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mbravenboer Member
Joined: 20 Oct 2013 Posts: 1422 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
Last time I went out (Mount Ann, a couple of weeks ago), the snow conditions were really good, so for yesterday I decided to try something ambitious: the La Bohn Lakes, and see how far I could get towards Mt. Hinman. This is already pretty much impossible in summer as a day hike (only could find one report, by neek), but I was vaguely hoping that the snowpack would make it easy going.
We got an early start at 6am, walking about an hour with headlight. I can't say much about the Necklace Valley, because I mostly just saw dark forest. The trail was easy to find in the dark though. The valley had a little bit of snow in the open, shaded area of the second half of the trip up the valley. It took us about 2 hours to get to the bridge that crosses the East Fork Foss river towards Necklace Valley.
Some early snow coverage in the East Fork Foss River valley Questionable bridge towards the end of the East Fork Foss River valley Bridge across East Fork Foss River towards Necklace Valley
After crossing the bridge, I had a little bit of difficulty finding the trail into the Necklace Valley due to some camp-sites and tracks to creeks. Eventually I noticed that one big tree across the creek was actually a bridge. After the bridge, things are briefly a bit messy, with a boulder field to climb, which is a bit clumsy with the current snow coverage. From this point I only saw a track of one person (which continued all the way until the end of the Necklace Valley). This track was handy for route-finding, but while the earlier visitor had to posthole, the snow was rock solid now, so I didn't use the actual footsteps much.
First view of peaks that surround the Necklace Valley Nesby memorial bridge across creek from Necklace Valley Nesby memorial bridge across creek from Necklace Valley
The climb into the Necklace Valley was longer than I expected. Getting to Jade Lake took me another 2 hours, which still kept me on schedule though. The snow was bit messy during the climb: very solid, but with spotty coverage, so a bit hard on the ankles. Solid snow coverage started at Jake Lake.
Jade Lake, the first lake in the Necklace Valley
From Jade Lake to Emerald Lake the route is a bit hard to find. I followed the track (which was now one-way) that stays on the east side all the way to Emerald Lake, and crosses the creek at the outlet of Emerald. This worked out okay. The trip up the Necklace Valley from here was uneventful, although some creek crossings were nasty with deep gullies and snow drops.
Emerald Lake, the second lake in the Necklace Valley Cabin at Emerald Lake
The La Bohn Gap looked very imposing from a distance, but it got better once I got closer. Before I left, I studied the options between the bootpath at the waterfall and the climb up the gap, and decided that the big snow field should be better for winter.
Unfortunately, once I arrived at the bottom of the La Bohn Gap, the idea of getting to the La Bohn Lakes failed for unexpected reasons: the snowpack had little resemblance to actual snow, and was simply a sheet of ice. My ice axe could not penetrate the ice for more than an inch, and worse, my dog had no traction at all. Sadly, I only noticed the traction problem for her after she slid down a considerable distance! Fortunately it was all ice in the run-out, so she wasn't harmed.
First view on the imposing La Bohn Gap View on the waterfall from La Bohn Lakes and La Bohn Gap
I evaluated my options for a bit, and then decide to go to Tank Lakes, which has much smoother slopes, so should be feasible even with the icy surface. This turned out to be a great destination: the climb to Tank Lakes is very scenic, and the Tank Lakes area was very pretty with the snow coverage. We got some great views of Mt. Hinman, Azurite, Summit Chief, Chimney Rock and Iron Cap Mountain. I can highly recommend Tank Lakes for winter, although it's a long day hike, it would be great for some winter camping (if avalanche risk is low).
Towards Tank Lakes, climbing below La Bohn Peak (Pt. 6585) During the climb to Tank Lakes, the ridge of La Bohn Peak (Pt. 6585) is beautiful Climb towards Tank Lakes La Bohn Peak (Pt. 6585) First view of Chimney Rock while approaching Tank Lakes area Looking back in the end of the Necklace Valley, with the ridge that hides the La Bohn Lakes and Mt. Hinman in background Panorama of Summit Chief, Chimney Rock, and Iron Cap Mountain Iron Cap Mountain Summit Chief, Chimney Rock, and Overcoat Peak Chimney Rock and Overcoat Peak Iron Cap Mountain, with Big Snow and Wild Goat Peak immediately to the right View on La Bohn Lakes area and Mt. Hinman Azurite Lake Otter Lake with Malachite Peak behind it Liesl Summit Chief, Chimney Rock and Overcoat Peak Chimney Rock and Overcoat Peak Liesl Crampons were badly needed with very icy snow above 5000ft in the shadow
Panoramas:
During the climb to Tank Lakes, the ridge of La Bohn Peak (Pt. 6585) is beautiful Panorama of Iron Cap Mountain and West Fork Foss River valley, with Azurite Lake (the small one) and Otter Lake (the bigger one) Panorama of Tank Lakes area Panorama at Pt. 5940 from Mt. Hinman to Overcoat Peak Panorama of the huge ridge that separates the Necklace Valley and the former Hinman Glacier
I wandered around a bit in the Tank Lakes are before heading back. It's a really pretty area.
