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!

Make sure you bring a bug net and a long sleeve shirt - the bugs are no joke. Other than that, one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on. Mostly snow free (the lake is fully melted out - just a few snow patches near the top but they are avoidable). 

A few downed trees on the way up to Jade lake, but they aren't too hard to hop over. 

Happy hiking :)

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.

Hiked in on Saturday, July 17th for a two day (one night) trip with two friends up to Tank Lakes. We arrived at the trailhead around 9am to a few other cars. The last ranger report was from June 10th, so our trail conditions were very different than what was posted at the trailhead. 

The first few miles are flat and the trail is in perfect condition. After a couple of miles the trail became more overgrown but totally passable, just some berry bushes on the sides. The huckleberries are ripe, super early this year, and the salmon berries are turning as well. The last trip report we found on AllTrails stated that the trail was extremely overgrown but this was not the case. Someone very recently had chopped a large section back which was really nice. Bugs are not bad at all at the beginning.

At the first river crossing, take the small social trail on the right to enter the bridge so you don't have to get your feet wet walking into the water. The river is running high and was all the way up to the log/foot bridge. From there go left after you get off the log, we tried to go right at first but there is a cairn on the left. After this you enter the first mini boulder field and this is when the elevation gain starts (about mile 5 or 6). Follow the cairns up the boulders and back onto a trail. The elevation gain stays consistent from here until Jade Lake. We crossed over and under a ton of blow downs, they were very annoying and many right in a row, but all were easily passable. 

We reached Jade Lake (this is not the Jade Lake you think of, same name and very similar location) and stopped for lunch. There were some bugs here but not too bad until we got to the other side of the lake, heading towards Emerald Lake. There were several groups camping at Jade Lake and a group heading out from camping near the cabin. We took a 30 minute break to eat and filter water then headed around the lake and up to the cabin and Emerald Lake. The bugs are awful on this portion of the trail, we used both Sawyer spray and Deet back woods which helped a lot. The trail gets a little hard to follow on the steep section up from Emerald lake to the next boulder field. We had no problem with a Gaia GPS track but may have had trouble without it. This is a short but steep and slippery dirt section. Once we got to the boulder field it was easy to follow cairns to the next section leading up into the basin. 

Once heading up to the basin, the trail gets harder to follow, not as many people keep going from the lower lakes. But there are cairns to follow. After passing a waterfall we did start to encounter snowfields to cross to get to the next patches of rocks. The snow was fine to cross in trail runners and there was lots of watermelon snow. More snow on the final push to Tank Lakes, again totally passable and it seemed firm. 

We reached lower Tank Lake in just under 7 hours, including our long lunch break. We set up camp on a huge slab above the lake, and there was only one other couple camping on the other side of the lake. We had the place to ourselves! The lake is still half snow covered and there is a lot of snow in the lake basin. We did still take a quick dip, the water is freezing. The lake basin is stunning and we did a hike around the entire area. A lot of snow but easy to walk on and plenty of exposed rocks. Bugs were better here than at Jade Lake, but they were still around. With our thermacell we were able to manage sitting outside at camp without them bothering us too much, but without that they were extremely annoying. I went through almost an entire bug spray on my own this trip.

We had a great sunset and a beautiful morning before we broke camp and headed back down. Only took us 5 hours to get back to the car, including a lunch break.  

Hope this helps someone since there were not any trip reports in 2021 for us. This was such an amazing overnight with a lot of elevation gain! My watch said closer to 4,300 feet gain and 25 miles RT. 

More photos on my instagram: @skyestoury