East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley — Wednesday, May. 21, 2003

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

Why haven’t I hiked this trail before? I guess I figured it was “too far out of the way” but turns out it is a quick 4.2 miles from Hwy 2 and you’re ready to hike! I was very happy to see my dog Mittens get so excited at the trailhead in the rig. She almost couldn’t wait for me to get ready and loaded up with gear before letting her out! She is learning quickly…. The day was absolutely perfect for forest photography: thick overcast and occasional showers to make the lush green glow with life! There is no dirt in the Necklace Valley since the lush carpet of moss and flowers covers it all! I didn’t hike a step all day without having dozens of trilliums and yellow violets within view. We passed a huge herd of calypso orchids in full bloom at about milepost 1.5 and Mittens wondered why I came to a screeching halt and was looking through my cameras for the next 15 minutes! The moss covered rough sawn “boardwalks” were so beautiful as they winded through marshy areas filled with the huge leaves of the skunk cabbage plants. At three miles we passed the small lakes off of the river and by milepost 4 we were eating lunch down smack on an overlook of the mighty East Fork Foss River. The roaring torrent of the spring melt was so loud I was having a hard time hearing what all Mittens was trying to tell me! Ha ha ha. We turned back just prior to the river crossing at five miles as I knew we wouldn’t be trying to cross THIS river on a foot-log with a hyper 15-month old border collie in tow! Hiking back we both were re-energized from our break and food break (Mittens loves P&J sandwiches as much as I do!). We finally actually saw other humans on the trail when we got back about two miles from the trailhead as two middle aged ladies were on their annual hike up this lovely forest valley. Where were the people? This is one of the longest low elevation spring forest hikes available in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and yet no one was using the trail the day before Memorial Day weekend? Strange. We took one last long 30+ minute stop at the incredible mossy bridge over a huge creek about 1.5 miles from the trailhead as I photographed many angles of the bridge, the water, the waterfalls, the mossy rocks, and the lazy dog by the bridge. It was nice to see that both of us were ready to succeed at hiking eight miles together, and we should be well ready to tackle the summer and fall mega-trips for our next photo project together that will take us to all corners of the Northwest together over the next 15 months! Got my first skeeter bite of the 2003 season also, which is well worth commemorating. FLORA NOTED: (partial list) Western trillium Fairy bells Wild ginger Yellow violet Devils club Thimbleberry Salmonberry Twinflower