A spectacular, memorable, difficult hike with a full pack.  The East Fork Foss River portion of the trail is absolutely gorgeous and is in great condition and not crowded.  Crossing the river the hike changes to a steep, several mile climb, also beautiful with mountain and stream views.  I reached Jade Lake and passed several parties who found wonderful sites, but it was buggy and I was after a breezy alpine experience, so I kept going.  The Necklace Valley lakes are progressively more beautiful, and I was tempted to camp there, but kept going to the end of Necklace Valley where the route finding becomes more difficult.  (Stay generally left at forks so you remain in the valley until to reach the stream draining Foehn Lake.)  You leave the valley and parallel that stream up a lateral moraine, which is difficult for route finding, footing, and for the exertion required (for me anyway; I'm in my 60s).  1000' above Necklace Valley it begins to flatten on glacier-scoured rock and you are truly in the alpine with views in all directions.  It was breezy as I'd hoped, and mosquitoes were much less of a problem.  I was by myself so did not traverse Iron Cap Mountain, but I saw 2 other parties that did, often as a day hike.  I'm a little hesitant to file this report because Tank Lakes are so beautiful, and so uncrowded!  Be very careful on the descent to Necklace Valley since rock on the moraine ridge is unstable.  Interestingly, the majority of hikers I encountered in the Necklace Valley portion were wearing masks and followed WTA recommendations for hiking in the Covid era.  This is in contrast to some other, more popular hikes I've taken this summer.

Headed out of the Necklace Valley parking lot at 8:30am on Tuesday.The plan for the day was to make it to Tank Lakes and back. Trail is snow free and well maintained up to 5 miles. Around mile 5, there is a patch of stinging nettles that overhangs into the trail at your ankles for about .2 but its not too bad.

At 7.5 miles, snow begins. Patchy at first, it picks up as you get closer to the lake. The snow was untouched ahead of me, minus a few spots that showed bear prints. Didn't see any bears, fine by me!

I lost the trail after the first lake, you have to cross the river and continue heading upward. Hopefully my tracks will help the next few people, until new snow :)

After crossing, I continued to lose and find the trail for about 2 more miles. Once I reached the end of Opal lake, I was having trouble finding where to go and it was nearing my turn around time. Instead of continuing to try to find the trail, I called it and turned around. Snow was about 18 inches by Opal.

I saw 3 groups of people on my way back, 2 of those groups with overnight gear planning to stop at Jade. 

Sad I made it so close to Tank lakes but didn't get there. Will come back again! 19 miles, 4,600 ft of gain...not a bad day! 8 hours, 45 minutes car to car with some time for route finding along the way.

Started a five day/4 night backpack to Necklace Valley on Thursday.  Only a few cars in the parking lot both on the day we started hiking and the day we left.

We did the same hike four years ago but stayed two nights instead of four.  The goal this year was to summit Mt Hinman so added a few days to the trip.  Last trip we stayed at Lake Ilswoot which was colder with less sun so planned on finding a site at Opal Lake.  Opal Lake is higher up in the valley and close to the trail leading up to the higher lakes. 

The first half of the hike (4.5 miles) is level with some sections in the forest and other sections in boggy/muddy areas.  At a shoe adjustment break two miles into the hike an owl flew down close to us and watched.  Very cool!

At about 4.5 miles the climb starts.  Up to this point there are several river crossings on logs but at this time of year the river is down so not as dangerous as crossing in the spring.  Cross the river and start climbing the boulders.  Be careful in the first boulder section to follow the brown dirt boot markings on the rocks or you will get off the trail.  Nothing is marked.  In about half a mile the trail reappears

The trail from here on out is at times muddy and full of roots.  There are three sections where long legs help because the step up is about 3' high.  I admit this section of the trail is one of the most difficult I have hiked and with a full backpack is down right awful.  We cursed and sweated our way up for several hours.  Drink lots of water. 

We headed straight to Opal Lake and after scouting for a camping spot found a shelf on the cliff across the lake from the trail where we easily fitted two tents.  Behind our site was Cloudy Lake where we filtered water.  The lakes are smaller than on the maps possibly due to the low water level in the higher lakes. 

The next day we made our way up to Tank Lakes (2 of them) where we had lunch and then hiked down to Foehn Lake and went for a swim.  There is not a marked trail so good idea to have a downloaded map.  The terrain is boulders and scree. 

The next morning we hiked around Cloudy Lake and bouldered to the north end where it drops down to Lake Ilswoot. No trails here but easy to navigate.  In the afternoon we scrambled to the top of the 5,000 peak north of Opal Lake where there are great views of the upper valley and Opal Lake. 

The next morning at 6 am two of our group started out for Mt Hinman.  There aren't trails so navigation is important.  It is a 2,600' climb over boulders.  They made it to the top and had 360 degree views.  It is good to wear gloves for hand holds and downloaded maps.  The boulders are sharp and larger.  I did not head to Mt Hinman but instead hiked and scrambled around the lakes including Ilswoot, Emerald, Jade, Al and Locket.  Couldn't find a way to Jewel Lake.  No bugs and perfect weather.  Only saw five people all day. 

The way was uneventful but slippery due to the muddy trail for the 4.5 miles down to the river crossing.  Poles helped a lot.  Again, no bugs. 

The climb out was uneventful and fast. 

My 12 year old son and I hiked to Jade Lake the first night and camped at the north end of Jade Lake. It's a stiff hike since the majority of the gain is in the last few miles. We fished the evening hatch and caught a bunch of little fish (less than six inches) and went to bed.

In the morning, we hiked past Emerald (weedy) and Opal (easy to miss if you're on the trail) and followed cairns up the valley to the west below La Bohn Peak to the rocky plateau filled with tarns. The swimming was excellent, the views even better, and the bugs weren't that bad. On the way back, we heard lots of stories of the black bear that was wandering around the lakes in the Necklace Valley, but we didn't see it. We fished again, but couldn't match the dry fly hatch so caught only a couple.

We got up early the third day and made excellent time coming down. We sampled berries throughout the trip. The best blueberries are above the cabin on Emerald Lake. There are red huckleberries and salmonberries below the bridge across the Foss. There's a small patch of wild raspberries that are excellent in the rock fall above the bridge.

An amazing and also difficult hike with lots of boulder fields to cross. Mosquitos were worst between 3 and 6PM - recommend wearing your rain shell for an extra layer.  Rain was intermittent but trail was mostly dry or packed dirt going up but coming down was slick and muddy - bring a walking stick and tread cautiously with the rain.  Lots and lots of huckleberries, salmon berries, and thimble berries.