<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/36031769511/in/album-72157684031875024" title="Looking down the upper Middle Fork Snoqualmie drainage from Chain Lakes. This is one of my favorite views in Washington!"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4304/36031769511_99bf22eacc_b.jpg" alt="Looking down the upper Middle Fork Snoqualmie drainage from Chain Lakes. This is one of my favorite views in Washington!"/></a> - [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/albums/72157684031875024) - Distance: 24 miles - Elevation gain: 6200ft - Elapsed time: 16 hours - Area: [[Alpine Lakes Wilderness]] My dog Liesl and I did a nice trip up the [[Necklace Valley]]. The goal was to try to go to [[Mount Hinman]] and perhaps loop via Chain Lakes south of La Bohn Peak to Tank Lakes and Otter Point as a backup or extension. I had previously visited La Bohn and Chain Lakes without any snow and Tank Lakes in winter. The idea was to see La Bohn and Chain with some snow, and Tank Lakes with a bit less ;). ## Trailhead to La Bohn Lakes I've had difficulties with hiking boots for very long day trips, and this was going to be a long one. I have a few pairs of hiking boots, but only a very old pair of Meindl boots fits me well enough for 20-30 mile hikes. They can't have crampons though, and I wanted those for Hinman. I've tried approach shoes, but the pair I got turned out to be a blister factory. I decided recently to get a pair of trailrunners and use those for long approaches, carry my boots, and switch when necessary. This trip was my first like this, and it worked out pretty well. It was much less of a torture for my feet than usual (although my 20 years old Meindl boots still are more comfortable!) We started at 4am at the [[Necklace Valley Trail]] trailhead to make sure that we continued our tradition of hiking the East Fork Foss with a headlamp ;). This ensured I had more than enough daylight to hike whatever we could do. I hate rushing with pressure of the sunset. The hike was uneventful until the bridge across the East Fork Foss, with no blowdowns and pretty much perfect trail conditions. The state of the bridge is deteriorating further every time I visit, but the trunk is at least solid. At Jade lake we walked by what looked like the camp of a solo hiker comfortably asleep. The path along Jade lake is now dry. We crossed the inlet of Jade lake, and after about 3.5 hours we reached the Necklace Valley cabin, exactly at the point the sun came up over the ridge. This valley does not get a lot of sun! There is currently some nice beargrass in bloom throughout the valley. Bugs were absent in the morning, but I was blissfully unaware of armies preparing in the bushes to assault me on the way out. Our plan was to take the waterfall route to La Bohn Lakes, because even with crampons (which I carried for perhaps icy snow conditions on Hinman) the La Bohn Gap route is too sketchy for me. The waterfall route is entirely snow-free and in pretty good condition. A small section of the bootpath is wiped out by avalanche debris, but it's not a problem. If you don't know the route, then check my earlier trip report for a better description ( [[2015-10-23 - La Bohn Lakes and Chain Lakes]]). Key is to keep following the forest line almost entirely until the top of the big boulder field. <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/35358280213/in/album-72157684031875024/" title="The waterfall route to the lowest La Bohn lake is snow-free"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4309/35358280213_471873352a_b.jpg" alt="The waterfall route to the lowest La Bohn lake is snow-free"/></a> ## La Bohn Lakes and Hinman attempt The lowest La Bohn Lake is melted out, while the largest still has some significant snow. Interestingly, the highest La Bohn Lake had a tin sheet of ice from the night. I didn't think it got that cold, so I'm not sure I understand the physics of that ... Next, the plan was to head up to [[Mount Hinman]]. We previously failed because it turned out to be surprisingly tricky to get up the ridge from La Bohn lake with my dog (my previous report has some great comments on routes). I came prepared this time to carefully explore the area and see if I missed an obvious route. Unfortunately, I could't find any route up that was Class Dog, or at least Class Liesl. The part she doesn't do is really quite trivial for people, but she really freaked out after a few attempts. I tried to lift her up there, but that caused even more stress. I didn't want to push it, so decided to abandon Hinman again. Who cares about summits anyway? I'd be cautious about attempting Hinman with a dog, unless your dog is pretty agile or there is snow