[mbravenboer]

This day was another failed Mt Hinman attempt that turned into a beautiful plan B. I previous naively tried to get into this area in winter, which turned into a trip to Tank Lakes. Now in summer with record absence of snow, I thought this would be fairly doable. We got to the Hinman ridge above the upper La Bohn Lake, but we hit a nasty rock that my dog could not conquer. I didn't really want to drag her up and risk accidents, and after trying to find other options for a while, I decided to give up and go down to Chain Lakes as plan B. Unless I took the wrong route (which I doubt: there were a few cairns), Mt. Hinman via this route is probably not class dog, unless you can easily carry your dog, or your dog is a mountain goat (see photos of the spot below) Back to the morning: We started at 5am at the East Fork Foss trailhead, which was already covered up for winter. I wanted to start early so that we would have enough time to make it wherever we wanted. There was a car at the trailhead, and about an hour in I saw the tent of a couple with two dogs that I met later on the way out. We arrived at the bridge across the river after 1h45. The route up the boulder field was easier to find than in winter, but still a bit messy. The section to Jade Lake was steeper than I remenbered. It's also looong. Somehow I keep misjudging how far it is. It took me another 1h45 to reach the lake. We crossed the inlet of Jade Lake and continued to the Necklace Cabin. I made a mistake here and took the trail to Al Lake. To go deeper into the valley, you have to follow the trail that runs right by the cabin. There are many side-trails in the valley, but for the reminder it was fairly clear to me which one to follow. It took me another hour to get to the end of the valley.

Jade Lake

Necklace Cabin

Necklace Cabin

Emerald Lake

At the end of the Necklace Valley the La Bohn Gap awaits

I hadn't been beyond this point before. I wanted to explore both the waterfall bootpath and the La Bohn Gap, and I thought it would be easier to do it in this order. The waterfall route follows the rock field for longer than I imagined and this section gave me confidence that going down the La Bohn Gap should be doable.

Waterfall bootpath is generously marked by cairns

View on the snow-free La Bohn Gap and La Bohn Peak from the waterfall bootpath

La Bohn Gap and La Bohn Peak from the outlet of the lowest La Bohn Lake

Foehn Lake, Tahl Lake, Otter Point area (hiked there last winter)

The La Bohn Lakes were nice, but not as spectuclar as it probably is with more snow, and better light. The day was a bit gloomy. Having reached this point, I was fairly confident that we would make it: I had to climb only 1000ft/hour to get to a turnaround where I didn't even have to walk in the dark out. Unfortunately, we hit this rock mentioned earlier that we couldn't pass (I think this right was below the trees from Beckey's book, so I didn't manage to replicate that view ). It took quite a bit of energy to try to find an alternative route.

Slabs at the La Bohn Lakes

Middle La Bohn Lake

Slabs at the La Bohn Lakes

Middle La Bohn Lake

Mountain rock

Highest La Bohn Lake

Highest La Bohn Lake

Highest La Bohn Lake

Circled in red is the point where turned around above the highest La Bohn Lake

Steepish gully before the point where we turned around

The rock does not look very steep in this photo, but this is where we got turned around. Liesl could not climb it. For humans it's relatively straightforward, though steep and exposed enough that you do not want to carry a dog up.

The view on Chain Lakes was pretty nice from this point, so a plan B was easy. There was a nice ridge west of Chain Lakes that I suspected would give a nice view on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, so that was the new goal.

New objective: Chain Lakes, idea was to go the viewpoint in the middle to enjoy the Middle Fork Snoqualmie valley

La Bohn Peak from La Bohn Gap

Pt 6022 from south.

Chain Lakes, we'll get closer to the big rock on the slabs in the middle

I didn't really read about Chain Lakes, so the mines there came as a surprise. It was kind of interesting to see, though also a bit sad with rubbish and lots of glass spread around.

Huge slab at Chain Lakes

Rock determined to stay

Looking back at the La Bohn Gap from Chain Lakes

Deep mine (could not see the bottom) in the middle of the Chain Lakes

Flow of rocks from the mine

This looked initially like a designated camp-site, but there was a lot of glass and order old garbage. Probably it was the shelter of the miners?

The area does have some interesting rocks.

Another mine

Mine, closeby

Not an expert, but this looks like gold. Do you feel feverish already?

Gold?

Gold?

