My wife, dog and I did a 2 night backpack with both nights at Emerald Lake. The trail is a bit overgrown in places leading up to the Foss River crossing, including a patch of stinging nettle about 1/2 mile before the crossing. Overall easy though. Once you cross the river, this hike becomes a slog up to the Necklace Valley. There is one big blowdown not far past the river crossing that requires some creativity. For our dog, I was very glad we had a harness with a handle on it so we could hand him off instead of him trying to climb over. We did see other hikers with medium size dogs and no harnesses past the blowdown though, so it's doable.
Black flies were biting when you stopped anywhere between the TH and the river crossing. Once you start ascending into the valley, it becomes mosquitos, which are everywhere. I kept the bug level one below "bugs were terrible" only because they do not bite when you are moving. We've experienced worse, but I would definitely recommend deet, head nets, sleeves and pants. Expect them to be on you at all times when camping, no matter which lake you choose.
The lakes themselves were beautiful. Although the parking lot was full when we got there, none of the lakes were too crowded, except Jade which looked to be at capacity. It's well worth it to continue past Jade, even if you're tired from the uphill.
Having backpacked many high alpine lakes, personally, I don't think the slog up to the valley is worth it just for the lakes. Others may disagree. HOWEVER, hiking past the valley and up to La Bohn Gap was incredible. Some Enchantments level shit up there. It does require a very steep scramble up a scree field and then rooty dirt / rock path. If you've never scrambled before, this is probably not the place to start, but if you have it's not too treacherous. GPS highly recommended for this, it would be easy to miss the trail from the scree field. Gaia topo was spot on. Some snow fields before the scree field and up at the gap, but not hard to cross and not high consequence, with poles. I imagine that Iron Cap Gap is similar scenery but I have not been up there.
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