With so many trails in the Mt. Baker-Sno National Forest down for the count the first five miles of the Necklace Valley trail leaps to near the front of the pack as an enjoyable (if not dramatic) spring hiking experience. There are significant blow-downs and some bridges out, but under the current conditions if you can drive to it and walk through it it's a keeper. The blow-downs are not fun but they are all walk-aroundable, slither-underable, or climb-overable without unreasonable effort. They tend to be clustered between 2-3 mile mark and one nasty one nearer the end. A NFS contractor was cutting on them today but by hand he is going to be busy for awhile. The bridge is out at the four mile mark but the creek is easily crossed by a solid logjam a few feet upstream of the trail. There are several ways to safely cross the creek at the 4 1/2 mile mark at the camping area. I did not go beyond that point today, and though the other side is a twisted mass of downed trees for a bit, a backpacker told me that the river is crossable by a large log. On a positive note (we could use any good news in these dark days) the flood did create a open gravel beach area along the river north of the camping area that I do not recall being there before. Other than these problems the trail is actually in excellent condition...no standing water issues. Lots of beautiful spring flowers, particularly in the more open areas beyond the three mile mark. Salmonberry, bleeding heart, trillium...all the usual suspects. And more Hooker's fairy bells than I've ever seen before. I got soaked from the wet vegetation but that was my own fault for not wearing rain pants on an obviously suspect day. Just a few other people on trail today.

Traveled the Necklace Valley approach (Trail #1062) along the East Fork of the Foss River to the river crossing at 4.5 miles - travel time 2.5 hours. Oh the wind-fall! Numerous trees (some are real Man-haters!)litter this route up to to the former puncheon bridge crossing of the East Fork Foss River. The bridge has been obliterated - no trace of the bridge remains. Indeed, the river is completly re-routed through the area adjacent to the small river camp near the crossing! Debris chokes the river and much of the valley area. We crossed the river and located the remainder of the trail proper to the upper lakes. Fresh bear tracks between the 4 mile mark and the small camp at 4.5 miles. Also missing a small bridge at approximaetly the 4 mile mark. Use caution at water crossings - Spring melt has begun and the water is runnning cold and swift.

I took my dog Daisy for an easy hike in the wilderness on Monday. I chose the East Fork Foss River to have a snow-free hike with little elevation gain since we were not going all the way to the Necklace Valley. The drive in to the trail head provided two pieces of good news: the road was being graded and re-graveled, and a work crew with a backhoe was heading up the road to Tonga Ridge to make repairs. The TH was deserted when we arrived, and the trail is in great shape for the first 2.5 miles. There were a few blowdowns, but they were only minor inconveniences. We took a nice long break at about 2.5 miles in, where the trail briefly touches the swampy area, soaking in the delicious sunshine. Mosquitoes were out in force, bad enough that I used some spray on my outer clothes and on the dog's pack. After this break the hiking became much harder, with more-frequent blowdowns, made up of much larger trees, including a few real giants. We continued on for another mile, always hopeful that the current blowdown would be the last for a while. No such luck. We eventually called it quits 1.5 miles short of our erstwhile goal, the river crossing at about 5 miles in. The hike out took about as long as the hike in, due to the flattish terrain. We ended up going 7 miles in 6 hours, but we spent 2 hours resting and picnicking, so only hiked for 4 hours. There was a lot of cool things to see and hear on this hike. Plenty of rich moss gardens, huge trees, cascading waterfalls on side streams, the sounds of various birds and insects, it really felt like spring has arrived in full force. One odd note: as we were hiking out, about 7:30 pm (we started at 2 pm), Daisy became very nervous, spooked even, by something she perceived to be behind us. She kept giving me that look, the one that says ""HELP!"". The kind of look a sick dog might give right before throwing up. I would stop, look behind, and see nothing, and also hear nothing, not even the twittering of birds, which was very spooky. After that I walked with my bear spray out of my pocket in one hand, and my other hand on my knife. Of course, at the last blowdown, I lost my balance and slipped on a root, taking a rather hard fall on my right shoulder. Luckily my pack took some of the impact, so I only have a slight sprain in the shoulder today. But while I was on the ground just after the fall, I thought to myself that if we were being followed by a cougar or something, now was it's chance to get me or my dog. I have little faith in bear spray alone under such a circumstance. But no attack occurred, there may not have been anything there to attack us, and my shoulder was soon limber enough to hoist the pack and hike out. I must admit though that I had a very hinky feeling there for a while, that we were being watched and perhaps followed, by something very stealthy.