coverage. <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/35326093184/in/album-72157684031875024/" title="La Bohn Lakes"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4310/35326093184_08c58d192a_b.jpg" alt="La Bohn Lakes"/></a> La Bohn Lakes ## Chain Lakes We headed down to Chain Lakes, which was still a bit too snowy to really explore the mining activity. I ran into a hiker there who apparently was camped at La Bohn Lakes (missed him!) and he explained me where the cabin is (I missed this on my previous trip). He did a multi-day trip from the Middle Fork. It was fun to visit the cabin briefly, and then I headed up the ridge west of Chain Lakes. I love the views from the top of this ridge. The Middle Fork really looks very impressive there. <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/36123966336/in/album-72157684031875024/" title="Chain Lakes"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4297/36123966336_15a8b6e24e_b.jpg" alt="Chain Lakes"/></a> Chain Lakes ## Chain Lakes to Tank Lakes I've found two different routes in online reports of traverses from Chain Lakes to Tank Lakes: one follows a route at about 5400ft, and the other slightly above 6000ft. The lowest one looked a bit easier with CalTopo slope shading, so that's the route we picked. The descent down from the ridge is a bit clumsy and required some luck in finding the easy way down, but it was all doable and didn't require any hands or veggie belays. After this, during the initial traverse there are a couple of big boulder fields to cross, which are a bit unpleasant but also doable. Finally, the granite slabs make for an enjoyable hike all the way to Tank Lakes. <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/35326106614/in/album-72157684031875024/" title="Looking at our route from Chain Lakes to Tank Lakes"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4325/35326106614_d20fa7e016_b.jpg" alt="Looking at our route from Chain Lakes to Tank Lakes"/></a> ## Tank Lakes All of the lakes still have snow floating around. We took a long break and a refreshing dive. Bugs were still just a minor annoyance here (but later on the day it would become a nightmare in the valley!). <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/36031787651/in/album-72157684031875024/" title="Chimney Rocks and Overcoat from Tank Lakes"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4324/36031787651_0f2b250bc8_b.jpg" alt="Chimney Rocks and Overcoat from Tank Lakes"/></a> ## Tank Lakes to Otter Point We continued to Otter Point via Foehn Lake and traversing above Tahl Lake. I didn't really read anything about routes to Otter, but it seemed like the easiest route would be to stay at about 5800ft until Tahl Lake and then head up the ridge, traversing from a first forested high point to Otter. This worked fairly well, but there a lot of boulder fields. I am always concerned about my dog with all the deep gaps and sharp edges, but it appears it's easier for her than me. She was getting very warm it seemed, so I decided to go a bit higher and stay on snow as much as possible. The views from Otter Point are very nice, in all directions. I enjoyed seeing the West Fork Foss lakes from this angle, and the panorama of the central Alpine Lakes wilderness peaks is a really nice from here. It may be one of my favorite summits now! We signed the summit register with some familiar names (another first ascent for a Corgi!). <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/35358366533/in/album-72157684031875024/" title="Mt Hinman and the La Bohn Lakes area from Otter Point"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4319/35358366533_f571b1e064_b.jpg" alt="Mt Hinman and the La Bohn Lakes area from Otter Point"/></a> <a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/bravenboer/36164510525/in/album-72157684031875024/" title="West Fork Foss views: Otter Lake, Azurite Lake, Angelina Lake, and Chetwoot Lake from Otter Point"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4323/36164510525_57a87dc74a_b.jpg" alt="West Fork Foss views: Otter Lake, Azurite Lake, Angelina Lake, and Chetwoot Lake from Otter Point"/></a> ## Otter Point to Trailhead I enjoyed the section back down into the Necklace Valley, again trying to stay on snow as much as possible (there is nice snow coverage below La Bohn Peak still). In the valley, bug hell started, and I basically just kept walking as fast as I could until the trailhead. i probably should have brought some repellent (which my wife did advice). ## Lakes to see on this loop 1. Jade Lake 2. Emerald Lake 3. Lake Ilswoot 4. Locket Lake 5. Jewel lake 6. Opal Lake 7. Foehn Lake 8. Tahl Lake 9. La Bohn Lakes 10. Chain Lakes 11. Williams Lake 12. Tank Lakes 13. Otter Lake 14. Azurite Lake 15. Angelina Lake 16. Chetwoot Lake 17. Iron Cap Lake