[MangyMarmot]

I've wanted to go up Necklace Valley for a few years now. Somehow I hadn't made it out there though. Last Friday the chance came at last. I had a whole day without any other responsibilities, so I headed up to the Foss River Road. The morning was clear and beautiful in Seattle. By the time I got to Sultan, there were clouds overhead. By Skykomish, it was raining. The forecast was for improving weather throughout the day, so I put my faith in the weather man, donned the rain gear, and started up the trail. The first part of the trail is a fairly level walk through the forest. After the bridge across the river, the trail turns South-West and get steeper. As I gained elevation, I had serious doubts about the forecast, as the rain showed no signs of stopping. I cursed the weather man, not always under my breath. By the time I reached the first lake, though, the rain had finally stopped. I sat down for a quick snack, and pulled out a dry shirt from the bowels of my pack.

Bridge across the river

From here, the trail meanders up Necklace Valley, going by several lakes and an old cabin. There were lots of frogs enjoying the new puddles, and plenty of mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. finally I reached the end of the valley. In front of me was a talus slope with cliffs on either side. Not having done much research, I headed up the right side of the slope. It was fairly easy going about half way up, then the slope got steeper, and sections of dirt started showing up. Any rocks resting on the wet dirt were very unstable. Near the top I put my foot on a large, solid looking boulder. With surprisingly little pressure, this boulder dislodged itself and went crashing half way down the slope. After this, I picked my way up very slowly and carefully. To add insult to near injury, I was later told that the trees on the left hide a safe boot path.

Cabin

Talus slope

At the top of the slope was a broad ridge with views East to the chain lakes and Bear's Breast Mountain. I believe the place is called La Bohn Gap. A little to the North were the La Bohn Lakes. By now the clouds had started to lift, and there was an occasional sun break. The weather man was right after all. Originally I had visions of heading up to Mount Hinman. Unfortunately I was a bit pressed for time due to a later start and a slower pace than I planned on. Also, Hinman was still firmly buried in the clouds. I decided to change objectives and head South to La Bohn Peak instead. It is about 1000 ft lower, and was in and out of the clouds. The way up was fairly easy. It was a rocky slope, but everything was very stable. I sat at the top for about an hour watching the clouds cover and uncover the nearby peaks. By the end of the hour, there were good views in many directions, including North to Hinman and Daniel.

1 label

Foehn and Tank Lakes

Necklace Valley

La Bohn Lakes

Bear's Breast Mountain

Hinman and Daniel

By now the afternoon was wearing on. As much as I would have liked to stay longer and watch more mountains be revealed by the lifting clouds, I knew I had a long way back to the car, so I hoisted by pack and headed back the way I came. The way back was fairly uneventful. I did see quite a few people heading up to the high country for the long weekend. As the darkness was descending on the forest, I stumbled past the trailhead signs, and to my car.

La Bohn Peak from Jade Lake

[Magellan]

Cool.

[RichP]

Always a great area to visit.

[Slide Alder Slayer]

Done in a day, impressive! Glad the weather cleared and you got great views from La Bohn Peak.

[contour5]

Nice one! That is one long day hike. I've spent 2 days just coming down that trail...

[puzzlr]

Nice trip. Unusual to go up La Bohn Gap without some preconception of what it's like. Agree that La Bohn Peak has wonderful views, as your pictures show.

[Bedivere]

Way to just pick a destination and go, and to hell with a bunch of pre-trip research!

[Force9]

Did this same hike about two weeks before you. Just now saw your report. We climbed the boot path you missed out of the Necklace valley. Our trip was an overnight, camped next to Labone Lake. Then bagged Hinman summit the next morning. This trip really needs to be a two-day. Too much to see and to far to cover everything in one day. Great report and photos