August 18th, 2007: Necklace Valley A long hike that got better and better the harder I worked. The rewards: a string of lakes, pasted together by meadows and granite, inlaid in a narrow valley, walled by towering cliffs wreathed in mist. A 4:30am start meant that I saw nothing of my initial surroundings for the 1st hour, except for the small puddle of light cast by my head lamp. An hour into the hike the trail cozied up to the East Fork Foss River, and it was pleasant walking in the improving light. The gentle walk vended its way through a narrow valley on good tread (the best tread encountered throughout). Lush ferns, pleasant little streams and limpid, leafed-over pools etched the trail...all extremely peaceful. 5 miles after starting, having crossed the East Fork Foss River on 3 log bridges, it was over with the level part of the hike and on with the climbing. Not very much to say about the next 3 miles except that it was steep and grueling and I was glad when it was over. Jade Lake (the first of the Necklace Valley lakes) was the reward for the effort, a pretty tree-lined little lake surrounded by granite cliffs. Full of energy at this time, I was more interested in heading for the high country and headed quickly by Emerald and Opal Lakes for the valley headwall and La Bohn Gap. As I reached the pretty basin at the end of the valley, I decided to forgo the Gap for a later trip and headed west to the Tank Lakes. The journey up to the Tanks was as good as it gets: “Magic Staircase”, “Stairway to Heaven”, pick whichever name sounds better. Granite slabs and talus slopes lead the way higher and higher, punctuated by enchanting little rocky pools. Clouds boiling through La Bohn Gap and spilling into Necklace Valley, laid out below me, were a stunning sight. Finally, I reached the Tank Lakes basin. I spent a lovely 2 hours here, exploring the place: the two Tank Lakes, Foehn Lake and Tahl Lake were all beautiful. Initially, most of the views of the surrounding peaks were hidden in the mists, but I was finally able to get a few good glimpses, around my turn-around time. On the way back, I spent a little bit of extra time wandering around the lower lakes. I also noticed that the last 5 miles were much less flat than they had seemed at the start... Additional photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani/sets/72157601551130533 Stats (including all side trips): • Distance: ~23mi • Gain: ~5,000ft (high point: 5,800ft) • Hiking time: 12.5mi • Wildlife seen: squirrels, marmots and a snake.

I came across this idea one night while pouring over the Beckey guide. A little hatched trail, marked, ""Alpine Lakes High Route"", jumped out at me. I sent out an email to the usual suspects and then a week or so later I was lucky enough to heading up #1062 to the Necklace Valley. Low valley woods kept us cool and mushroom hunting kept our minds busy. We found a few old logging remnants, berries galor and an amazing crop of King Boletes. The upper end of the valley was quite buggy and heavy in blueberries. We headed past the cabin at Emerald and up to the basin below La Bohn gap. The official trial ends and one must pay a little bit of attention. Before the basin itself turn right up a scree gully (cairned). Gain a thousand plus and you are above treeline in fantastic alpine country. Tarns and small tanks are littered about complete with stocked fish. The hiking the following day is an orienteering challenge but really not too bad. Head to the gap east of Iron Cap and soak in the views of Summit Chief, Burnt Boot etc. Head down creek towards Otter (or was it Angeline?) until a couple hundred feet above the lake. Bear left up the slope towards the creek from Azurite. A feint trail sidehills steeply. All the while keep your eyes open for more mushrooms. Azurite is beautiful with some steep cliffs along the lake. Go around the south side until forced up. A hundred yards off the lake a ramp takes you thru the cliffs and on to another climb to Azure Lake. I could go on and on (as this trip does, 35+ miles all together). But that would take the fun out of your own orienteering. Be assured their is plenty of bushwacking, some great trail and a good amount of Alpine/Sub-Alpine cross-country. Their is ample water through out and plenty of places to bail out early if you need to. Shoot me an email if you want more details (austineats@yahoo.com)

This was a great trip to Necklace Valley. Rain flushed everyone out of the valley so I had it to myself for three glorious days of bright sunshine. Great things happen. One of my best trips in 50 years of backpacking! Trail conditions. Brush: The trail is well brushed out very nice! Down trees: The now fully logged out to Jade. The very nice FS Contractor did a great job. At Jade there are two trees across the trail that extend out in the lake. Bridges: There are actually 5 stream crossings on the way in. Burns Creek bridge. A little bit out of kilter now but solidly there. Three Bridges at 5 miles on the East Fork. 1st crossing: Make an easy crossing on two down trees just to the left. 2nd Crossing: (main crossing) When you reach the River, go left on old trail to a fallen tree. The surface has been leveled and a solid railing put in place (WTA?) 3rd Crossing: Immediatly go left again a few hunderd yards to a final easy crossing on a fallen tree. As you leave the fallen tree follow it's remains up into a rockslide. Follow the fallen tree then follow the ducks up to the trail. Finally there is the Memorial bridge. Okay except the first stanchion is very lose. It looks solid but if you try to use the attached cable you will discover zero support. Don't use the cable for support till you get to the second stanchion. This is very!! deceptive and therefore very dangerous to the unwary. No bugs worth speaking of. Enjoy the trip Rob

Amazing day! My husband and I took this trail today just as a late day hike not expecting such beauty. Very easy hike and the first lake is easily reached if given time. We only made it too the bridge that was washed away at 4.5 miles due to time. Very nice trail with pretty flowers and small creek crossings that our lab loved. At 2 points in the trail about 2.5 miles in there is thicker brush but not bothersome. Once we reached the main river it was incredibly clear and beautiful with the backdrop of the mountain. The only slight annoyance was a few biting flies and mosquitoes, but not as bad as other hikes. At 4.5 miles we turned around as it was getting late, and on our way back we noticed shredded trees about head high up the tree and bear scat here and there, but nothing like other hikes like bald mountain trail. Not too far from the trees that were clawed we heard a bear growling and moaning not too far away up on the hill above that scared us a little. We just talked loudly and made our way back to the car at record time. All in all we give it a 4/5 and can't wait to go back and go to the lakes!

A friend and I started at 0945 and it took us almost exactly 7 hours to reach Opal Lake. We didn't rush and took our time and had a nice lunch at the point where you cross the river and begin the major ascend (about 4.5 miles). There was some blow-down along the way but nothing that could not be navigated. The river crossings were pretty smooth with the exception of one where the bridge was out and the trees that were used to replace the bridge were pretty narrow and with packs it took a little time to cross. The only other real hairy spot included a huge downed tree across the trail with a very severe dropoff. We found the bugs to be very bad once we hit Jade Lake. We continued to Opal hoping they would get better...no luck, in fact, we thought worse. We came back to Jade and spent the night. Once it began to get dark, the bugs did subside. The morning once again brought lots of mosquitoes during the tear down and hike out. We tried three different kinds of bug juice. The hike out took 5 hours. Overall, the trail is in good condition with a few areas where extra attention will be required to navigate.