Short report: everything above about 3900' is still under a LOT of snow, and the lakes are all frozen (!). This is a uniquely heavy-snowpack year, highly atypical. Parked at Necklace Valley #1062, hiked road to West Fork Foss R #1064. Hiked to Chetwoot Lake and continued cross-country to Tank Lakes and exited via Necklace Valley (Foss Lakes High Route, aka Alpine Lakes High Route). Perfect snow conditions for cross-country travel. Now is a fine, unusual opportunity to do this route! They are putting resources into these trails: both have new deluxe privvies at the trailhead. Astonishing snow conditions for July, 2011 being an absurdly heavy snowpack year (Cliff Mass says 200-700X normal). It's more like March! Everything above 4000' is heavily blanketed with snow. It's gorgeous. Excellent snow-travel conditions, 2" of moist mush-on-crust, no postholing. Looked like great ski conditions. This is a fine time to do this high route; the snow cover makes it more appealing and much easier. I've done it in late season when the terrain is rough, rocky, slower, more arduous, and less dog-friendly. Weather was changeable but ideal. All lakes were completely ice-covered except Trout, Otter and Delta. Jade Lake was 5% open. Rivers are high. Bugs down low not bad, but will be soon. 7.5' USGS map (Big Snow quad, I think), ice axe, altimeter handy if poor viz, crampons arguable (I did not take or need them), dog belay gear. West Fork Foss R #1064: The new bridge is not in yet, but the early parts of the trail have been magnificently repaired. Work in progress. The temporary crossing log is almost awash -- I've never seen stepping-stones on a crossing log before -- it looks slippery, but was not. I belayed the dog here. It's a good crossing, just be careful, and a long pole will be handy. There is some blowdown on the trail, but not a major issue. Perhaps 1/4 mi. past Trout Lake, visit the Trout Lake Mine. A small trickle crosses the trail; the mine adit is 30' directly below this. Backtrack 50' and clamber downslope a bit, and you'll find the triangular tunnel just below the water drip. [Discovering Washington's Historic Mines, vol. 1, Oso Publishing, p. 173, a most interesting book, recommended. Also Northwest Underground Explorations, http://www.flickr.com/groups/34725791@N00/] The waterfall is stupendous. At one point, I had wildflowers, birding, old growth shade, waterfall, all at once. The lower woods are primed to explode in flowers... and insects. First snow was about 3900', near the Malachite Lake drainage. Past here, it was all snow until about 4300', below Jade Lake. The new handrail on the bridge is gone )-: but it's a wide bridge. Even if snow travel is not your thing, you should be able to get at least to Copper Lake; still iced-over but melting. A really nice walk and getting better, thanks to the trail crews. Foss Lakes High Route: Turns out, this was much easier than when it's dry. Firm crust with 2" moist snow on top. No postholing. Kinda technical, steep in places, ice-axe travel. Crampons might be a good idea, but I did not bring or need them (it did freeze Sunday night at 6000', but softened quickly). All of these little peaks are blanketed with snow, looks like skiers' paradise. I've never seen it like this. The dog loved it. I don't think I'd have tried it if I wasn't familiar with the route. There's a potentially dangerous steep section between Little Heart and Big Heart Lakes, but there's a snow tongue with good runout; be careful, the trail here is deeply buried and this little bit was definitely ice-axe travel. You have to climb to a high shoulder to get above a 600' vertical cliff to the east before you drop to Big Heart Lake; don't screw-up the navigation. Followed the hogback between Big Heart and Angeline to Chetwoot Lake, and camped on snow on the 5500' spur directly S of Azurite Lake, nice flat spot. Awoke to morning drizzle and slept til noon. Weather was supposed to clear, so we got going. Travel was faster than expected. Climbed Iron Cap Mtn., all snow, the N ridge not corniced (don't assume this! I feared cornices until able to view the ridge from above). Robbed of the Chimney Rock view. Note: if you want to bivvy near Iron Cap's summit, I believe a snowpatch persists well into late season east of the summit crest. Crossing Iron Cap's N ridge is tricky navigation and routefinding, esp. in limited viz.: my way is, ascend to 5800, climb the N ridge if you want, then descend to 5400 and traverse SE to the saddle, thence NE to Tank Lakes. You need a 7.5' map and routefinding skills. Getting around the N ridge of Iron Cap is the crux; there are cliffs to avoid above and below. Altimeter handy in poor viz. Beckey identifies a bench a little lower down, but I like this higher way; worth it for the view and the summit option. From the Gap, we traversed the big snow bowl to the Tank Lakes outfall. Dangerously steep ice-ax terrain but mostly good runouts (as I recall). Might be safer to stick to the high ridge above, esp. if it's rockier or no ax. We jetted through Tank Lakes, went to Tahl Lake, and ascended W to the ridge up a snow bowl with safe runout. Otter Point 6359 was about the first dry ground we saw that day, and I bivvied on the benchmark (perk of going solo: you don't need a big campsite). Sunset through roiling mists, then it cleared to a starry night, no tent, and cloudless dawn. Nice to have a dog that fits in the sleeping bag. One of the best days I've spent outdoors. The view from this modest summit (an easy scramble) makes it really hard to leave. Necklace Valley #1062: 10:00 Left Otter Point Summit. 