We just had a fantastic 3-day, 2-night family backpacking weekend up in the Necklace Valley, with side excursions up to the Tank Lakes and La Bohn Lakes. There were 4 of us, with 2 kids ages 10 and 12. We got started on Friday 8/2 around 11:30 at the trailhead. We opted for a bit of a later start due to the mild rain showers rolling through on Friday into the mid afternoon. There were about 10 cars in the parking lot, so it wasn't too crowded and we only encountered a handful of people on the trail. As reported elsewhere, the first 5 miles are mostly flat until you cross the river. The ascent starts at about the 5.5 mile mark, and is a good 3 mile climb up to Jade Lake. Yes, it was a tough climb, as expected. We hiked further to the cabin at Emerald Lake, which is where you can branch off to Locket Lake to the right (a side trail heading west just before the cabin), or to Ilswoot Lake to the left (skirting Emerald Lake to the east, crossing the outlet creek, and then descending a short hill to the south end of Ilswoot). We opted to set up camp at Ilswoot, which was isolated, quiet, and a beautiful large lake. There are really only 2 campsites that we could find at Ilswoot, and both are adjacent to one another at the bottom of the trail down from Emerald. However, we did not see a single person come down to Ilswoot over the 3 days we were there. It was a great spot with excellent lake access. Overall, it was approx 9.5 miles from the trailhead. We arrived at approx 6:30, just in time for dinner, and we were all starving after the hike in! 

On Saturday 8/3, we got up and spent the morning fishing at Ilswoot, having breakfast, and taking it easy. The 10-year old caught a number of cutthroats and rainbows on various flies in sizes ranging from 8" to 14". We released all fish. The mosquitoes were not as bad as we had expected (based on other trail reports), although we did use our mosquito nets at times. We left camp at 10:00 Saturday morning, and hiked past Emerald and Opal to the end of the Necklace Valley, which was about a mile from the cabin. We encountered a trio of backpackers coming down from La Bohn Gap who explained the routes both to the La Bohn Lakes and the Tank Lakes. We chose to head up to the Tank Lakes for lunch, and hiked up the long boulder field to the right (southwest) of the valley. The hike is not too steep, but is probably about 2 miles from the end of the valley to the Tank Lakes. There were a few cairns here and there to help with navigation. We got up to the top at around 12:00, and spent a good hour having lunch, soaking our feet, and enjoying the view of Summit Chief and Chimney Rock over the lake. We left at about 1:00, and got down within an hour to the end of the Necklace Valley. The 10-year old and mom went back to camp, and the 12-year old and I decided to head up to the La Bohn lakes. Without the help of the group we had seen earlier, I doubt that we would have figured out the trail. When at the end of the Necklace Valley, on the left (east) side, you can see a small waterfall, which is the outlet creek from the La Bohns. We ascended the boulder field to the right of the waterfall until we reached a rock wall. At that point, you can see a cairn to your left, which is the start of a trail that zig zags straight up, roughly adjacent to (and to the right of) the La Bohn outlet creek. It's probably only about a mile up, but it is extremely strenuous and vertical! We were gassed once we got to the top, but it only took around 30 minutes from the bottom of the valley. We wandered around, and found all 3 La Bohn lakes, only seeing one other guy up at the top. It was extremely rewarding and the views looking back out towards the Necklace Valley were breathtaking. All in all, we were up at the La Bohn Lakes for about an hour, then headed back down. The descent wasn't as hard as we were expecting, and we got down in no time, and then headed back to camp, arriving at around 5:00. We ate dinner by the lake, and then hiked over to Locket, and then to Jade to do a bit of fishing, but the fish were all pretty small there.

On Sunday morning, the 12-year old caught her first Alpine Lakes trout, a nice 10" rainbow, and I also caught a large 15"-16" rainbow on a parachute adams dry fly. We packed up and left camp around 11:00, arriving at the trailhead at 5:00. Overall, it was an awesome weekend!

