[alpinista55]

Our friends and family group has done an extended backpacking trip every August for the past several years. We’ve done trips to the Colorado Rockies, the Wind River range, and several spots in the southern Sierra Nevada. This summer my daughter Jamie asked for more trees, so we brought it back to our home range, and planned two hikes in the North Cascades, with a day off in Leavenworth in between. For our first trip we chose a portion of the Alpine Lakes High Route know as the Foss Lakes Loop. We arrived at the West Fork Foss River trailhead trailhead (1645’) at about 6:00 pm after placing a shuttle car at the Necklace Valley trailhead. We hiked the short 1.5 miles to Trout Lake to camp for the night. We started the steep climb to Copper Lake at 6:30 am the next morning, hoping to make our evening camp above Chetwood Lake at the famous tarn (8.85 mi, 5354’). The trail was in great shape to Big Heart Lake, and the boot track over the Atrium Ridge was easy to follow, but it was a tough workout, giving up hard-earned elevation dropping into Big Heart, and again on Atrium Ridge. We made camp at the tarn at 5:30 pm, having seen no other hikers since Big Heart.

Big old growth cedars

Alpinista55, Senior member of the crew

Berries were abundant

Copper Lake

Big Heart Logjam

Big Heart from the Atrium

Last bit before the tarn

Tarn above Chetwood Lake

The tarn from above

30+ pound loads

Meditation on Angeline Lake

A day in the mists

Misty mountains

Cubans!

Never used these...

The next day was to be the big traverse of Iron Cap Mt., but the weather gods had other plans. It started raining in the wee hours of the morning, and carried on into late evening. We declared it a rest day and spent the time exploring the area above the tarn. The fog and drizzle made for some nice textures in the photos of the day. The weather forecast from my InReach called for more of the same the next day; rain and clouds. We decided that night to check the weather at 4:00 am and go for the traverse if the rain let up, or descend back down to Copper Lake if it did not. At 4:00 am I stuck my head out of my tarp and saw nothing but a clear sky full of stars. We were descending towards Chetwood Lake by 6:00 am heading for the north side traverse of Iron Cap. Much has been written in these forums of the details of the route(s) from Chetwood to the Tank Lakes tablelands, and I won’t repeat them here. Suffice to say that many hours of staring at trip reports, CalTopo and Google Earth made the navigation fairly straightforward. The flat spot on the ridge at 5480’ can’t be mistaken, and Iron Cap Lake was right where it was supposed to be. We managed to find the correct spot to cross the NE Ridge (where the Balrog ate Steve) and follow the many small cairns across the talus of the east side to the ridge that leads up to Tank Lakes. We arrived at Tank Lakes at 2:30 pm, 8 hours after leaving camp at the tarn above Chetwood.

Dawn start

Climbing above Chetwood

Talus, lots and lots of talus

Iron Cap Lake

Up the slabs

Otter Lake

Great views

Spicy terrain

East side route

The Tank Lakes tableland

The next day we lazed about camp until noon, then began the descent of the massive moraine that leads you down to the Necklace Valley. Walking the at times knife-edged moraine gave great views of La Bohn Peak, La Bohn Gap and Mt. Hinman. We decided to spread the hike out over two days, and stopped to camp on a gravel bar just above the footbridge across the East Fork of the Foss. A short hike the next morning brought us back to the Necklace Valley TH and our shuttle vehicle.

Tank Lakes camp

The kitchen

Water stop

Ready to descend

The moraaine

Knife edge

Survival

Necklace Valley

Opal Lake area

Cabin in Necklace Valley

Jade Lake

Final stretch

Final Impressions: An amazing hike, with some very challenging terrain, awesome lakes and mountain views. Don’t attempt this route without doing the research on the off-trail portion, as it would be easy to get off-route onto some very steep ground. Equipment notes: We carried ice axes and crampons, but did not need them. Most of us did the route in trail runners, and while I was comfortable with that footgear, I can see that many people would do better with boots. Our 5-day pack weights were all about 30 - 35 lbs. After summers hiking in SEKI where bear cans are required, we all had cans on this hike. Extra weight, but oh so convenient.

[awilsondc]

Very cool trip! I went to Tank Lakes a few weeks ago and it was awesome, but I really wanted to do the exact loop you did, just didn't have the time. Looks like you had a great time, thanks for sharing!

[MackAttack]

How were the bugs? I was near there 2 weekends ago and got eaten alive. Hoping they're starting to taper.

[alpinista55]

The bugs were not too bad, but we all had permethrin treated long-sleeved shirts and pants and head nets. Our second hike, to Buck Creek Pass and vicinity, had lots of flies.

[Schroder]

I never heard the name Atrium Ridge before. Who coined that term?

[RichP]

[fyodorova]

Great report and great trip. We were camped at the Chetwoot tarn the day after you, Saturday the 4th. We watched a thunderstorm boil over Summit Chief and move towards the Tanks. You must have had a great show from over there.

[DIYSteve]

Good TR and pics BTW, that's the E half of the ALHR

[jefcla]

Great trip report. My wife and I saw your group on the way in. Sitting at the top overlooking Tank Lake wondered about your route as we looked at the lakes below.

[alpinista55]

Trail runners were totally fine for us, although I will admit that the soles of my feet were sore after all that talus walking by trips end. But we have been doing long off-trail hikes in trail runners for years in the Winds, southern Sierras and in the Colorado front range. The only time my footwear seemed sub-optimal was on steep heather, where a mountain boot would have been a better platform, but I'll sacrifice a bit for reduced weight on my feet any day.

[Ski]

Very cool. But I am not fooled by the fake tree in the first photo! That tree isn't a tree at all - it doesn't have any roots! It's a stage prop that the Forest Service moves around now and then to fool the tourists! It's in another photo here somewhere on the site. Fake tree!

[Arthur]

I thought the Foss Tree (in the first photo) was a Douglas Fir. With roots buried in avalanche debris. There’s a similar-sized cedar a little north of the Foss Tree that has now fallen. Another hidden treasure.