Tank lakes is a gem, albeit a very buggy one! We did an overnight from the Necklace Valley trailhead and then pushed on to Tank. We used GPS/compass to make our way to Tank rather than following the cairn route and actually went to the northern most of the two Tank lakes. It was an extremely hot, steep & buggy day! We were the only ones there and camped on a rocky ledge. We stopped by the southern Tank lakes on the way out in the morning and the view looked incredible but definitely more crowded. On the way out we followed the cairns through the talus field and it was pretty straightforward. We did this as an overnight, which is definitely manageable, but it would have been more enjoyable to break it up into 3 days. The bugs were horrendous, we used non-deet spray and I have upwards of 50 mosquito bites. Unless you want to super deet up or are ok with being absolutely swarmed, I'd hold off until September on this one. Bugs were noticeable at the other lakes but from the talus fields on it was truly terrible. 

On a better note, we found an iPhone at Jade lake with a gray case. If it's yours, send me an email at laurenf@comcast.net and I will get it to you! 

First time hiking up to Iron Cap Gap, for a 2-day trip. Although we check the forecast a lot before we go, we missed the heat advisory issued on Friday afternoon and ended up hiking in mother-of-dragons hot temps. So I am sure this trail felt more difficult under these circumstances.

The first five miles are mellow gain of only 1000 ft, mostly along the river. Trail workers were in the middle of clearing the trail, which is overgrown with a lot of vegetation- they cleared half of the 5 mile stretch. So some areas are still bushwhack thick, but the areas they cleared are manageable and easy. Thank you, trail workers!  Amazing!

The next 3 miles and 2500 ft up to Jade lake is pretty hard. It’s bouldery, rooty, sometimes muddy, steep, and there is a 1/4 mile section of numerous, densely packed downed trees from left over avalanche debris. At one point I fell on an unstable rock and got pretty cut up.

We saw a few other parties going up and down this section and many (who were seasoned hikers) were dealing with cramping. Multiple different parties had a leader who would hike up to the lake, drop their own pack, and hike back down to help a distressed hiker in their group. It was no joke!

We continued past Jade lake, hoping to get away from bugs. We passed Opal and decided to keep going higher before setting up camp. The trail up towards Iron Cap is not clearly defined and requires route finding as there are many ways to get there through boulders and faint bootpacks. After 10.5 miles and 4200 feet on gain, we made it into the glacier moraine, found a flat rock and bivy’d there.

The next morning, we woke up and hiked up to Tank Lakes and Iron Cap Gap.  Instead of taking the ridge up high, we stayed in the shaded and snow-patched moraine, which felt easier.  the snow patches are easy to manage and nice to travel on. After gaining about 600 feet, we made it to the Gap and took a long break.  Amazing views of Snoqualmie Pass, the Chiefs, Overcoat Mountain, Bears Breast, and more. SO many great camping spots.  Tank Lakes warm enough to swim.  

We later walked towards Tall Lake and Otter Point, exploring a bit before descending back down the moraine to our stuff.We took the “high route” down which was harder than our ascent route.  I recommend staying lower.

It was very hot all day, and there is not a lot of shade near Tank Lakes and Otter Point.  The bugs were pretty bad the whole time. Backpackers we talked to also mentioned the bugs were terrible while camping at Tank Lakes.  Bring a bugnet and layers- we spray our long sleeves and pants with permethrin.  As hot as it was, we kept the long layers on until the bugs subsided- the last 5 miles to the car.  Also, pants are helpful for bushwhacking.  At one point I briefly wore shorts and got some sort of rash from a nettle or something… 

2 poles were helpful for the trail.  Trail runners with gators were good. 

We probably drank about 4-5 liters a day.  There are plenty of places to filter water.

If I could do it again, I would bring enough food to stay a few nights.  There is a lot to explore, and the approach wore us out more than we anticipated. The views at Tank Lakes are ridiculous!

Also, don’t go in 85-90 degrees lol. 

24 miles and 5500 ft gain (2 days).  

Stay safe!

This area already has a fair number of trip reports so just a few notes:

1. there are a lot of blowdowns between around 2800 to 3000 in the more open avy terrain on the way up. We stopped counting them eventually and they are fairly annoying.

