West Fork Foss River and Lakes, East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley — Saturday, Jul. 13, 2019

Foss Lakes High Route Trail Report

July 13-15, 2019 

Many trail reports exist detailing this route, and I’ll include them in a footnote for reference as they were indispensable for planning our expedition.  As others have pointed out, this route is best for those with a wealth of backcountry experience, and it requires careful planning and thoughtful preparation.

Our route from Big Heart to the East Fork: https://caltopo.com/m/1G7M

Day 1: West Fork Foss River Trailhead to Chetwoot Lake

Some friends graciously agreed to help Jesse and I place a car at the Necklace Valley Trailhead so that we could avoid the road walk between trailheads.  We had planned to hit the trail together around 8:45am, but some extenuating circumstances delayed Jesse’s start, and he joined later in the day.

The trip up the West Fork of the Foss River has become increasingly popular over the past several years, and rightfully so – what beautiful country!  Old growth Douglas Fir grace the trail to Trout Lake.  Hike up to Copper Lake through slopes of vine maple, with views of a waterfall across the valley to make your climb more interesting.  We stopped briefly at Copper lake for a bite to eat.  Our friends turned back and I continued on my way, passing droves of campers and fly fisherpeople.

Always grateful for the fine folks who volunteer to maintain this trail – they have done much work in recent years, including an excellent rebuild of the trail through a slide before Trout Lake, and they continue to improve access to latrines, much needed with the recent increase in use! 

Despite their good efforts to limit impact, there are unfortunately ample signs of thoughtless hikers and backpackers, including improperly disposed of toilet paper (should be buried 6-8” deep, far from trails, campsites, and water sources) and fire rings with beer cans and trash (fires are not allowed at any of the West Fork Lakes, pack it in/pack it out and leave no trace!).  Teach your friends who are new to the region and eager to explore how to preserve this enchanting wilderness for future generations!

I pressed on to my fishing spot at Little Heart Lake where callibaetis were rising from the still water, and produced two beautiful cutthroat trout, one typical small alpine laker and another chap with some girth to him.  I wasn’t fishing for long before I heard Jesse’s whistle across the lake.  Having gotten a late start he had made excellent time to Little Heart, and we resumed our trek around 2:30pm. 

We made relatively good time to Big Heart remarking per our usual habit that the distance between Little Heart and Big Heart always feels a little longer than posted to us.  It’s past Big Heart that the real adventure begins. . .

A well-worn boot track (marked on some maps as the “Chetwoot Lake Trail”) leads up and over the narrow spine between Big Heart and Angeline Lakes.  The track is relatively well worn but at times the way forward required some sleuthing to determine.  Stunning views down on Big Heart and Angeline, both gloriously large, deep, and dark blue.  This section of trail is quite challenging, with steep ups and downs, and we were fairly well beat when we reached the “famous” tarn in the shadow of Tourmaline Peak.  Two groups were camped at the tarn, and we pressed on for Chetwoot in the hopes of gaining a stronger starting point for the next day. 

Saturday night at Chetwoot with the lake to ourselves, we ate a well-deserved dinner of rehydrated goods, reduced pack weight through consumption of libations, and scrubbed off the salt in the outlet of Chetwoot.  I dropped a fly line in Chetwoot near the outlet to no avail as wind swept across the lake, and set my pole aside for the morning.  We fell asleep to overcast skies and slept hard after the 11 or so challenging miles under our belts

Day 2: Chetwoot Lake to Tank Lakes

We awoke to blue skies and high white clouds.  We broke camp quickly, and before packing up I took my rod down to the inlet of Little Chetwood lake, where the trout were eager to attack a black ant.  Sipping on coffee we watched a carpet of clouds roll up into the mountains and over the surface of Angeline Lake, hoping they wouldn’t affect our visibility for route-finding.

The traverse over/around iron cap has been described in many reports, with two strategies being most evident to my knowledge: the first is to gain the western ridge of iron cap and traverse ledges across the face of the peak, and the second to skirt the western ridge, funneling into the cirque containing Iron Cap Lake.  Both strategies eventually converge at a narrow portion of the Northeast ridge of Iron Cap that allows for safe passage.  Given that we were expecting to encounter some snow this early in the summer, we elected to skirt the western ridge, favoring that route to be safer.

We started on a boot track in a northeasterly direction from Chetwoot Lake, and traversed talus and heather slopes until the flat portion or ridge came into sight (as others have noted, the flat-topped portion of ridge at ~ elevation 5520ft is hard to miss).  Azure lake came into view, only just out of reach for a fishing trip on this particular trek.  Occasional steep snow fields made travel with ice axe a necessary precaution at times.  Maintaining a relatively constant elevation, we skirted around the ridge and into the cirque over a gently sloping snowfield.  Bright pink Davidson’s Penstemon highlighted carefully chosen ledges high on the walls surrounding the cirque.  Our tracks crossed those of some mountain cat, and the snow and ice-covered surface of Iron Cap Lake came into view.

