The first 2 miles of the trail travels through a beautiful second growth forest. After passing Alturas Lake which is a marshy area at 2 miles you enter old growth forest. The forest floor is lush and green with sword ferns, devil's club, Oregon grape and other greens. We saw chicken-of-the-woods on 4 of our 6 hikes this trip. Today's sighting was the best with many on a fallen log near Alturas Lake. We hiked 3 miles before returning to the TH. With all the ups and downs we gained 745 ft in and 495 ft out. We were the only day hikers, but we met several backpackers coming out and going in.

So my friend Josh and I had a plan to visit the Tank Lakes some six years ago when it promptly became a solo trip for me due to him needing to wait around for a phone response from a sought after employer. After several failed trip plans over the years; it was finally the time for us to get up there this year. We towed another friend along and proceeded to the Necklace Valley Trail to get another account of just how strange the conditions have been this year. The first five miles are a breeze and can nearly be done in one’s sleep. I recommend using this five miles to mentally prepare yourself for the impending gourmet of rocks and roots. Heading up the steep section of the trail made every additional ounce that I brought readily apparent. I contemplated which items were the most expendable as I baked in the maple-leaf sauna covering a section of the trail. Some very peculiar sites were witnessed during this early summer hike; particularly the strange abundance of huckleberry and their respective leaves changing color. Yay for some fall color in July! If this warming trend persists; I anxiously await mountain wildflowers in February. Also, there was a relative lack of bugs! I only counted a couple around me at any given point around the lakes, which strongly counters my trip up there several years ago in August when there was a consistent-buzzing cloud around the perimeter of my tent. Also, several jets flew very close to the lake adding some extra shock to the subdued-alpine environment. We were treated to hours of interesting clouds as the wind patterns cooked up several interesting patterns that undulated over the slate-gray mountains and reflected white streaks that gyrated in the sparkling-cerulean waters. The stars were abundant and glowing in the absence of moonlight. They speckled the sky as day passed into the deep jaws of night. All in all it was a unique and rewarding trip that hopefully sparks many more backpacking adventures for the remainder of the year.

Doable in a very long day, as it turns out, and great for trail running. Road is very well graded, and there are barely even potholes. I was worried the trailhead would just be a “park alongside the road” type, but there is an actual lot with a pit toilet. The first five miles are along a soft dirt trail, and very flat. You get glimpses of the river and peaks around you, but don’t begin to gain elevation until you’ve crossed the first bridge (with the wooden hand rail). Just after that, you head up a talus slope. Go straight for a few feet until the trail becomes obvious again, there’s a cairn to lead you just in case. Then you cut back into the woods, and eventually there’s a second bridge (the one with the wire hand rail). The next few miles up to Jade Lake are steeper and we hiked most of that section. Jade Lake is the first lake you run into, and it’s beautiful. Most parties we met were camping there. There are several other lakes in the area especially if you’re willing to look around a bit (Opal, Emerald, Iiswoot), but we kept heading straight to the basin below La Bohn Gap. We were surprised to find a cabin/shanty just past Jade Lake, which was neat! The basin is where it gets tricky. There were almost no cairns leading us anywhere (which was better than cairns everywhere leading nowhere, which is what we had been told to expect). Looking up at the basin, you head up and then cut left as soon as you’ve gotten above a rocky/vegetated outcropping. Basically, keep to the left along the trees until a climbers’ path becomes apparent, and then follow that to La Bohn Gap. We have a woman to thank, who appeared at the perfect time. While we were deliberating just how far left to aim, she emerged up to the left across the boulder field, on her way down from the lakes! La Bohn Gap was amazing. I was floored. It’s easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in Washington. The lakes were stunning, comparable to the enchantments according to my running buddy. You come up to a ridge and suddenly the first lake is laid out beneath you sparkling in the sun and there is no noise besides you and wind and streams. We took a bunch of pictures, marveling at how clear the lakes were, and the rocky alpine ridges surrounding us. There is no snow at the lakes. In fact, there’s barely any snow on Hinman at all. To get up to the ridgeline that takes you to Hinman, ascend the boulder field east of La Bohn Lakes. We cut between the two largest lakes and picked our own path up the slope, which meant more boulder hopping and light scrambling. Once along the ridge, the true summit is in view (the set of jagged, blackish vertical spires) and the ridge is easy to follow. Bear’s Breast and Summit Chief look amazing, and you can see several lakes in every direction. The ridgeline is also completely snow free, for better or for worse. It means lots of boulder hopping. The rocks are pretty solid at first, but the blackish rocks near the summit are much looser. We hiked this part on the way up and then ran (okay, my buddy ran, I was doing more of an expedited boulder hop process) back down the ridge, which was gradual enough to be manageable. The true summit I think is technically the easternmost edge of the rocky spires, but I’d just count that whole section. Going back to La Bohn Gap we again just chose the path of least resistance. The return trip was quick since downhill is always more runnable than uphill. We didn’t pass anyone else aiming for Hinman, but the whole area is like a playground for adults. Necklace Valley, lakes, La Bohn Gap/Lakes, Chain Lakes, Tank Lakes, Iron Cap, Daniel… there is a ton to do up there from a single base camp if you have the time. And the hike had everything. Waterfalls, ridgelines, forest, rivers, lakes, peaks. 23 miles round trip, around 7000ft elevation gain (net). Took us just under 9 hours up and down including our breaks and the eight hundred stops I made us take so I could get photos. Enjoy! **also, correct me if I'm wrong about peak names in the first picture

