Day 1: Necklace Valley TH -> Jade Lake 7.4mi:

With some minor washboarding and shallow potholes, this gravel road was a dream for my sedan. Trailhead outhouse was stocked with toilet paper, plus someone put air fresheners inside, so all-in-all quite pleasant.

Trail starts off relatively flat, with the occasional bug. After the trail draws closes to the river ~3mi in, the bugs improved a bit, while the trail grew increasingly brushy. At 4.5mi, the trail crosses the river on a log bridge, then winds aggressively up through alternating talus, forest, and brush. Trekking poles were a nice bonus but not absolutely necessary for this section. Also noted several straightforward blowdowns to navigate. All water crossings were bridged or simple to rock-hop. Took almost 6hrs to reach Jade Lake including breaks/lunch.

Bugs descended en masse starting at Jade Lake and higher elevations. My blood generated so many free meals for mosquitoes, I believe I deserve a humanitarian award. Bug-spray seemed to grant a temporary reprieve, at best, and still I managed to get breakthrough bug-bites.

Camping situation at Jade Lake: PSA no campfires allowed after crossing the river above ~2200ft elevation. At Jade Lake, 1-2 sites at the outlet (cross the logjam), then 3 sites near the inlet (2 of these being shoreline prime real estate). If all these sites are taken, keep on going, there is a 4th site after the inlet on a mini plateau, and then many more between Jade and Emerald Lake. It seems like most people are taking the first available spots at Jade Lake, but spotted many open sites after Jade. Sites at Emerald Lake were divided between those overlooking the lake from above (right off the main trail), or taking a side trail down to the shoreline. There is also a very buggy public use log shelter with wooden slats right before Emerald Lake. Would have searched for Opal Lake's campsites, but the bugs cut my explorations short.

Day 2: day-hiked from Jade Lake to Tank Lakes ~2.1mi oneway

Spoiler alert, bugs did not improve while gaining elevation. Trail was straightforward to follow for the most part, with the occasional cairn, but lost track of the cairns in the endless talus field right below Tank Lakes, so some GPS assistance was beneficial. Trekking poles were also helpful in this section, as the cairns at times followed a ridge edge along a crumbly steep loose gravel path. Crossed two non-dangerous flat snowfields right before Tank Lakes, but otherwise no snow on the trail.

Camping situation at Tank Lakes: plenty of sites, but mostly exposed due to lack of trees, and so very buggy. Wandered around the lakes for a bit, but sadly could not sit still and enjoy the scenery, as any lack of motion seemed to be a beacon for mosquitoes. Ended up exploring some of the other lakes including Al Lake (but no lake was spared by bugs), and the bottom of the talus field below La Bohn Lakes. Hid in my tent to nurse my bugbites. Other than the bugs, it was a beautiful day to be outside.

Day 3: Jade Lake -> Necklace Valley TH:

Woke up at the crack of dawn, since I couldn't wait to escape the bugs. The mosquitoes were marginally less bothersome while packing up our gear, but still managed to get some bites. Hightailed it out of there, took ~4.5hrs to reach the car.

Visited Tank Lakes and crossed over towards the West Fork of the Foss River as part of a six day backpacking trip from Snoqualmie Pass. After straightforward hiking on the PCT to Waptus River, we hiked up and over Dutch Miller Gap and up the Spur Trail to Williams Lake. Cairns and a faint trail led us past the La Bohn Lakes and down into the Necklace Valley (8/4/2022). Relatively little snow remained; ice axes were not necessary.

After hiking into the Necklace valley, we hiked Opal Lake to Big Heart Lake on 8/5/2022 (on the Alpine Lakes High Route mentioned on the East Fork Foss page). Most of the snow is gone and only a few short easy snow crossings remain. Ice axes did not seem necessary. The largest challenge was route-finding near Iron Cap: GPS navigation can help with sparse cairns and some zig-zagging through small cliff bands. The ridge between Chetwood Lake and Big Heart Lake is not to be underestimated. While the trail is not too hard to follow, the steep grades were a challenge at the end of a long day.

