Two-day trip clockwise round the Alpine Lakes High Route. Started at West Fork Foss trailhead so we could get the road walk over with on Day 1. Both lots had plenty of cars but we didn't actually see too many people either day on the trails! Ripe thimbleberries on the road and a few blueberries and huckleberries on the trail. Yum!
East Fork Foss trail is in good shape. The climb is a steep one up to Tank. The mosquitoes started in earnest at the stream before the exposed talus part of the climb up to Tank. There are some incorrect cairns too low on the talus part - make sure you climb up the ridge, not staying too low to the left and then having to crawl up the steep side (happened to me a few years ago and I saw the misleading cairns were still there!). Tank Lake was gorgeous and surprisingly the mosquitoes were actually not bothersome there.
The "bootpath" section of the route from Tank to Chetwood does not require technical skills, but GPS was very helpful and you will need to use basic routefinding skills. Snowfields were fine to cross - one or two you need to take proper care on. The first mile or so was pretty pleasant, but the next few miles to Chetwood were Quite Slow. Mainly due to unrelenting boulder hopping, and a bit due to getting slightly off trail and having to fight through veggies. Lots of scrambling but nothing actually sketchy. The mosquitoes were similarly unrelenting and really brought down the vibe as it was nigh impossible to move fast so they had no problem hopping on and sucking my blood. Made it to Chetwood for camp, clocking 17.39 miles and 9'52" moving time. The final 3 miles were ~1 mile/hour. Lovely toilet at Chetwood and the lake was fabulous to soak the skeeter itching away!
The bootpath not-trail continued for the first couple miles to Big Heart Lake. Not as many mosquitoes and somewhat less boulder-hopping than the day before, but still some veggie fighting and a couple short steep sections. Little Heart Lake was the perfect lunch and swim spot. Copper Lake was stunning too...all the lakes were. What a place. The trail down from Copper to Trout was brushy and rocky. Trout onwards is a cruise, and I thanked my past self for not having to do a road walk on day 2. Clocked 10.64 miles and 5'58" moving time.
All in all, a fabulous trip - perhaps more emotionally exhausting (dealing with the mosquitoes on day 1 while the route was slow) and mentally exhausting (so much thinking about boulder hopping routes) than physically, but all made up for with the stunning alpine lakes!
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