy and I took off pretty early on Friday morning and drove out to the West Fork Foss River trailhead.  The road was in great shape, and there weren’t too many cars in the parking area and we got a great spot.

We blew into Trout Lake, ate our breakfast snacks, and continued on.  The trail up to the Malachite lake junction had one GIANT tree that had fallen over multiple switchbacks that required significant time delays to work around but no real issues.  The trail grade was a nice a steady 2K grind, but beautiful in the cool of the morning.  We stopped for a minute halfway around Copper Lake to filter water.  I ended up running into some other hiking buddies coming down from their trip and it was fun to hear about their good times, and we were heading up!  Little heat lake looked very cute through the trees, but we continued on to Big Heart Lake and had a sit-down and ate lunch.  There were quite a few folks hanging out and having a great time there. 

Up until this point the trail had been super obvious, well graded, and wide open with the exception of the one large blow down.  Atrium Ridge was a different story with steeper up and downs, and some misleading side boot paths but nothing super complicated.  This section was much more interesting and the number of people on the trail dropped dramatically.  The views and scenery improved drastically as we continued (lots of exposed granite boulder areas and mini alpine meadows everywhere) and our camp spot by Chetwoot Lake was Stunning!! The Mosquitoes were out in force, so we set up our tents pretty quickly and happily ate dinner before snuggling in for the night.  About 9.5 miles

Saturday, Aug 10^th

We woke up early so there wasn’t any rush navigating through the route finding section.  I’d spend many fun hours pouring over maps and other hiker’s tracks of where to go and felt well prepared to find out way.  BUT surprisingly, the boot path/route was Much MUCH easier to follow than I’d expected!  I feel like so many people are doing this loop now that it has taken much of the questions and trickiness out of the whole thing!  There were accurate stone cairns everywhere and between that, our foreknowledge of the where to go, and Gaia’s gps software, we felt very secure about staying on the correct route the whole time!  There was one bit of trail after passing Iron Cap Lake where it descended sharply down some very steep dirt steps along a rocky outcropping and then almost immediately go back up the other side.  This bit was straight forward navigation wise, but you sure wouldn’t want to accidentally fall down off the hillside!  The rest was easy to follow.  [we took the lower route by the lake not over Iron Cap peak]

I had figured that it would take us a significant amount of time to make it from Chetwoot to Tank Lakes, and while the route was slow going because of all the boulders we needed to carefully navigate to avoid a twisted ankle etc, It cruised right along!  By the time we arrive at Tank Lakes, we were ready for a bite to eat, took some pictures, and instead of setting up camp as was the original plan, we decided to keep going.  Once we made our way down through all the slide-y gravely bits coming down from the Tank Lakes, the trail was nice and cruisy!  The cabin was a blast to see.  We were aiming for the camp site by the East Fork Foss River, but it was full by the time we reached the valley so we kept trucking!  

 My feet were complaining for sure by the time we made it out to the road!  Then it was only a couple more miles back to the car at the West Fork TH to complete our loop!  About 17miles