Iron Cap Mountain Northern Tank Lake Tank Lakes area Tank Lakes area Tank Lakes area View down into the Necklace Valley, with Lake Ilswoot, and Glacier Peak in the far distance View on the La Bohn Lakes area and Mt. Hinman, with Foehn Lake in the foreground View on La Bohn lakes and Mt. Hinman, showing almost the entire route to Mt. Hinman here.
The decent was pretty quick to the Necklace Valley. I decided to stay closer to the valley bottom on the road back, which didn't work out too well. Creek crossings were clumsy, and to avoid climbing up and down too much I walked over the edge of a couple of the lakes, which seemed okay, but was a bit risky perhaps.
Opal Lake Opal Lake
Back in the East Fork Foss river valley I walked in the dark for about an hour again. At some point my dog got excited about something I could not see, and I heard something large in the water. My guess would be that it was just a deer, but it caused some minor excitement for me as well . I didn't spot any eyes staring at me.
Stats and gear:
- Elevation gain: 5000ft
- Distance: 21 miles
- 6:00am - 7:00pm
- Carried snowshoes, certainly did not need those. Did use crampons.
21 miles, 5000ft gain (could be a bit shorter with the small detours)
All photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/sets/72157650580645185/
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flatsqwerl Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2010 Posts: 1046 | TRs | Pics Location: tacoma |
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Hutch Member
Joined: 18 Jun 2009 Posts: 638 | TRs | Pics
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Hutch
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Sat Jan 31, 2015 12:51 pm
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That would be a killer day trip in the summer, but it takes some balls to do it this time of year. Beautiful. Well done.
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olderthanIusedtobe Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2011 Posts: 7687 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
Wow does that look different than it did the tail end of last summer. Strong effort, would've never thought of that as a winter dayhike!
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puzzlr Mid Fork Rocks
Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics Location: Stuck in the middle |
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
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Sat Jan 31, 2015 4:00 pm
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Congrats on your flexibility, and obviously preparing by knowing the area well. Pretty amazing you could do that trip with short winter hours.
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RichP Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics Location: here |
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RichP
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Sat Jan 31, 2015 4:12 pm
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fourteen410 Member
Joined: 23 May 2008 Posts: 2622 | TRs | Pics
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solid work!!
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mbravenboer Member
Joined: 20 Oct 2013 Posts: 1422 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
Ah thanks! I wasn't sure about the name, because neither the topo maps nor green trails name it. It's a nice peak, so I'm glad it has a name . I've updated the captions.
olderthanIusedtobe, yeah, no rock slabs in winter! I went back to check your report. It made me put this on my to-do list for summer . The traverse you did from La Bohn to Tank Lakes looks interesting.
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olderthanIusedtobe Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2011 Posts: 7687 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
mbravenboer wrote: | I went back to check your report. It made me put this on my to-do list for summer . The traverse you did from La Bohn to Tank Lakes looks interesting. |
Yeah it was cool. A little bit of it was tedious side hilling on talus, but definitely worth it.
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ree Member
Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Posts: 4399 | TRs | Pics
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ree
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Sun Feb 01, 2015 10:24 am
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Jetlag Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2010 Posts: 1410 | TRs | Pics
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Jetlag
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Sun Feb 01, 2015 10:31 am
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Beautiful views!
Incredible effort!
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wolffie Member
Joined: 14 Jul 2008 Posts: 2693 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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wolffie
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Mon Feb 02, 2015 12:17 pm
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I guess they can sorta give up on keeping a handrail across that Nesby bridge.
Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
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mbravenboer Member
Joined: 20 Oct 2013 Posts: 1422 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
wolffie wrote: | I guess they can sorta give up on keeping a handrail across that Nesby bridge. |
Yeah, that current handrail is definitely more for emotional support.
I also found the bridge across the East Fork Foss funny: it has a great handrail at both ends of the bridge, and then right in the middle there is a gap, exactly where you do not want to slip .
With the frost on the bridges you had to be a bit careful with all three of the more serious creek crossing, but the bridges are pretty wide, so not a big deal.
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GaliWalker Have camera will use
Joined: 10 Dec 2007 Posts: 4916 | TRs | Pics Location: Pittsburgh |
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GaliWalker
Have camera will use
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Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:02 pm
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I've done dayhikes up to La Bohn and Tank Lakes, separately on two occasions, but both in summer. Great job doing this in winter, especially with the shorter days. Super trip!
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mbravenboer Member
Joined: 20 Oct 2013 Posts: 1422 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
Galiwalker, thanks Your old reports are very inspiring. My to-do list keeps growing every time I dig into the history ...
Thanks for all the kudos from everybody btw. I do have to say that the snow was really easy going though. I do like the current conditions. They're great for making a good instance. The only thing that made it perhaps heavier than summer is all the gear. I tend to not leave anything home, but snowshoes were clearly silly to carry this time!
I'm looking forward to the next sunny period. It looks like we're now finally about to get some new snow for a week or so.
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