East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, Tank Lakes — Monday, Aug. 9, 2004

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

Miki the Border/Springer and I headed up the Necklace Valley for three days. Campsites are noted at 3,4,5,6 and 7 miles with the sites at 4 and 5 miles situated attractively near the river. The trail is in very poor condition between 3300' and 4000' elevation, about 6 to 7 1/2 miles in. It is rooty, rocky and muddy with many potential ankle twisting spots and must be even worse early in the season. It was the same way on my last visit 4 years ago. I'm not sure why it has not been repaired or re-routed. Passing by Jade Lake, which has two marginally attractive camp spots right on the trail, I went on another 5 minutes to set up camp at Emerald. Emerald Lake still has the log cabin shelter which is perfectly habitable although I've never seen anyone use it. It has built in bunks and would sleep 4-6 folks in comfort. Nearby is a privy, which is also a comfort. There are three or four sites at Emerald plus sites at Locket, Al's, Ilswoot and Opal. Cloudy is supposed to have a site also but I haven't seen it. The next morning we hiked to near the valley head along a way trail and took the right fork towards the Tank Lakes plateau. This route initially follows a stream which drains snow fields below Iron Cap Peak. There are a few cairns to follow as tread is intermittant. Eventually most vegetation is left behind and you just scramble up the rubble along the stream. You then exit the stream to the right to attain a hogback about a 100' above with more cairns, rubble and semblance of tread. There are numerous tiny tarns. To reach South Tank Lake you actually go over the top of the ridge ahead where a shoulder of Iron Cap drops down to meet it. The area is not as flat as your map might seem to suggest and is quite bouldery so it's not exactly like strolling around. I visited North Tank, very bouldery. I looked down on Foehn but did not visit it's shores. I didn't see any camp sites anywhere although I can't say I looked everywhere. I intended to visit Otter Point but saw a lot more boulder hopping ahead and decided to head back. It is very interesting to see how much less snow is in La Bohn gap than in years past. In a few more years there may not be any more. People I met along the way had descended the snow but they and others were curious about the trail route to La Bohn Lakes. It does exist and this is how it's done- When you reach the head of the Valley and the gap is right in front of you, look to your left. You will see the waterfall from Lower La Bohn Lake. To the right of the waterfall is a tongue of vegetation on a minor hogback that looks like it has a trail at the bottom. This is not the way, it peters out, but has been created by generations of hikers going the wrong way. To the right of the vegetation is a talus slope. Climb this several hundred feet until you pick up a skinny way trail along it's left side that takes you precipitously but neatly to Lower La Bohn (good camping). From here you can easily reach the other La Bohn Lakes and the very beautiful Chain Lakes. Chain Lakes have a nice campsite on a knoll and a very neat site carved like a niche at the top of a small cliff near the bottom of the chain of lakes. Enjoy!