11:45 Left Tank Lakes pass. Followed the moraine into upper Necklace Valley, lovely easy snow travel, ice axe, but you could likely do this with poles. 12:20 Upper Necklace Valley. Surprise: 12" suncups, making it rougher, slower travel than the high country. The navigation in here is not straightforward, can be confusing S of Jade Lake, esp. in limited viz. There are 3 drainages, and you want the middle one. There is a map-edge problem, too; if you can print a map with upper Necklace Valley in the center, might be nice. I found 1 set of footprints and a tiny dry campsite at the N end of Jade Lake, 4600. The lake is 5% open. First dry trail at 4300'. The trail is entirely dry below the BRAND NEW! double logbridge at 3800'. Beautiful job, thanks! This bridge used to be scary. It's still... interesting... but it's two logs with a handrail (the handrail may not last, it's already bent a bit; handrails seem short-lived). Between the crossing of the East Fork Foss R and Jade Lake, this trail is very rough, rocky, rooty, wet, with considerable blowdown and brush. A tough stretch of trail, with puncheon that looks like it dates to CCC days. I'll bet it was originally a mining trail, not engineered for posterity. But it's lovely. Some of the blowdown is very big, but one guy with a pruning saw could do a lot. The first 5 mi. of the Necklace Valley trail are an easy cruise: gradual, lovely, angels have recently removed all the blowdown (this was a big job, hooray), wildflowers, insects. Between mile 3 and 5, some really big fresh bear turds and other bear sign (rocks pulled up). At the campsite near the crossing, some fool let their child play Daniel Boone with a hatchet, blazing trees in camp and cutting down a 4" live tree. Great. The tram hangers are still there, but I didn't see the old bearing; hope nobody stole it. I've been seriously impeded by ripe berries in upper Necklace in the fall. Those bushes are still under deep snow now. The bears will be starving this year, remember that.

Three day trip to Tank Lakes via Necklace Valley. Started on a Tuesday and only encountered one group of three, on the way out. Bug free! First five miles are a scenic forest stroll. The next few to Necklace Valley, however, are not pretty - rooty, rocky, muddy, wet, and steep. Not for the faint of heart, and, unfortunately, the lakes in the Necklace Valley are not worth the work - some are pretty (turquoise Ilswoot in particular) but the others are shallow and swampy. Press on to Tank Lakes, however, and you'll be in a pristine wonderland of granite, lakes, and tarns. A very special place. To get there, just follow the trail south to the end of the valley and keep an eye out for cairns, eventually ascending a medial moraine. It's a lot of boulder scrambling, but not too difficult if you take your time. There is no official trail, so have good route finding skills, appropriate gear, and be in good physical condition. This area is still in good shape - if you do go, follow Leave No Trace and help keep it that way!

Accompanying me on this trip were Yoyo and Phlemy. The trail to Necklace Valley is pretty much as reported previously, but maybe not as horrendous as some think. There are muddy, rooty, and rocky sections in the last three miles, but there is lots of good trail too. However, it is steep most of the way. The stream crossings are all good with stable logs and handrails. Pretty posh in my opinion! However, we were plagued by clouds of mosquitos! God, will they ever leave this year? The trailhead had many cars and we saw tons of people coming in and only a few going out. Still, we didn't see hardly any camps in the valley. There must be lots of cubby holes to put your tent in. Next day, we moved camp to Tank Lakes. This is an exceptional area. Very scenic and not overused yet. I'll not give any info on how to find it as I'd like to keep it that way. Those who are willing to find the way and trudge up the way trail will no doubt respect it and treat it well. This area is very much like the Enchantments, but without the crowds and fantastic views of Chimney Rock, Overcoat, and Summit Chief, along with lots of other peaks. Phlemy and Yoyo took off to scramble Otter Point and the next day, Hinman, but I had to languish in camp nursing my persistent foot problems. Oh well, I can't think of a better spot to spend the day with the lakes all to myself except for a very curious Pine Marten to keep me company. The report from my buddies was that La Bohn Gap is very tough and somewhat risky to descend. Hinman was a pleasant rock scramble until the summit ridge when it turned into a mess of shifting rock plates. Both were exhausted when they returned, but we managed to stay up late that night looking at the huge sky full of stars while listening to Phlemy play her violin while Yoyo did some contra dancing on the smooth granite slabs. Very nice.

