We did an overnight at Tank Lakes. Left the Necklace Valley trailhead Thursday and returned Friday. Plenty of parking at the trailhead, we hit the trail at 8:30am.
The first 5 miles were a good warm-up for what came later. Trail was in good condition, overgrown in spots. After crossing the log bridge the climbing started. From here to the "gem" lakes it's steep, rooty & rocky, but we enjoyed cool temps and few bugs. Except for the hornet that stung me on the shoulder. I heard it, felt it, and ran. Between Emerald and Opal Lakes we threw our schedule out the window. The blueberries were so sweet and tasty, not tart at all. We enjoyed picking as many as we could eat.
At the end of the Necklace Valley trail, we headed to the Tank Lakes. Went up through the boulder fields and returned on a route to the meadow. More than one way to the upper talus & scree. Above tree line we stayed generally higher on the ridge, but saw hikers on less steep routes following the creek. When we crested the saddle and saw the south lake, plateau and mountains, we were elated. It was a long haul with > 5k feet of elevation gain.
Lot's of good campsites available. We made camp on a granite slab, Summit Chief and Chimney Rock overhead. Spent the evening exploring the plateau. It's a large area of pristine alpine beauty. Away from the lake we traveled cross country among gorgeous benches of heather and wildflowers. We tried to minimize our impact as there are no trails. Had dinner and a beautiful starry night.
In the morning had coffee then went to North Tank Lake and up toward Otter Point (did not climb it). North Tank looked like glass. Broke camp and headed back. On the way down we studied the waterfall route to Hinman and the La Bohn Gap. It looked fearsome.
At the trailhead a car we saw earlier with a broken window was still there. We thought maybe the driver did the La Bohn traverse? It may have been there for several days. Hopefully nothing serious.
Comments
Bob Dobbs on East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, Tank Lakes
I'm one of the lucky people whose vehicle got broken into here. King County Sheriff's Office is actively looking into the case, and is trying to get fingerprints off of items that were rummaged through in my vehicle.
If anyone else sees this who was broken into, and there is anything in your vehicle that could have perpetrator fingerprints on it please contact KCSO. Detective Brad Smith at 206-263-9146 / brad.smith@kingcounty.gov is very interested in finding out who these people are. If they can get prints, they can run it against their list of suspects and hopefully put a stop to this. Even a week or 2 later, prints can often be pulled.
Posted by:
Bob Dobbs on Sep 03, 2020 11:31 AM