Trailhead was mostly full when we arrived around noon, probably should’ve started earlier given how hot it was though. There was broken glass at the trailhead so keep valuables out of your car. The first five miles along the river are pretty much flat and shady; couple good camping/lunch spots by the river as you go and the bugs weren’t too bad. Once you leave the forest and start climbing it gets hotter, steeper, rockier, and waay buggier. The river crossings are all pretty straightforward, doable without poles. The first few miles to Jade Lake have some pretty exposed and overgrown sections that are a pain especially when it’s hot out. It climbs pretty relentlessly up to the lake and there are a few blowdowns that took some effort to climb over. The bugs were definitely worse but still not as bad as it gets up top. Ranger had left a report noting bears (including mom and cub) on the trail and I ended up seeing a bear cub maybe six feet in front me on the trail about half a mile from Jade Lake. Bring a bear bag if you’re camping at Jade. It was buggy at the lake and saw a few campers but we kept going up. It levels out a bit past Jade and after Emerald route finding becomes tricky as there are multiple “routes” up to Tank. The rock field before Tank Lakes which you climb up is steep but navigation is really difficult given half the cairns aren’t placed on the actual trail so have maps downloaded. Bugs were horrendous on the ridge and wouldn’t let up all the way to Tank. Some snow patches but all on flat ground so easy to navigate. Tank Lakes were stunning, views were amazing but the bugs were something else. Get a mosquito head net if you don’t have one because they would swarm so badly in the evenings and morning. Couple of people camping and most camp sites were melted out with a little snow on the lakes still. It was otherworldly up there, totally worth the effort. Left the next morning around 8:30 AM and arrived at the parking lot around 2:30 PM. Took us about 7 hours to get up.

A lovely run and scramble up Hinman via East Foss and the Necklace Valley. Despite the bugs and the heatwave, conditions were perfect. Given the lingering snow, there is plenty of water available. The snow is very supportable, which made the direct route up La Bohn easier. There were also opportunities for a handful of glissades, which sped up the descent. As long as the snow holds, I would hang to the north side of the west ridge so as to make the best use of the snowfields. Hiking the mostly dry ridge (I did that on the ascent) was pretty and blissfully bug free due to the wind, but it was slower going than putting on spikes and sticking to the snow. Scrambling along/over some of the false summits exposed me to a decent amount of loose rock and made me wish I had been down in the snowfield/glacier. 

Overnight backpack to Opal Lake. As promised, first 5 miles are very mild in terms of elevation. There are some sections that are very overgrown (and a few sections that look like they’ve recently been cutback), so I was glad to be wearing long pants.

Crossing the river was a bit sporty. The log across the river (no intact railing, although it looks like there once was one) was separated from the trail by a shin-deep pool. I put on sandals, but some other hikers were able to climb climb up and over an embankment to reach the log without getting their feet wet.

Shortly you across another arm of the river, and then the trail starts getting tough. Immediately you are on a talus slope that has no discernible trail or easier path up - only cairns show you where to go, climbing up huge boulders. Then, sections of the trail are really overgrown but have large rocks, making it difficult to see your footing and important to take it slow.

The trail keeps climbing up steep sections with tricky footing all the way to Jade Lake. After the creek crossing (bridge is in good shape), you still have 0.5-1 miles to Jade Lake- I made the mistake of thinking it was right around the corner :)

Perhaps because this was my first overnight of the year and I’m not in pack shape yet, but this entire section of the hike, both up and down, really kicked my butt. The challenging footing and large steps made for very sore muscles and the talus slopes and hidden rocks made for beat up and achy feet.

Jade Lake made for a pretty late-lunch spot, albeit with lots of mosquitoes. The lake level is still high, so the trail around Jade lake is submerged in places and required top notch balance or just wading to get around.

Browsed around at campsites at Jade Lake, Opal Lake, and beyond Opal Lake but everywhere was massively buggy so I picked a pretty spot at Opal Lake and spent most of the evening in the protection of my tent as swarms of mosquitoes tried to get inside. I saw only a handful of other groups, so maybe the other nearby lakes were less buggy and everyone was congregated there.

Overall, a pleasant hike and nice to be away from the crowds, but don’t underestimate the second half of the hike if you’re carrying a pack, be prepared to get your feet wet, and be prepared for swarms of mosquitoes.