We did a loop starting at west fork foss trailhead, traversing from chetwoot to iron cap gap and down through necklace valley. We did not summit iron cap mountain.
What a crazy beautiful and tough trip! We started Friday night at 6:15 and camped at Copper Lake. On Saturday 8/14 we made our way up to Big Heart Lake and then over Atrium Ridge to Chetwoot. Awesome views up here with the two (Big Heart and Angeline) massive alpine lakes to either side of you. However, this portion of the trail is tough. Big steps, overgrown, hard to follow, lots of up and down. It was very slow going through here. Chetwoot made for a great lunch break swim. From chetwoot we braved the boulder field up the rock face and then around and down to iron cap lake. Iron cap lake has that nice light blue hint and still has a considerable amount of snow. We didn't want to summit iron cap so we set out to just traverse around it. It was pretty easy until we missed a turn. As we were traversing around, we should have gone lower and instead we got stuck up high. If you have AllTrails and want to do this - just ignore the part that has you summitting and instead follow the part that has you going around the mountain. It is pretty accurate. We camped just east of Iron Cap Mountain on a nice rock point overlooking Otter Lake.
On Sunday, the smoke had cleared which made for amazing views and increased morale. We continued our rock hopping traverse. All trails is pretty accurate through here still. Where we strayed from all trails is that we decided to summit the ridge above iron cap gap higher than what all trails recommended. This proved to be better terrain and much better views. Lots and lots of boulder hopping between Chetwoot and Iron Cap Gap. The views looking south towards summit chief are absolutely incredible. From here you can make your way to Tank Lake which is also jaw dropping and made for an amazing swim. Can't even describe how awesome it was up there with clear skies.
After that we began some more boulder hopping descending down towards Jade Lake. The final descent and 5 miles through the forest through necklace valley and east fork foss were tough at this point but we finally made it back to the car around 5:30 PM on Sunday. A crazy and beautiful weekend adventure!
If you don't want to do the traverse, go for Tank Lakes and Iron Cap Gap. It's other worldly up there on a clear day!
Comments
MaddiePearson on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
How were the mosquitos during your trip? We are planning on doing this exact route in a few days and have read the bugs have been pretty bad lately!
Posted by:
MaddiePearson on Aug 17, 2021 12:36 PM
Brad Dosch on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
Hi Maddie. For the majority of the trip, they were not too bad. However, up in the alpine area between Iron cap lake and iron cap gap, they were pretty bad. This is where we camped on the second night and they were awful. Granted we were there during dusk and dawn and not moving at all. Didn't notice too many at Tank or Chetwoot lakes.
Posted by:
Brad Dosch on Aug 17, 2021 01:47 PM
HappyHiker45 on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
Is there much of a boot path beyond Chetwood lake that would be visible for someone who doesn't have the AllTrails app?
Posted by:
HappyHiker45 on Aug 18, 2021 05:24 PM
Brad Dosch on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
There's a tiny boot path that goes on and off when you first start but not really. You gotta keep in mind it's all boulders up here - very little dirt. The vast majority of the trek is boulder hopping and following cairns but if you have a good idea of the route, it's more of a choose your own adventure. Looking back at it, the route was pretty intuitive - of course it didn't feel that way while doing it haha. Feel free to text me if you want to talk more 714-767-8699
Posted by:
Brad Dosch on Aug 18, 2021 05:44 PM
sailedaway on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
Hi there! That looks like an awesome loop and would love to follow in your footsteps! After descending towards Jade Lake, did you follow Necklace Valley Trail/East Fork Foss back to the TH and hike up the road to West Fork Foss TH? Or did you bring two cars and parked one at each? Thanks!!
Posted by:
sailedaway on Aug 23, 2021 11:04 PM
Brad Dosch on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
Hello and thank you! So we parked our car at West Fork, dropped off the group and gear and then I (heroically) drove the car back to east fork, biked back to west fork and locked the bike up there. That is how I’ve been doing the shuttle systems on these incomplete loops
Posted by:
Brad Dosch on Aug 24, 2021 07:07 AM
dcfo on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
Hi Brad. I've been wanting to do copper lake again this season but due to the nearby-ish bear creek fire all of the reports I've read are that the campsite is closed. Sounds like it was open for you? Any issues? Thanks!
Posted by:
dcfo on Aug 24, 2021 06:52 PM
Brad Dosch on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
Hi. Yeah no issues for us. We camped there the night of August 13 and all seemed fine for us.
Posted by:
Brad Dosch on Aug 25, 2021 10:50 AM
kmeechan on Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, West Fork Foss River and Lakes, Iron Cap Mountain
Hi, did you happen to notice a small campsite on the ridge between Big Heart and Angeline that is a waypoint on All Trails called Camp1 to the south of Atrium Peak that supposedly has a water source? Just wondering if it actually has water and how much room is there. Also is there any place to camp at/near Chetwood Lake?
Posted by:
kmeechan on Sep 09, 2021 05:47 PM