Did on overnight at Emerald Lake. I visited Jade, Al, and Locket Lakes. All are snow-free, except a few remaining patches. Keep your eyes out for the grassy marsh landscape, maybe 100 yards or so to the right a few miles from the trailhead. I didn't notice it coming in; but was amazed to see this landscape so different from the forest I was hiking in. It almost looked like a rice paddy at first glance. Despite what the sign says, no fording is needed. The bridge across the river at five miles is a fallen tree with handrails about a 1/4 mile upstream from where the trail meets the river. Don't trust the handrails on the other bridge further up the trail; one post if very loose. The trail is cleared the first five miles. But, there are a few big trees to clamber over or under during the 3-mile climb to the valley. Be prepared for gnats and a few mosquitos. Saw lots of frogs, a couple snakes, and a grouse with her chicks (right at the trailhead). Also bunchberry, Queen's cup, tiger lily, and lots of other beautiful little flowers. A beautiful place to camp.

Tackled Necklace Valley to Salmon La Sac via La Bohn Gap, and Dutch Miller Gap the four days following July 4th. Trail #1062 from the Necklace Valley trailhead to the river crossing is is in superb condition! There is much evidence of bear in the area. The bark had been striped from the base of many spruce trees near the river crossing - must be eating the sap. The remaining distance to Jade lake had a few blow down but all are negotiable. Necklace Valley is just unlocking and all the lakes are snow free to the head of the valley. Many flowers are starting to bloom and the bugs are out in mass. Snow line is about 4500-5000 feet. One should be prepared for the pass at the head of Necklace valley - carry and use ice axe. La Bohn Lakes are completely covered with snow. However the views were outstanding with the beautiful weather! Many of the Peaks were visible. The route down to Williams Lake is passable with the snow line again about 4500-5000 feet. Beautiful camps at williams lake with outstanding vistas to the the nearby peaks: Bears Breast, Summit Chief and Chimney Rock. Even a few goats were grazing on the slopes. The Williams lake trail #1024 down to the Middle Fork of the Snoqulamie is sketchy from the lake shore as the snow is still melting out. Find the trail clear at around 4000-4200 feet. Route is clear with no blow down. The route up to Dutch Miller Gap #1030 is clear of snow until about 4500-4700 feet. The trail is in good condition but there is evidence that much rain had flowed on the trail at some time last fall/winter. Snow at the top of Dutch Miller Gap with nice views of Lake Ivanhoe and down to Waptus Lake. Circumnavigated Lake Ivanhoe on the east side to avoid exposure on the west side of the lake. Steep snow fields linger at the base of the cliffs and extend partially into the lake. Bridge is also destroyed at the south end of the lake connecting to the west shore line. East shore trail was the correct choice. From Lake Ivanhoe down to the valley floor Trail #1362 was very brushy. This trail is not used often and is over grown in many places. A little patience revealed the trail though. The Chief Creek requires a ford right now - the water run-off is high but negotiable. The bridges at the Waptus river and Spade Creek are intact. However, many blow down remain on Trail #1310 between the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail and down to Waptus Lake. Good trail between Waptus Lake and Salmon La Sac. The foot bridge is out at the crossing of Spinola Creek - used the horse ford.

This was a beautiful hike and the patches of snow kept most people away. This was our honeymoon Hike and we took along our five year old daughter, who did incredibly well. We backpacked for five days, well two days and basecamped at Emerald Lake for the next three while we explored the lakes. The first five miles are cleared of blowdown and on the way up we encountered a trail crew who had just repaired the bridge at the 5 mile mark. Contrary to the posted conditions, there is no fording required. The climb to Jade Lake has not been cleared out and for the first mile or so there are several blowdowns to traverse and climb across. The mile marker six just seeks to make fun of the progress you think you have made and really haven't. The trail is mostly free of snow until the last climb into Jade Lake. But these patches are easily travesible. There are still patches of snow surrounding all of the Lakes, except Illswoot. There are some great campsites across the drainage at Emerald and most are free of snow. The gnats are really bad, however it's better than the mosquitos that will come. Locket Lake is almost totally free of snow but we didn't make it to Jewel Lake. Our five year old daughter rebelled at the cliff traversing we did trying to get there. We couldn't find a clear trail to Jewel, either it was lost under the snow or didn't exist at all. Opal Lake was easy to get to and so was Cloudy and Illswoot. We hiked up to the Labohn basin below LaBohn gap but it was pretty much snowed in. Someday we will get back to see the LaBohn Lakes. The nice thing about this trip is that we basecamped at Emerald lake and dayhiked to all the other lakes. It was impossible to get lost. IF ANYONE FINDS A CAMERA AT THE TRAILHEAD, PLEASE EMAIL AT ARIALTO@EXCITE.com. IT FELL OFF THE TRUCK IN THE PARKING LOT. PLEASE RETURN. IT HAS PICTURES OF OUR HONEYMOON AND OUR DAUGHTERS FIRST BACKPACKING TRIP.

I decided to take a day-hike on an overcast and damp Fathers Day on one of my favorite trails that I had not been on since last August. I didn't have to crawl over any obstacles since the many windfalls that I had read about in recent trail reports have been cleared to the 5mile river crossing, which was as far as I traveled this day. The two bridges at the 4.5mile and 5mile marks are washed away, as had been reported, but crossing is easy via the nearby windfalls; the way is obvious and branches have been cut by trail crews so there is only to walk across the rather substantial timbers to make passage. The river has re-routed itself and changed the look of things at the crossing; it had been about 15 years or so since the last bridge was washed away, so I suppose its about time. I noticed along the trail that a few red cedars had freshly shredded bark from about 7ft high down to the base of the trunk and recalled that Slugman had reported on 4/23 that he suspected there was a presence along the trail, due to the reaction of his dog. I wondered...(cougar? bear?) After having lunch by the river and turning back to the trailhead, I was about 5 minutes into my return when I rounded a sharp turn in the trail around a big rock and encountered a black bear, head down, lumbering toward me on the trail. My reaction to yell ""Hey!"" startled the bear and sent it bounding in the opposite direction. I had seen bears out in the woods before but never so close, about 5 yards away. I made a point of making frequent noise on my way back until well after its retreating prints no longer showed on the trail. I think I got my heart-rate a bit higher than normal today. All in all, a good day. I only saw one other hiker all day. Looking forward to a trip up into the valley once the snow up high melts off a bit more -- shouldn't be long.