I would not do this trip to visit only the Necklace Valley since the trail is downright long, dull, rooty, muddy and miserable. The lakes are not the greatest and neither are the views. Access to nicer areas make this hike worthwhile, however. Tank Lakes is as nice a place as The Alpine Lakes area offers the cross country roamer. At the end of the valley just below LaBohn Gap, go right and up rocks until reaching a valley containing the Pendant Glacier. You eventually reach a pass and wonderful parkland at about 5,800 ft. similer to The Enchantments. Dozens of small lakelets and granite slabs along with views across the Middle Fork valley to the Dutch Miller Gap area make this large plateau a magic wonderland. From the head of the valley,scramble up LaBohn Gap for a climb of mighty Mt. Hinnman. The valley is an o.k. place when the bugs are gone, but I see it as a great base for exploring.

Me and my brother started out at 7.00 at the trout lake trailhead and breezed up the near highway to trout lake. About thousand feet after trout lake there is a fishpersons trail to delta lake which is in pretty good shape.We were hiking fast and made it to the delta lake log jam at 9.15.On the other side of the log jam ,.there is a trail that parallels the lakeshore to the otter outlet ,where there is a campsite.my brother and I rested a while and then headed up to otter.We lost the trail a few times but,generally it was easy to follow.Just before we got to the lake we started to smell something nasty.THERE was EXCREMENT EVERYWHERE.I mean really smelly stuff and toilet paper with brown stuff on it if you know what I mean.There were eight people at the lake and this was on a weekday so if you want solitude don,t come here.I had planned to rest at the lake but was so disgusted that I persuaded my brother to try to get away from there as fast as we could.By the way if you do decide to go to this lake bring a trash bag to pack out some of the trash.After talking to some of the campers,my brother and I headed out along the lake shore to try to get to Bonnie Lake.On the topo map there is a shute which is the only break in the cliffs around the east side of otter lake.The grade is rated at 80 percent but my brother and I decided to try it.When we got to the beginning of the shute we saw that there were cedar trees growing up the middle but that it was so steep that if we fell we would be dead.SO after going up a little ways we quit and decided to go along the lake shore to the bonnie outlet.and hike up that way.After two hours of struggling around brush and cliffs we made it to the bonnie outlet at 5.00 .Five hours after leaving thelogjam.After resting a while we headed up into the devils club, salmon berry, and slide alder. At about 4400 feet there are some cliffs you will need to climb up, but generally it is not dangerously steep.The lake has good fishing but almost all of the trout are only 4 to 10 inches.We made it there at7.00. There are two fire rings near the outlet and paths near the campsites which might hAve been made by mountain goats but probably were not,PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ANY MORE. At least there was no trash or excrement mainly because this lake is not as spectacular or easy to get to as otter lake.In the morning we fished a while and then headed up to tank lakes. The meadows up there are pretty cool with views of chimney rock and the glaciers on its flanks.When we got to tank lakes we ditched our packs at a pond and headed up to otter point.We made the summit at 12.18 and stayed till one o/clock.The meadows up there are turning brown because of the dry summer and the scattered ponds are now mostly mudholes or dust bowls.The approach to the summit is nearly all huge boulders,steep moraines, and rock slabs which of course radiated heat.After climbing the summit,we headed down to the necklace valley and were there in two and a half hours. Once on the trail we traveled fast to jade lake and my brother stopped to filter water while I fished.Man the fishing in this lake is pretty good.I caught two in two casts.The water was clear too so you could see the fish following your lure.The last few miles of this eight mile trail were pretty long and hard ,but we made it out before dark.If you ever do this 20 mile loop and I don,t recommend it, be prepared for brush and some cliffs, take three to four days so you dont have to run past the scenery like we did,and dont be a wimp and bring a tent, because the less ya bring the faster ya go.

