Got to the Necklace Valley Trailhead Sunday August 25th around 9 am. Only 4 other cars at the TH which was not surprising given the entire area was pounded with rain and record cold temps on Friday and Saturday. A couple of trail runners were just departing to traverse the Alpine Lakes High Route counter-clockwise (we would see them later evening at Jade Lake as they came down the other side of the East Fork of the Foss River). No signs of issues with window smashing or car prowling which is always a worry here.

We departed on our 3-day / 2-night backpack setting course for Tank Lakes 12 miles up. The first 4.5-4.75 miles of the hike are easy and mostly flat - averaging 22-24:00 min pace with 35-38 lb. Bags. Took a break before the river crossing and then proceeded to climb into the Necklace Valley. From here it was a steady grade of maybe 20% for 4.5 miles to the head of Jade Lake. There was “No Quarter” granted in terms of the relentless climb into Jade Lake and then the Necklace Valley basin. A few scrambly spots but really just simple up and more up. Reminded me of Gothic Basin after mile 2 in terms of intensity. Got to Jade Lake around 3:15 and the weather was deteriorating with temps now in the low 40’s. We had intended to push the last 3 miles into the Tank Lakes basin but looking south to La Bohn Peak - we could see it was enveloped in clouds at a level well below the Tank Lakes basin elevation and elected to not push the final 3 miles as the satellite weather forecast was better for Monday. We were a little disappointed to not push to Tank Lakes but we were also battling a changing forecast with rain now forecast to begin at 3 pm Monday afternoon followed by a low pressure front to push through Monday evening / Tuesday morning and persist for 12-14 hours with temps in upper 30’s and substantial rainfall. So we called the audible and made Jade Lake the base camp and enjoyed a cool evening at a wonderful tent pad - including some Alpine Lakes High Route intrepid souls we spoke with passing thru who actually took off last Friday for the high route knowing there was record cold temps and rainfall inbound. They were quite happy when we saw them but I’m thinking maybe they were more relieved as they said they got pounded Friday and Saturday. nights.

Up early Monday am on a crystal clear but cold Monday morning with lighter packs and made the traverse to the basin. The necklace valley is simply wonderful. Scouted the waterfall route up to La Bohm Lakes - no bueno. Way too vertical with a pack imho. Headed the other direction and began the glacial moraine traverse staying right close to the trees and Heather and then took the high spine up and to the right. I believe this is the best route as taking the middle of the moraine would leave a funky scramble up a lot of scree and boulders to make the tarns before the final push to the Tank Lake Basin.

Made the basin in 2:30 and enjoyed lunch before checking the NOAA weather forecast - and to our surprise a fast moving rain squall was moving through at 3:00. Not wanting to be caught on the upper part of the boulder scramble down we headed out and beat the rain and was back to camp around 5 pm.

Enjoyed a couple hours of calm before the low pressure system moved in and temps quickly dropped to low 40’s with heavy rain all the way until 11 am Tuesday. Got a small break in rain and broke camp just as the heavy rain returned and hung with us all the final 9 miles out.

Upon reflection, I would recommend only go for tank lakes as base camp unless you have three absolute bluebird days in latter July / early August. This can be done as an overnight for those that are more “stout” in their fitness and endurance and mindset.

The views up top of Chimney, the Chiefs and Overcoat are other-worldly. Iron Cap beckons to the West.

Highly recommended - just get a good weather window as the Necklace Valley is impacted by the puget sound convergence zone and also makes its own weather given Mt. Index and other granite towers in the area cause the clouds to bunch up and swirl over this part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

We started on Friday 8/16 around lunch time. Weather was cool and cloudy and after hiking up to Jade with full packs we were glad! I couldn’t imagine hiking up in any warmer conditions .
The assault of the trail on us hiking up was consistent. We made it up in 5 or so hours and found that camping at Jade would be a welcome relief.
Saturday morning we hiked with just a small pack up to Tank Lakes. Use your navigation! We stayed lower and returned on the higher ridge. Lots of carins that can lead you to other places that might not be apart of your objective. The “trail” is through a long boulder field and dirt/scree. Be mindful of your steps.
After reaching Tank and eating some food we hiked back down to camp and grabbed our heavy packs and started the long slog out. This is the brutal part. So many rocks and roots and they will wear you down (we are seasoned hikers).
Bring poles and be ready to filter that water. It was beautiful. It’s a one and done for us! Glad it is off the list.

