Tank Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley — Friday, Aug. 1, 2014

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

The forecast said possible thunderstorms Friday but otherwise nice weather, so we set off Friday on a 3-day trip to Necklace Valley and Tank Lakes. The Necklace Valley trail is in great shape, although I wish the steepness were more evenly distributed over the entire thing. It is quite steep in places and totally flat in others. Sigh. Fri night we camped at Jade Lake, which was surpisingly bug-free. However, an aside: please, please, PLEASE use the privies along the river (before the steep uphill starts) or south of Jade Lake, and even if you can't, please do NOT poop near campsites and leave your TP there! Be considerate of location, and pack it out, people! Saturday morning we headed up to Tank Lakes by turning west on a climbers-type trail near Emerald Lake. This soon became a completely trail-free route through not-so-bad brush, then over a rock field and some snow until we clambered over the ridge and into the Tank Lakes area. There are still snow fields up there, but it is navigable. Unfortunately, the thunderstorms stuck around an extra day, making us reluctant to go much further. We set up camp on a flat rock and explored the basin between rain and hail squalls. Bugs were annoying, but we were OK with DEET and head nets. Sunday morning we headed back, using the cairned route further south than the way we came in. This route goes along the lateral moraine going southwest at the southern end of Necklace Valley. It is steep in places, and there are so many cairns that it should be clear that there is no "one right way" to go-- just find footing that suits you and head down to the valley. We were sometimes on the moraine itself, sometimes in a stream, sometimes on other rocks... you get the idea. This way is easier to follow than the way we went, but it is still possible to lose the route in the snow, so be sure to have a map with you. Though the Necklace Valley trial is mainly forested, there were already some ripe huckleberries down low, and in the valley lots of bear grass flowers, heather, etc.