I left the Necklace Valley TH at 9:00 under mostly sunny skies, and arrived at Jade Lake at 1:15 pm. I found a flat rock along the lake to eat lunch and watch the fish swimming their rounds in search of food. I was surprised at the lack of bugs at the lakes. I think the fish were too. I proceeded up the valley towards the base of La Bohn Gap before turning right and climbing out of the valley to lower Tank Lake. The bugs became noticeable immediately upon approaching the ascent route. I arrived at the lower lake to find Lola and her masters set up in a tent near the lake. Further away, Alex, a very friendly 74 year-old man was set up near a tarn. Alex was originally from Hungary, and fun to visit with. We shared climbing stories and high country experiences for a considerable amount of time before I even got camp set up! As for Lola, she only required the occasional belly rub. Saturday evening provided an excellent sunset with red blazing clouds to the west. Night brought a star-filled sky. I found it impossible to close my eyes as I lay in my open bivy sack. Alas, early morning saw the clouds begin to roll in. I awoke for sunrise, but there wasn’t a sunrise to be seen. A breeze was roughing up the water in Tank Lake. A short while after sunrise, the sun did succeed in finding a hole in the clouds somewhere and lit up Overcoat Peak and Chimney Rock. But this only lasted about 10 minutes before returning to gray skies again. Around 8:00 the sun began burning off the clouds and blue sky began to appear. I packed up camp and began my descent down at 9:30, arriving at the TH at 2:00.

We got a late start on Thursday after spending the morning retrieving an errant cat from an unauthorized jaunt. Left Trailhead at 1:30 for the long hike up into Necklace Valley with 2 adults and kids aged 13,13 and 9. The first 5 miles are easy and boring--mature second growth with a varied understory. A little after the 5 mile campsite the character of the trail changes abruptly. Old growth in entered. The stream is crossed on a large log, then the trail head up 2500' in about 3 miles, alternating between rock scrambling, roots, mud and water. A Youth Conservation Corp group is working on the trail. We met a nice father and son hiking down who gave us an excellent recommendation on where to camp--Ilswoot Lake. After about 100 assurances to my 9 year old that we were almost there we finally found Necklace Valley. I was very relieved to get there and very happy to have the recommendation for Ilswoot, as it is larger and prettier than Jade, Emerald, Opal and Cloudy. When we got there the lake was glowing turquoise and we were treated to a chorus of owls. G. tried fishing and got a couple of strikes but no fish and a lot of tangles. We were, howeer, delighted to find a lot of King Boletes. That night we were all quite exhausted but 3 of us woke up when there was a very noisy rockslide across the Lake. In the morning we were sore but got going for what I assured the kids would be an easy, relaxing day hike to Tank Lakes. We wandered up the braid of trails to swampy Opal Lake, then climbed the rockslide to the west. On the way up we kept thinking we were almost there but kept seeing another ridge to climb. We had a near disaster when a boulder wobbled towards D's foot, but he lept out of the way and luckily landed safely. Finally the kids insisted we stop for lunch on top of a big boulder, and I realized that somehow my little camera had gotten lost. I pushed us on over the next hill and we were treated to a stunning view of the biggest Tank Lake, and across the Snoqualmie River Valley, the glaciated jagged peaks of Summit Chief, Overcoat and Chimney Rock. Tank Lake is actually a small, deep tarn but we saw several fish jumping. G. set out to fish, while So swam and Si and D. went off on a wander that led to the top of ""Soupy Peak"" 6263. I wandered above the lake for blueberries and views of Bonnie, Otter, Tahl and Azurite Lakes, and even more Peaks. I then returned and we all had a refreshing swim. Tank is cold, but not as cold as Ilswoot and nice when you get used to it. On the return disaster did strike as So slipped on a wobbly boulder and cut her knees on a sharp granite rock. One cut was very deep and scary. I ran to call for D. to bring the first aid kit and we used up most of my supply of gauze, butterfly closures and large bandaids. Patched up and calmed down, So hobbled back to camp. We feasted on soup with fresh Boletes, and macaroni and cheese. By the next morning the nasty cut was still bleeding every time So moved it and we decided it was best to get back. The hike seemed just as long and hard on the way down as it had on the way up. Our packs were no lighter--being filled with Boletes. Berries--not abundant, but good: high and low bush blueberries, red and blue huckleberries, salal, salmon berry, thimble berry, blackberry, raspberry, black currants (well the currants, salmon berry and salal aren't very good, imho). Mushrooms--excellent. Chanterelle in the lower part, Boletes all over. Bugs: horrendously bad mosquitos, a few flies. Fishing: there are definitely fish; we didn't catch any. Swimming: only if you like cold lakes. Fires: not allowed Campsites: many excellent, private sites Recommendation: If you are looking for a day hike with high view to effort ratio, this is not it. For a multi day trip for experienced and fit hikers it is pretty good. Ilswoot is very pretty and Tank Lakes are spectacular. Be careful on the rock slide and keep an eye out for a small black camera case with a Canon Digital Elph inside.