East Fork Foss - Necklace Valley, Tank Lakes — Friday, Aug. 31, 2007

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

I left the Necklace Valley TH at 9:00 under mostly sunny skies, and arrived at Jade Lake at 1:15 pm. I found a flat rock along the lake to eat lunch and watch the fish swimming their rounds in search of food. I was surprised at the lack of bugs at the lakes. I think the fish were too. I proceeded up the valley towards the base of La Bohn Gap before turning right and climbing out of the valley to lower Tank Lake. The bugs became noticeable immediately upon approaching the ascent route. I arrived at the lower lake to find Lola and her masters set up in a tent near the lake. Further away, Alex, a very friendly 74 year-old man was set up near a tarn. Alex was originally from Hungary, and fun to visit with. We shared climbing stories and high country experiences for a considerable amount of time before I even got camp set up! As for Lola, she only required the occasional belly rub. Saturday evening provided an excellent sunset with red blazing clouds to the west. Night brought a star-filled sky. I found it impossible to close my eyes as I lay in my open bivy sack. Alas, early morning saw the clouds begin to roll in. I awoke for sunrise, but there wasn’t a sunrise to be seen. A breeze was roughing up the water in Tank Lake. A short while after sunrise, the sun did succeed in finding a hole in the clouds somewhere and lit up Overcoat Peak and Chimney Rock. But this only lasted about 10 minutes before returning to gray skies again. Around 8:00 the sun began burning off the clouds and blue sky began to appear. I packed up camp and began my descent down at 9:30, arriving at the TH at 2:00.