Summary: Alpine Lakes High Route 7/16-17/2022 with InReach, Ice Axes and Spikes
Full report:
We set out to attempt the Alpine Lakes High Route (West Fork Foss River TH → Big Heart Lake → Necklace Valley TH) from Seattle on Saturday morning 7/16. It was unclear whether snow conditions would allow us to do the loop. Parked at Necklace Valley (our exit point) at 9:30am. Began walking the ~2.5 miles up Road 68 and 1064 toward West Fork Foss River TH but our hitchhiking thumbs caught us a ride most of the way! Climbed up to Malachite Lake in 2 hours and after a refreshing swim continued to Big Heart Lake, arriving at 3:30pm. Plenty of time for another swim, sunbathing, and looking for the iridescent, spotted purple trout swimming beneath the logs!
After a solid 10 hours of sleep, we began ascending the spine between Big Heart and Angeline Lakes at 7:30am the next morning 7/17. We carried 1.5L of water each plus 1L Nalgene to share. This was sufficient to get us to the river valley on the Necklace Valley side. We enjoyed almost completely snow free terrain and faint dirt trails all the way to Chetwood Lake, which was still completely frozen. We took a brief accidental detour to lower Chetwood lake, but corrected our course. Chetwood Lake’s river outlet crossing was doable over sturdy logs.
Beyond Chetwood Lake, we picked up on helpful crampon footprints in the snow that appeared to be following our GPX track closely. This single track proved extremely helpful throughout the long day on the snow. Snow depth was typically at least several feet, quite sturdy except at the edges.
We assessed the snowy slopes for holes or soft spots but found the only sketchy parts to be the small cornices and ice bridges at the edges where snow meets rock.
**Warning: In a few weeks/days this route may become much more treacherous as the snowfields become too thin, risking falls between the boulders beneath. By our estimation, less snow doesn’t necessarily mean safer until it’s fully melted out. We were aware this may have been one of the narrow windows to safely complete this route this summer due to the high snowfall last winter.**
We avoided the notoriously ridgeline section included in the Becky Guides –– do not attempt this; people have fallen and died. Instead, skirt in front and traverse the front of Iron Cap. This modification is now much more common but worth stressing.
We traversed relatively steep grades beneath Iron Cap (assisted by microspikes and ice axes), high boulder fields with helpful cairns and a difficult bushwhacking section (the debris from some big blowdowns obliterated the weak trails) here and below Tank Lakes later on.
A few chutes up Iron Cap Gap looked viable –but this may become dicey.
We envisioned smoother sailing after Iron Cap Gap, but climbed around various features on snow for several more miles until below Tank Lake. We connected with established trails only after descending to the Necklace valley floor near the base of a long waterfall around 4pm.
The water level in the Necklace Valley was clearly higher than usual, and many massive trees were downed and made the lakeshore trails difficult. Jade Lake required walking through the water at mid-calf. From this point we made quick progress down several thousand feet and the remaining 7 miles on easy trails- sweet relief after 7 hours of routefinding on snow. We ran most of this section despite our packs.
Back at the car by 8pm, achy legs but happy! Sunday stats (Big Heart Lake to Necklace Valley TH): 13 hours, 21 miles
Necessary gear: GPS navigation (we had Garmin InReach and Gaia iPhone app both with downloaded GPX file, microspikes, ice ax, could maybe get by with trekking poles)
Comments