East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, Tank Lakes — Friday, Jul. 30, 2021

First time hiking up to Iron Cap Gap, for a 2-day trip. Although we check the forecast a lot before we go, we missed the heat advisory issued on Friday afternoon and ended up hiking in mother-of-dragons hot temps. So I am sure this trail felt more difficult under these circumstances.

The first five miles are mellow gain of only 1000 ft, mostly along the river. Trail workers were in the middle of clearing the trail, which is overgrown with a lot of vegetation- they cleared half of the 5 mile stretch. So some areas are still bushwhack thick, but the areas they cleared are manageable and easy. Thank you, trail workers!  Amazing!

The next 3 miles and 2500 ft up to Jade lake is pretty hard. It’s bouldery, rooty, sometimes muddy, steep, and there is a 1/4 mile section of numerous, densely packed downed trees from left over avalanche debris. At one point I fell on an unstable rock and got pretty cut up.

We saw a few other parties going up and down this section and many (who were seasoned hikers) were dealing with cramping. Multiple different parties had a leader who would hike up to the lake, drop their own pack, and hike back down to help a distressed hiker in their group. It was no joke!

We continued past Jade lake, hoping to get away from bugs. We passed Opal and decided to keep going higher before setting up camp. The trail up towards Iron Cap is not clearly defined and requires route finding as there are many ways to get there through boulders and faint bootpacks. After 10.5 miles and 4200 feet on gain, we made it into the glacier moraine, found a flat rock and bivy’d there.

The next morning, we woke up and hiked up to Tank Lakes and Iron Cap Gap.  Instead of taking the ridge up high, we stayed in the shaded and snow-patched moraine, which felt easier.  the snow patches are easy to manage and nice to travel on. After gaining about 600 feet, we made it to the Gap and took a long break.  Amazing views of Snoqualmie Pass, the Chiefs, Overcoat Mountain, Bears Breast, and more. SO many great camping spots.  Tank Lakes warm enough to swim.  

We later walked towards Tall Lake and Otter Point, exploring a bit before descending back down the moraine to our stuff.We took the “high route” down which was harder than our ascent route.  I recommend staying lower.

It was very hot all day, and there is not a lot of shade near Tank Lakes and Otter Point.  The bugs were pretty bad the whole time. Backpackers we talked to also mentioned the bugs were terrible while camping at Tank Lakes.  Bring a bugnet and layers- we spray our long sleeves and pants with permethrin.  As hot as it was, we kept the long layers on until the bugs subsided- the last 5 miles to the car.  Also, pants are helpful for bushwhacking.  At one point I briefly wore shorts and got some sort of rash from a nettle or something… 

2 poles were helpful for the trail.  Trail runners with gators were good. 

We probably drank about 4-5 liters a day.  There are plenty of places to filter water.

If I could do it again, I would bring enough food to stay a few nights.  There is a lot to explore, and the approach wore us out more than we anticipated. The views at Tank Lakes are ridiculous!

Also, don’t go in 85-90 degrees lol. 

24 miles and 5500 ft gain (2 days).  

Stay safe!