Arrived at trailhead at 9:30 and barely found a spot to park. Definitely makes sense to arrive earlier. There is a privy at the trailhead. On the trail met WTA volunteers - many thanks, folks! - and a couple of snakes (not sure which kind). Along the trail, before it starts to climb, there a lot of ripe salmonberries. After crossing a bridge trail becomes very steep. Met very few people on the way, and when got to Jade lake there were only two tents at one spot in the further end of the lake. Water in the lake isn't too cold - a friend of mine swam a little bit. When got to Opal lake we discovered that it's very shallow and water doesn't covers entire lake any more. And bugs were awful there, so we decided to go back and camp at Emerald lake. Bugs there also were an annoyance, but not that bad. At night it was pretty chilly. In the morning I did a small 1 hour hike to Al Lake, also very nice, and then we headed back. Nice backpacking trip!

The first ~5-1/4 miles of the trail are pretty easy going and only gain about 600′ of elevation. The highlights of the first half of this hike were Dave’s alter-ego, We cruised through this portion in about two hours – but not without obstacles. The trail was very overgrown in places, and we even had to fight our way through stinging nettles. Kind of started feeling like we were in the Hunger Games, but we made it to the river crossing for lunch and were able to rinse off. We highly recommend pants for this portion regardless of how hot it might be. Now that the “easy” part was over, we began the final 3 miles which climb 2400′ to Jade Lake. We had a bit of a hard time finding the trail just after the river crossing. Just past the river crossing you’ll see a firepit with a few campsites. At this point you want to be looking for a log that crosses a creek. From that log, you’ll follow cairns through up through a boulder field. We began climbing out of the shade at this point. Although the views were nice, it was hot! We caught our first glimpse of Mount Hinman during this part of the hike. After climbing for a LONG time, you will cross a nice bridge over a cascading creek. There is still about a mile of rugged hiking to go after this point. We were all pretty drained before we made it to Jade Lake. It took us over three hours to cover those last three miles and we are all fairly strong hikers. ade Lake is a pristine alpine lake that we could see far down into since it was so clear. Adding to the dramatic effect was Mount Hinman towering over the valley to the South. We found a spectacular campsite at the opposite end of the lake and decided we had enough at that point and that’s where we would stay. The site was right next to the trail, perfectly level, and had logs placed around it making nice seats. Feeling renewed by the gorgeous setting, we dropped our packs, and decided to head up the trail a little to see what lay ahead. Apparently we weren’t on the main trail and headed up towards Emerald Lake. We talked to a couple camped on the other side who said they walked around for a while and didn’t find many camps at the other lakes which reinforced our decision to camp where we did. Emerald Lake was swampy and didn’t seem nearly as nice as Jade so we decided to head back and set up camp and enjoy Jade Lake. While we were setting up camp and beginning to relax only two groups of two and a solo hiker/skier passed by. The skier was headed up to La Bohn gap and one of the groups was headed to Tank Lakes. Once we got camp set up and our beers had cooled we headed over to some nice rocks on the lakeshore to take a dip. We had the whole lake to ourselves! Although the water seemed like a nice temp to the touch, it was actually as cold as alpine lakes usually are. Even though it was light out til late, the sun set behind a ridge a little after six and we were glad we had got our swim in. Once we made it back to camp, the mosquitoes had come out in full force. We all bundles up in our hooded jackets and pants, but I still managed to get 50+ bites throughout the trip (I’m not exaggerating). Slept with no rain-fly and the stars finally became visible around 10:30. We could see the big dipper fairly clearly and we even all saw an incredible shooting star at the same time! – definitely one of the highlights of the trip! We got started on the hike out around 9 am. The mosquitoes never really went away the whole time we were at camp. The rugged three miles down still took us a while and we got to the river crossing around 11:30. We panted up there to prepare ourselves for the stinging nettles. We made it through the nettles without a problem, although we could see them all over our pants. We were pretty beat the rest of the hike out and eventually made it to the car at 2 pm. We passed a National Forest Ranger on the way out who highly recommended heading further up to the Tank Lakes basin next time we come out this way. We hope to take this advice in the future, but we will certainly stay for longer than one night if we make the long slog up this valley again. This is definitely a difficult hike, but as a result you will get away from the crowds and have a true wilderness experience.