We looked for a one overnight trip in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness that would provide adventure and views without the crowds. We planned on first making it to the Necklace Valley and then deciding on whether to continue to the Tank Lakes. We left the parking lot, 1600 feet elevation, at around 10:45. The first 5 miles, relatively flat, were pain free with a couple logs over the trail that were easily passable. After a lunch break, we began the grueling 3 mile ascent to the Necklace Valley. The way was steep and a little rocky, but our swift pace made the going tougher. By 3 p.m. we reached the first of the lakes, Jade Lake, a spectacular sub alpine lake at about 4,700 feet. All the lakes and surrounding area were snow free. Continuing past Emerald Lake, we took a break near a cascading stream. From this area, an alpine high route outlined in Beckey's guide climbs up through the sub alpine forest and rock terraces to the Tank Lakes plateau. Descriptions of a “unique alpine tableland” with “ice-polished granite” and “scattered evergreens” motivated us to continue. We found a faint trail, but it ended within 100 meters. Compass and map came out and a cross country adventure began. In this portion, the mosquitoes were in a frenzy. We hurried to the snowfields above reaching the half-frozen Foehn Lake (5,600+) where the mosquitoes were nowhere to be seen. After a magnificent walk across the plateau, we reached Tank Lakes (5,800) at little over 5 p.m. The higher lake was still about half frozen and the lower lake was ice free. The descriptions of the tableland were accurate. Setting up camp on a grassy knoll between the two lakes, we enjoyed a commanding view of Chimney Rock and Summit Chief mountain. The calm, mosquito-free conditions prevailed throughout the evening. After a beautiful sunset and wonderful weather in the morning we decided to climb higher to Otter Point (6,350) which is described as a “stroll”. In actuality the ridge is very long, involved some precarious boulder crossings with exposure on both sides, and potentially dangerous snow patches. After gaining the ridge at about 6,100 we decided not to waste the time (possibly 2 hours) to gain a little more elevation. We enjoyed views of Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, Mt. Hinman, the Olympic mountains, Mt. Rainier poking out from behind Chimney Rock, and host of other mountains. We began our descent at about 11:00. A quick glissade and jog through heather meadows brought us back to the trail in 25 minutes. Continuing down, we reached the West Fork Foss River for lunch at 1:00 and the parking lot at 3:15.

Directions: Head up Hwy 2 on the west side of Stevens Pass, take the No 68 Foss River road, stay straight at the fork to Road No 6830, then at the next fork take Road No 6835 to the left, then continue to the trailhead. Trail Notes: This is prime Washington bushwhacking. Otter Lake Loop is worth a weekend visit. We opted for a 4 day backcountry adventure. Day 1: West Fork Foss Lakes trailhead to Otter Lake el. 3925 feet- Hike rated: 4 hours, strenuous 5.5 miles, elevation +3300 My brother and I left the Foss Lakes trailhead at 5AM and steamed up the trail to Trout Lake. We soon reached the Malachite and Copper outlet stream, you will know you are there because it is the first sharp corner heading up. From here drop down staying on the north side of the outlet stream, about 80-100 feet before getting to the West Fork of the Foss River there are two logs you can shimmy across- make sure you find these logs because the trail picks up here on the other side. The fisherperson's trail follows the west Fork up to Delta Lake (always keep the river on your left side). Once at Delta Lake the 'trail' heads up from this campsite, following the contours of the lake. At the end of Delta lake (take second and admire all the waterfalls coming into it from Big Heart, Angeline and Otter Lakes) cross the maze of creeks, look for a log that crosses one of them that heads east, the trail picks up here. Once on the the 'trail' the Otter Lake outlet will be on your right, continue up to the waterfall. With the waterfall and a huge rock face on your right, scramble up the boulder field into the chute and the trail will pick along the creek again. Your almost 'home free' now. Follow the 'trail' along side a marshy swamp, the trail meanders through the forest heading back towards the outlet stream. Soon you will see the great Otter Lake. There are numerous camp sites, some better then others (there is one with a rock oven near the lake shore). We set up our base camp at about 9AM and pumped up our rafts and heading out fishing. Life does not get much better then fishing from a raft on a sunny summer day. We fished the day away exploring the lake shore for the coming days adventures. Day 2: Otter Lake to Bonnie Lake el. 5100 