I never know if you are supposed to put trip date as the first day you start a trip, or the day you return. Oh well. I got on the trail late, at about 12:20pm on Friday. This is one of the best trails I have been on lately. It starts in flat, deep forest. The trail bobs up and down 500 feet or so, but stays flat for about 5 miles. During this time you are in lush forest, cross small creeks, some thickly overgrown areas and some arid forest floor. A wonderful site along this trail are some of the old growth trees you can find, one that toppeled over was hollow inside and so large I could stand inside with room to spare! The trail along here is mainly in great shape, with some age starting to show in the rotting boardwalks in the marshy areas. At about 5 miles you come to a river crossing over a long and stable log bridge. It is flattened on top and easy to cross. Follow the trail to another log bridge, much older, which leads to an old slide slope. Look for the cairns, but if none are found, head up to your right and you will run into the existing trail. Here you start to climb, and steep. I believe the books say about 2k feet in about 2 miles. It feels like it, but again, the beauty makes it bareable. Also, some of the scrub oak are changing color already, so you get a few short patches of beautiful color. By hitting this trail in the afternoon you also miss some of the sun, which helps to keep it cool. Upon reaching the top, you will happen upon Jade Lake first. The trail is nice and skirts the narrow edge to another short climb into the Emerald Lake area. here you find quite a few campsites and blueberries. Continue on for Opal Lake. When the trail comes to a largeish junction, continue on for the trail towards Tank Lakes. If you are not up to the last climb, there are plenty of good spots here. The trip up to Tank Lakes can be frustrating if the sun is setting and you are tired. Follow the water up into the canyon, staying to the right. Scramble through some boulders until you come to the top of the washout where it has cut through the sediment. To your right is a large boulder ridge. There are large cairns on top, get to the top and follow it up to a saddle that leads to the Tank Lakes, about 1000 feet above Opal Lake I believe. Once over that saddle, I was AMAZED at the views. Fabulous peaks, smoothed and creviced granite on a massive scale. Beautiful and empty! Seems not nearly as many people come up there. It has a different feel to it and there are endless opportunties for day hikes, scrambles, peaks or just exploring. It can get windy up there though, so bring the fly or a decent sleeping bag. On hte whole, the trails have a few muddy spots, but not enough for me to flag it. Also, very few bugs on the entire trip. When there are (morn & even) they are mainly mosquitos that are repelled easily with DEET. If there is a breeze they stay away. There are some snow patches up top, but nothing posing an issue on any trails. Enjoyable and perfect for a 3 day, 2 night trip with a whole day in the middle for exploring. More photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/noel.hastings

Worth the work! Left Seattle Friday afternoon and got to the trailhead around 3 - hiked in to the campgrounds five miles in near the river - nice spots, and a great way to break up the trip. Got an early-ish start up the rough 3 miles to the lakes and made it to the lakes before the heat was too harsh. Steep, and tricky in some spots, but not as bad as some make it out to be. Once we picked our camping spot we hiked up to Foen lake. Thought about the La Bohn lakes, but the trail was hard to find and the ascent looked ridiculously tricky. Foen lake was a good scramble up the creek bed and over rocky areas, but definitely worth the trip. The lake is FAR better than the three main Necklace Valley lakes, and we didn't see a single hiker going up or down! Bugs weren't bad during the day, but awful in the evening and morning. The next morning we went down to Lake Ilswoot which is by far the best of the Necklace Valley lakes - so much prettier than Jade, Emerald, or Opal. There's one big camping area that seems ideal if you can get it. Hiked out the 8 miles to finish out the fantastic weekend adventure!