2. to Ilswoot lake: at the cabin look for a social trail headed left (east). your goal is to cross the outlet stream of emerald and then bear slightly right (south) to a gap in the rock lumps (around 47.5811, -121.2543). Head down the gap and the first campsite is right there. There is a second less spacious campsite to the left (north) with room for one tent near the small peninsula. You must go through the first camp to get to the second camp. There is also an excellent camp right at the outlet to emerald lake if both are taken.

3. at the head of the valley it begins to be very easy to get lost. Just do your best over the talus and head generally towards the farthest right talus field (if headed to tank) the way gets easier to navigate as the trees disappear. The tracks I saw went up the ridge to the right be we found it easier to sweep around the lowest point, looking for the path of least resistance.

4. to otter point: the way is fairly obvious at first. Head towards the "foehn lake" basin area then gain the ridge near 47.5725, -121.2671. follow the ridge up until you hit some car sized boulders just below the summit. You can either chimney up these or for an easier option go around to the right towards what looks like an airy dead end. Once around the corner though, you find it is not and the way becomes obvious again. This was my favorite view of the trip.

5. there are so many more campsites at tank lake basin than I expected. You may not be able to set up right by the lake but you will find something if you make the trek, the basin is large and mostly rock so durable surfaces. It might be a good idea to bring a blue bag as there is nowhere good to dig a cat hole.

This is a beautiful hike with lots of options for making it longer or shorter. KEY NOTE: The second half of this trail after Foss River is Challenging. It's doable but takes a lot time and quite steep up hill. Our GPS said closer to 10 miles to Jade lake. Follow the ciarns as the previous person mentioned it can be a little confusing. Also BUGS are really bad once you get to the lakes. I wore my face net most of the time. The road wasn't bad at all. Has some large pot holes the second half, but saw a Prius do it going slow.

-There are quite a few trees across the trail that make for somewhat of an obstacle course on the second half after Foss River crossing. Not a problem passing just takes a lot longer over and under.

-There isn't snow until you get past the initial lakes and start to work towards La Bohn. Didn't need our microspikes. Not sure if there's more around La Bohn didn't get that far.

-Getting to La Bohn is a very steep climb we opted not to do after making up to the initial lakes the first day. The trail to La Bohn was also hard to find next to the waterfall.  Plenty to explore between Jade and and La Bohn. Our favorite was Ilswoot, great place to swin too. Nice campsites at Emerald and Jade that we saw and a one tent site at Ilswoot.

I recommend 2-3 nights for this one. We did two and one more night would have been nice to make it to La Bohn. Very beautiful with lots of exploring options if you aren't afraid of mosquitos. This would be a grueling day hike don't recommend it for that unless you stop at the Foss River Crossing. Enjoy!

This hike is an absolute gem, but very challenging on the second part from Foss river to Jade lake. 

Pay attention to cairns ! Around mile 5 when you cross the Foss river it's not easy find the continuation after that (lost 1 hour and almost ruined my chances for a complete hike). Once cross Foss, there's cairns to your left, take that trail (as there's another thing that only looks like trail to your right. 50 yards or so later there's a big tree trunk crossing the water to the right towards a big boulder field that seems like going nowhere, but that is the trail . If you look carefully you'll see the cairns in that boulder field. it goes like 30-30 yards up and then to the left where it continues in the forest. Be prepared to spend on the last 2.5 miles as much as you spend on the first 5 as the trail here is brutal (downed trees you need to negotiate, very steep uphill, whereas the first 5 miles are like a walk in the park. Right close to the lake again the trail is not so clear, but goes to the left among some boulders.

Your efforts will be rewarded big time ! Amazing views, water, waddling pools, cool crossings.

For a day hike, next time I'll be at 6am at the trailhead, I started at 9am and due to the hour lost trying to find the trail, the visit was a bit rushed, Recommended at least a gallon of water per person during these hot summer days or carry a purifier. Also bug repellent, people who camped at the lake complained about bugs there, but on the trail it wasn't too bad, with bug repellant I barely noticed them. This trail goes a lot in the shade a lot, but it has plenty in the sun

P.S. Kudos to the contractor who whacked the vegetaion between 3.5 and 4.5 mile, now it looks like a super cool boulevard flanked by walls of vegetation (can't imagine how tough it was before this work.