feet and Tank Lakes el. 5900 feet- Hike rated: 10 hours, strenuous 6.5 miles, elevation +2600 We ate some breakfast and jumped into our rafts and rowed down to the southeastern end of Otter Lake, there we pulled our boats up on shore and started bushwhacking up the outlet stream from Bonnie Lake and others. This was a brutal portion of the trip, I am glad we only had daypacks. Once we passed the first tributary stream we started cutting up the rocky overgrown slope. We fought our way through alders, devils club and many more until we crested the ridge near Bonnie Lake. What an awesome alpine lake- set in a rocky basin with a huge rock face on the back and southern sides. We fished and caught numerous 6 to 14 inch + rainbow/cutthroat/brook trout, we released them all. We went for a alpine lake swim--brrrr. While exploring all the way around the lake we found a nice campsite and fire ring near the outlet. We ate a bit of lunch and set our sights on making it over the next ridge into the Necklace Valley. We scrambled up the rocky creek bed to the top. The scenery up on the top was awe inspiring, a true alpine region--virtually no trees, lots of rock slabs and intermittent small waterholes. We wondered around a bit up here and noticed the only other person we saw on this 4 day trip was camped near one of the snow covered upper lakes. We figured we would try a different route down to Bonnie Lake so we meandered back towards the cliff looking back down on Bonnie Lake. We had to slide down a few cliffs and hold on for dear life in a few places. The sun was soon to go behind the ridge so we headed back down to Otter Lake-which was not much easier than coming up due to all the cliffs. At Otter Lake we fished our way back to the base camp and got back at about 9:30PM. Day 3: Otter Lake to Azurite Lake el. 4520 feet, Azure Lake el. 5000, Chetwoot el. 4905 and Angeline Lake el. 4609- Hike rated: 11 hours, strenuous 12.5 miles, elevation +4600 We had some pancakes and jumped into our rafts and rowed down to the southwestern end of Otter Lake, there we deflated our rafts and stuck them into our daypacks. It is about a 1/2 hour scramble up to Azurite Lake, not too bad compared to the day before. Once at the lake my brother started pumping up his raft, so I went out for a snorkeling adventure-trying to scout out some fish. The lake was a bit cold out in the deep water! I then got my raft pumped up, and headed out fishing. The fishing is not as good as Otter or Bonnie but it was still good. We fished for a few hours then rowed to the back side of the lake. We pulled our boats on shore and headed up the back rock basin. Once on top we meandered on to Azure Lake, we were hot so we striped down to our swimming trunks and went for a 'quick' dip-this lake was the coldest I had been in for awhile, it still had snow on part of it, we made about 4 dives a piece off the cliff. We dried off and jumped back into the still snow covered landscape heading up past the small pothole lakes towards Little Chetwoot and Chetwoot Lakes. Chetwoot was still snow covered so we did not venture down to it's lakeshore. We then headed over to take a look at the enormous Angeline Lake. We headed on back down to Azurite Lake and did some snorkeling and fishing. Then jumped into our boats and rowed to the other side and scrambled on down to Otter Lake. We fished until after dark- the fish were biting like crazy-12 inch+ every cast! Day 4: Otter Lake to West Fork Foss Lakes trailhead el. 1600 feet Hike rated: 4 hours, strenuous 5.5 miles, elevation +3300 We packed up camp did some fishing and headed back towards the trailhead. Once at Delta Lake we had worked up a good sweat, so we went swimming, I unpacked the mask and snorkel and went out exploring the lake bottom. I saw numerous good sized fish. If you never had tried snorkeling in alpine lakes-my suggestion is: try it, you will love it! One funny thing to note: at Trout Lake we passed a couple drinking their wine and enjoying the scenery and they said ""You guys look pretty hardcore"", I had to chuckle. The bugs were fierce--take some bug spray. Fishing-- awesome fishing for cutthroat, brook and rainbow trout some up to 14+ inches. Take a raft, these lakes are big and it beats bushwhacking along the shores to the next lake. We had night fishing tournaments off the log jam each night - it was a hoot the fishing was unreal! No reservations needed, just fill out a backcountry permit at the trailhead and display your forest pass in your vehicle. Do it again' You bet! This area with its scenery and lakes ranks right up there with the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Wear a pair of long pants and a long sleeved shirt, otherwise the brush will eat you up. If you want to see some other hikes and pictures around the Pacific Northwest take a look at my website at: http://alpinejo.tripod.com.