We tossed a piece of Ingrid’s famous jerky into the cirque to distract the Balrog, and moved towards the outlet of the lake to begin the escape from Iron Cap.

After crossing the outlet of Iron Cap Lake and having just begun to ascend the slab on the Northeastern Ridge (perhaps 60ft of elevation gained from the outlet), look left to see a narrow (4-5 foot) wide ledge with an inconspicuous stunted shrub and perhaps a faint trickle of water if there’s any snow left.  A cairn was barely visible behind the shrub, and I traversed towards the ledge to explore.  Behold, the way off Iron Cap! 

It is subtle, and would be easy to miss.  Once acquiring the route, we were guided through talus and slab by thoughtfully placed cairns around the Northeastern ridge.  It is occasionally tempting to lose elevation and descend into steep chutes – DON’T.  If the way doesn’t seem safe, pause, return to a safe route, consult a topographic map or GPS, and cautiously explore uphill and downhill for evidence of a safe traverse or a guiding cairn.  We paused at an outcropping overlooking Otter Lake for lunch and enjoyed the views.

As we rounded the Northeast ridge, we gazed upon seemingly endless talus fields, and we began to plot a traverse.  In retrospect, we wished that we had taken a lower route, as the grade seemed more favorable.  We descended quickly into a picturesque valley and ascended the opposite slope quickly where we were ecstatic to pick up a faint boot path winding up onto the tableau.  With stunning views of Iron Cap, Overcoat and Chimney, Summit Chief, and Bear’s Breast, we paused to take in our magnificent surroundings.  We enjoyed some snacks and continued on towards Tank Lakes.  There was still some gain to Tank Lakes but our feet were thankful to be spared so much talus. 

The southernmost Tank Lake is truly a spectacle, and upon our arrival we gazed in awe at the peaks across the water.  A bald eagle graced us with their majestic presence ever so briefly.  We made camp on slab above the North Shore.  I gazed longingly for sign of fish, disappointed not to see any fish rings or schools of cutthroat hunting along the shore.  Having made camp, we quickly explored the northernmost Tank Lake, which appeared to be about as fishless, though I wasn’t stubborn enough to try my luck so I suppose I can’t declare it barren with absolute certainty.  We returned to camp, ate a hearty meal, drank whiskey, and watched the clouds dance and light change over Summit Chief, Chimney, and Overcoat.

Day 3: Tank Lakes to Necklace Valley Trailhead

Having planned to start with daybreak, we awoke to a morning shower and pressed the snooze button.  The torrents subsided and we broke camp with a wary eye on the clouds above.  We followed the use trail towards the northernmost Tank Lakes, bearing East to funnel into the Necklace Valley and towards Opal Lake.  Several moderately helpful cairns pointed out a route, and we picked our way across slab, talus, and scree, down to Opal lake.  Beautiful waterfalls trickled down the steep walls of the valley, and the rushing headwaters of the East Foss serenaded our descent. 

We stopped briefly to eat, and to fish the outlet of Emerald Lake after perusing the memorial cabin, where I pulled in two small trout on a beaded hare’s ear nymph as a steady rain distorted the water’s surface providing me with some cover from the vigilant eyes of the wary trout.  I left my rod assembled for the trek down to Jade Lake, where fishing the outlet with a small copper john nymph produced a couple more cutthroat.

Our hike out Necklace Valley had us counting the years of use on our knees, but we kept our spirits high and enjoyed passing old growth cedars, fungi of all varieties, an abundance of wildflowers including bear grass, columbine, bunchberry, fireweed, bleeding hearts, and queen’s cup, and the occasional stop to forage for huckleberry and thimbleberry.  We stopped once to lounge by cool water and were miraculously spared from the swarming mosquitos which had seemingly followed us all the way from Copper Lake.

We approached the Necklace Valley trailhead around 3:30PM after a long day out, and navigated the pothole-laced gravel road back to civilization, and of course, work. 

Tips:

• Study your route: read all the trail reports you can find, take a good topographic map and compass and/or a GPS system (we brought both)
• Consider bringing an emergency transponder – a twisted ankle could turn an adventure into a misadventure quickly, and far from help on this route. Move cautiously on talus and plan to give yourself AMPLE time for the off-trail portion of the route
• We were happy to have ice axes for several short, steep snowfields in mid-July
• Be prepared for mosquitos
• Bring pants or gaiters as the Necklace Valley trail is quite overgrown in parts
• Bring a fishing pole! Recommended patterns: renegade, black ant, parachute adams, pale morning dun, elk hair caddis, royal wulff, copper john, beaded hare’s ear, prince nymph, black wooly bugger  Bring some small patterns.

References:

https://harrybipedhiking.com/2016/08/25/alpine-lakes-high-route/

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8027936

https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16795