I've hiked this trail a few times before but never did make it to Tank Lakes due to snow or aversion to route finding. This time around after successfully navigating other difficult trails I decided it was time to try again.  

The road in was just about how I remembered, smooth until shortly before the trailhead. Potholes a plenty but if you go slow you shouldn't have any problems. 

There were only 4 cars at the trailhead when I arrived a little before 9 am. As mentioned in other trail reports the first 5 miles are very brushy and overgrown at times. At around 4 miles the trail is so overgrown you can barely see where you're walking. I would strongly recommend pants or full coverage gaiters. I was in shorts and half gaiters, I got ripped up pretty good. 

At about 5 and half miles on the portion of the trail that elevation gain begins in earnest I had a pretty good scare. I heard rustling in the brush to my left and I looked over locking eyes with a medium-sized brown bear about 6 feet away from me. Fortunately it seemed like it wanted less to do with me than I did with it as it ran down the hillside as fast as it could. 

The rest of the trip up to the cabin was uneventful. The trail was in pretty good shape hardly any blow downs but muddy. The bugs were hardly noticeable until I got to the cabin when all of a sudden I was swarmed. I emptied the small bottle of spray I had with me and that worked a little.  I pressed on, didn't see any backpackers or other hikers until I was navigating the talus field when I saw guy on the ridge above me headed down. From then on it was just me and the whistle pigs. They serenaded me the rest of the way up. 

The last mile or so is still snow covered. Watch your footing as it is melting and there are some snow bridges. The lakes and surrounding mountains were absolutely beautiful. The lakes are still a little snow covered. The trek up was more than worth it, this is definitely a top 5 hike for me. Now I have another excuse to go back for an overnighter. 

Managed to steal away for one last backpacking weekend before winter sets in!  We'd had Tank Lakes on the list for some time, and it turned out to be the perfect destination for late October - relatively low-lying and easy to get to the trailhead, but still offering plenty of solitude and stunning views!

Trail was easy to follow and pretty much as advertised from TH to Necklace Valley.  After Opal Lake, though, it's all social trails and sparse cairns up over the saddle to Tank.  Highly recommend a good map or GPS track (we found several available for download on Gaia and AllTrails).

Saw one group out foraging along the Foss, and maybe 4 other backpacking parties at the lakes, but there's enough space that we felt like we had the place to ourselves!

This is a fantastic trail. Almost no switchbacks, and great views the majority of the way. I was aspiring to make the loop around Iron Cap Mtn and down the West Fork Foss trail, but the cloud cover was so low and thick at tank lakes that I didn't feel comfortable wandering off trail in low visibility. Especially since the only directions I had for this section we're based off landmarks that I couldn't see. 

Trail is in great shape, but degrades to mostly following cairns past Opal lake. There are many options for additional lakes to visit along the way for a bit of extra effort. Ilswoot is worth stopping by, the color is spectacular. Even on the most crowded of days, there will likely be an abundance of camping spots to pick from all along the trail. 

Only two other parties were camped at Tank Lakes. I passed a third on the way up who said they would be camping there but I never saw them after that. Mountains only offered peak a boo views, but sometimes those are the best views anyway. Will definitely be repeating this hike, and hopefully completing the loop. 

I initially planned on staying at La Bohn Lakes area but the gully up looked veye steep and snowy and I didn’t have my ice axe with me. So I veered towards Tank Lakes and Foehn Lakes instead. It’s still pretty snowy in that area but i was able to find a nice campsite near Foehn Lakes that would allow me to stake my tent in dirt. Everything is still fairly covered in snow but there are plenty of great rocks to camp on top of. Had great views of Mount Baker and Glacier Peak.

Bugs were awful as to be expected. I saw a friendly ranger patrolling as I was on my way out. She asked about seeing any wildlife as others had but I had not. I’m starting to wonder if the bell I hang on my dog actually works?!

Anyways, stifling hot weekend but gorgeous skies and nighttime stars!