I briefly contemplated the option of a traverse to Tank Lakes, but if I would get stuck of travel would be slow, I would not be able to get out normally for my day trip, so I abandoned that plan. A traverse at around 5400ft seemed doable. Count the peaks that Puzzlr climbed:

Summit Chief, Chimney Rock, Overcoat Peak, Lake Williams in foreground

Middle Fork Snoqualmie Drainage with Lake Williams in foreground

Dutch Miller Gap

Big Snow Mtn (high peak in middle) and Tank Lakes area (right)

Chain Lakes looking towards Mt Hinman. Right-top is perhaps true summit of Hinman in far distance

Chain Lakes

La Bohn Peak (from South)

True summit of Hinman visible through the gap to Lake Rowena

Closer view of Tank Lakes area. A traverse here might be relatively easy at 5400ft?

From Chain Lakes we climbed back to the La Bohn Gap, where there is a great view of the Necklace Valley with Lake Ilswoot standing out. In the distance we could see Mt. Baker and the Columbia Glacier. The was evidence of the old mining operations here as well (not sure why they didn't go down to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie river).

Necklace Valley from gap. Big Lake left is Locket Lake. Middle barely visible is Jade Lake, middle foreground is Opal Lake, right is first Cloudy Lake and then most showy is Lake Ilswoot. In distance is Mt. Baker and Monte Cristos with Columbia Glacier.

Lake Ilswoot from La Bohn Gap

Remains in the La Bohn Gap

Liesl chilling out a bit during our break back in the valley.

In the Necklace Valley I ran into the couple that was camping earlier. They were planning to go to Chain Lakes. I also ran into a backpacking girl who was heading for Jade Lake. Similar to me, it seemed very far away. Got back at the car at 6pm. Distance: 21 miles Elevation gain: 5600ft Duration: 13 hours car to car All photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/albums/72157659865278239

[RichP]

I believe these are the trees you mention.

Attempt to duplicate Ed Cooper's photo of "dwarfed, wind-bent alpine zone conifers" in Beckey's guide.

[olderthanIusedtobe]

There's gold in them that hills! Great, now you're going to spark a new gold rush. Your early turn around below Hinman spared you from reaching the part that is like walking on multiple layers of dinner plates stacked on top of each other. It wasn't the most delightful experience I've had the pleasure of enjoying.

[mbravenboer]

[mbravenboer]

I was surprised by the obstacle I ran into, in particular because it is so popular these days (I've read several Hinman reports from this year). I went back and reviewed some reports to see if anything shows up, and the trail report of this trailrunner (Eve on WTA) was interesting. She offered a GPS track, which looks drawn, but she is quite clear about going up between the La Bohn Lakes, rather than south of the upper one. Has somebody used this route before? The blue track is mine, the red one is hers. I wonder if I need to go back next year with or without dog .

[olderthanIusedtobe]

I took your route. I eyeballed the route of the GPS track you posted. Looked like steep talus and not very inviting to me.

[puzzlr]

I took slightly different routes up and down from La Bohn Gap (originating at Williams Lake) but the same through the steeper part. There were sporadic boot tracks that helped locate a route, but it wouldn't have been hard to find without the tread.

Hinman route From La Bohn Gap

That trail runner track probably went up the talus route that runs diagonally through the upper part of this photo. Some parts are hidden so it's hard to tell if there is a way through. It only takes a 20' cliff without a workaround to block access.

La Bohn lakes

[contour5]

Very nice TR. That's a lot of walking in one day.

The trip from Williams to the Tanks is one of my favorite places...

[mbravenboer]

Thanks puzzlr & olderthanIusedtobe. That talus slope does not look very appealing on that photo, yes. Rather unforgiving with those cliffs below it. I'll try to make it an overnight one of the upcoming years so that I can look around with less time pressure there. Earlier in the year might be a good idea as well. I don't think Liesl is as good as climbing as the whippets, but they made it fine to the top in a June trip ( Schmidt Altitude's report).

[OwenT]

That's some cool mineralization. Too bad your gold is probably pyrite or chalcopyrite.

[OwenT]

[mbravenboer]

OwenT, thanks for the info. I was hoping somebody would chime in on the gold, so I'm glad you pointed out some options. Copper ore did seem more likely given the location and copper mining history, but it seemed strange that there was no oxidation. I considered Pyrite, but I failed to see a more blocky structure. I didn't bring any sample, but do you know how you can check what something is? Is there a specialist you can go to?

[yukon222]

[OwenT]

[OwenT]