Started at the necklace valley trailhead and headed up the valley towards jade lake. Very pretty lake, only 1 person camped here. Trail was very straightforward to get there, some elevation at the end but nothing too steep. We continued past jade lake, the trail stayed good where more people were camped at the next lake which was much marshier than jade lake. Continuing past this we stashed our overnight stuff at the fork to La Bohn Gap and Tank lakes and headed up towards the former. Trail became less from this point forward as we steeply climbed up to La Bohn Lakes and Gap. These lakes were gorgeous and reminded us of the enchantments. Great views of Chimney, Summit Chief, and Overcoat with their glaciers exposed. Continuing up from here we crossed many boulder fields on the way to the summit of Hinman. Definitely no false summits on this route. The summit marked on maps isnt the high point of the mountain, not sure where this came from. The Hinman Glacier is not longer a glacier, looked icy but it was very easy to go around with no crevasses visible. The Foss glacier we did cross but it was very mellow, we didnt feel like we were in any danger, only used microspikes and poles. To get to the actual summit you wouldnt need to walk on any snow, it is above the foss glacier on the ridge. You could also use this route to get to the map's summit but walking across the glacier is certainly faster and easier. Coming back down we followed the same route across boulder fields and back down to where we stashed our overnight stuff. We reloaded our packs and headed up towards tank lakes. We eventually reached our campsite at the end of tank lakes with a view across the valley towards the glaciated spires i mentioned earlier. We were able watch a crazy thunderstorm from here before it eventually ran into us but we were in the tent by then. Total stats for first day were just shy of 8k ft up, 3k down, 15 miles, 12 hours. 

Second day we woke up and donned our rain gear as our beautiful views had disappeared and we were in a cloud of mist for the first half of the day. We followed a loose trail and cairns across boulder fields eventually making our way to Iron Cap lake. This was probably the longest in terms of mileage section of off trail this day. Continuing past Iron cap lake we reached Chetwoot, which also had lots of cairn following and boulder field hopping. Past chetwoot to the outflow of big heart lake was a section that we heavily underestimated. It took us 100 minutes to traverse the brutal ups and down of this section. I'm sure it would have been faster without everything being wet and us already being tired but this section takes longer than you think. Once we reached Big Heart Lake, we were finally back on the trail, so with 9 miles to our car we decided to eat the rest of our food and continue to Little Heart lake. The rest of the trail was fairly uneventful and I'm sure others will write more detailed trip reports for this area. Total stats for second day were around 3k ft up, 7.5k ft down, 15 miles, 11 hours.

Much of this was 'off trail' and steep but very do able for good route finders and strong hikers. Very pretty, i will be back to this area soon. 

Have wanted to do Tank Lake for a while now, and finally checked it off my list this weekend. We managed to get up there this weekend despite thunderstorms and the mosquito army that were both waiting for us. Some notes for those headed up:

• Trail conditions: The trail up Necklace Valley has been serviced and cleared recently and is in good condition for the first 7-8 miles or so, through about Emerald Lake. Thank you to the teams that did this! There is one down tree at about mile 2.5 that is easily navigated.
• Bugs: Are intense! Not the worst I've ever experienced (shoutout to Lake Caroline) but definitely top 5. Bring a headnet and protective clothing.
• Berries: Are everywhere! At Opal Lake and beyond there are fields and fields of blueberries ripe for the picking. This slowed me down greatly.
• Water: Abundant throughout.
• Wildlife: Saw marmots and pika. Tracks of something larger were in a dried-up tarn, but didn't see other signs of it around.

We camped at the riverside sites 5 miles in on Friday night, and then pushed up to Tank on Day 2. This was reasonable and doable. We hiked all the way back out on Sunday.

Have fun up there! Happy to answer questions in the comments.

We hiked the Alpine Lakes High Route counter clockwise over three days.

The Necklace valley trailhead only had one parking spot when we arrived on Thursday. We road walked to the west fork quickly. The trail up to copper lake went by quickly. There were edible mushrooms if you know what you’re looking for and we began to see more berries the higher we went. We continued on to Big Heart Lake and even though quite a few parties were camped there, we were able to find a private site with a view of the unreal blue of the lake. Clouds and fog swirled around the peaks and trees as we made dinner. This was a nice site even in the clouds and potential rain.

During the night it rained and we woke to clouds so thick we could barely see the lake. But we pushed on hoping they would lift and the rocks wouldn’t be too wet. Thankfully the brush wasn’t too wet, and the short steep rocks between us and Chetwoot lake offered good grip. The tarns and flat granite before Chetwoot would make nice campsites. Berry eating slowed our travel as did a nice break at Chetwoot. Beyond the lake the route truly becomes more of an off trail adventure. However all the tools of navigation were present and we felt pretty confident even in the socked in conditions. Intermittent paths, cairns, and Gaia gps all helped us navigate easily albeit a bit slowly in the conditions. The ups and downs were painstakingly slow and the lack of views were disappointing. Upon making it to Iron Cap Gap the clouds finally started to bubble away and the views began to open up. By the time we were at Tank Lakes we could see blue sky and distant peaks. This is a truly nice place to camp, and I hope tor return. Rolling granite, tarns and alpine park lands abound.

The next morning we woke to totally clear skies and the views across to Overcoat, Summit Chief Mountain, and others were ample reward for all the time spent in the clouds the day before.
Heading down to Necklace valley was steep, and loose at times, but the views remained beautiful and the navigation was easy. The forest from
Jade Lake to crossing the Foss river had some very nice Alaska Cedars. after crossing the river there were some truly giant trees of different varieties as well as more mushrooms to spot. The final miles past alturas lakes were not super interesting, but we were also tired and ready to be done.

I feel like this loop could be done with similar difficulty in either direction. Probably simply matters where you want to camp and on which days. I’m so glad we had our clear night at Tank Lakes. The technicality of the off trail section never felt particularly intense, mostly just boulder fields and making sure you’re on the right path. I’m glad we pushed through, even with the less than ideal weather.