Foss Lakes High Route

Would you take boys that age on that route again?

I've been asked this question by several people. I suppose the answer in hindsight is no. The route we did would be better done by boys a couple of years older, 14+. And yet I don't regret it. I wouldn't want to do it with someone less experienced than Mark Mathews as a traveling companion, it was nice having him as a partner in route finding. The route was tough and the going slow at times, but the boys got an adventure. Perhaps a bit more than any of us had bargained for. But we made it through, and the boys saw country that few will ever see.

This then is a general write up about our Foss Lakes High Route, also know as The Alpine Lakes Traverse. The Alpine Lakes is a large (414K acre) wilderness area with over 700 lakes that lies between Highway 2 on the north and I-90 on the south. This wilderness area while regulated, is largely walk up permits at all locations, except for The Enchantments. There are miles and miles of trails and there are many traverses you could do, in fact I did a similar traverse in 2008. First lets talk about what you should be prepared for if you do under take this traverse. First you should be very familiar with travel in the wilderness. You should be prepared. You should have First Aid and other emergency contact methods, you never know what can or will happen off trail. Secondly you should be competent with route finding and navigation. This should include 7.5 topographic maps and navigation as a baseline, and phone/gps and off-line maps should available. Note that having a map in hard copy or digitally does not make the route clear, you must not only be able to read maps and judge terrain but read terrain as you are on the go as well. There is no trail for much of this route, between Chetwoot and Tank Lakes. You should be prepared to cross uneven terrain, lots of boulder hopping (hours) and crossing of talus fields, steep heather with some minor bushwhacking. There is some 3-4th class scrambling for short sections, say 20-25 feet; if you get into something more serious, steeper or more drawn out, your off route. Travel off trail will be slow, 1/2 to 3/4 mph, with younger boys things will be on the slower side.

Foss Lakes is a bit of a mis-nomer name given that no lakes are named Foss, but there are two rivers, the East and West Fork, which derive their names from the Foss Glacier on the northeast slope of Mt. Hinman, though I can't find where the Foss name comes from. The traverse starts or finishes on either fork of the Foss. Up the West Fork to Big Heart Lake and out the East Fork along the Necklace Valley. Our route was to start the West Fork of the Foss River trail head for Big Heart Lake, over to Azure Lake, up to Iron Cap Lake, over Iron Cap and down and around to Tank Lakes and then out Necklace Valley.

Day One - To Big Heart Lake

Monday we left Issaquah at 5 am and drove the 90 minutes to the West Fork Trailhead on Highway 2. I dropped my car, two miles down the road at the East Fork Trail head and we set off on the 7 mile trail to Big Heart Lake. The elevation gain is around 4000 feet and passes by Trout Lake, Copper Lake, Little Big Heart and then finally reach Big Heart Lake. This was going to be our longest and biggest day mileage and elevation wise of the trip. Miles started out rough, by 30 minutes in he and I were at the back and he was super unhappy about coming. I managed to calm him down and told him that I'd carry his pack if he kept going. I had packed for four boys (Me, Joe, Dane and Miles) and I'd given each boy around 20 lbs with me picking up the remaining gear and food that weighed in around 50 lbs. I had some extra straps and I put his pack on the back of mine, grunted it up on my hips, cinched up the hip belt and off we went up the trail. We caught the rest of the group waiting for us at Trout Lake and I had Joe hang back with Miles and I. I put Joe in front, Miles in the middle and I brought up the rear. Joe and Miles talked (Star Wars, Minecraft etc) and I grunted along behind them. They took frequent breaks but I wasn't moving that fast and it was paced about right for me to catch them before they set off again.

I told Mark Matthews that we'd meet them at the bridge just before Copper Lake. We arrived just around lunch time. I dropped the pack, and we pulled out some food for lunch : Nature Valley Granola bars with peanut butter. After getting the boys their lunch I took off my socks, shoes and shirt and sat in the outlet creek of Malachite Lake and cooled off. After resting our feet for a bit, we put away lunch, put on our packs and kept on tromping up the trail. Eventually we came to a high ridge where we had a view of Big Heart Lake sitting a hundred feet or so below us. There was one nice large campsite but it was occupied so we dropped our packs and Mark set off to see if he could find us some other campsites. The trail drops down to the lake, crosses the outlet on a huge set of massive logs and then after a short climb there is a lower campsite about 20 feet above the lake, and then another higher campsite on the ridge another 30 feet above. There aren't really any campsites on the shore of the lake, so we opted to put the boys in the lower campsite and the adults setup camp on the higher ridge above them. After dropping packs, we donned bathing suits and climbed down to a set of rocks on the shore below our camp where we could swim.

Day Two - Rest Day

The mosquitos were thick enough you could swat your hands and kill a dozen. The boys either borrowed my nets or sprayed themselves with deet and we had dinner and made pudding for dessert. We went to bed, the next day was to be a rest day. That night I woke up a couple of times to a spattering of rain drops. The next morning I woke at 5:15 to see the sunrise and I woke to thick fog. I wandered down to the outlet and over the sloping edge of dark granite where the water flowed down and over several falls until disappearing down some steeper cliffs into the fog and down to Delta Lake. I climbed down the rocks and spent an hour or more photographing the falls. Never seeing any sun or color but rolling fog up the valley and across the falls. I stopped at the outlet to grab the bacon that I had stashed under a rock the night before. I had packed a frozen package of bacon up in my pack and it was thawed but cold. I hiked back past the boys camp, waking them and telling them that breakfast was coming. Back up the hill to our camp I had me a bowl of hot oatmeal before Igot out the frying pan. I whipped up a batch of pancake batter and cooked up some pancakes and squeezed out syrup from a ziploc bag while the boys ate. After breakfast a light rain started falling off and on and it was going to be one of those days with scattered sun breaks and showers.

Most of the boys decided to hang out in their tents playing card games or watching a movie on the iPad I had brought. The adults and Dane decided to hike to check out Lake Angeline. The shoreline of Big Heart Lake on the northern and eastern shores is steep, there is no any real shoreline. There is a large north south ridge that separates Big Heart and Angeline Lakes, with steep cliffs on either sides. The path south is largely along the crest of this ridge. There is an obvious booth path from the northern end of Big Heart where we camped to both the Lake Angeline overlook as well to Chetwoot. We headed out traversing to the right or east on the ridge on the boot path as the rain gently fell. We followed the path up and around rocks and heather; the sun broke as we hiked and we had gorgeous views down into Delta Lake and Trout Lake way down the valley. There is a split at the far side of the first ridge, up takes you up and over the ridge to Chetwoot Lake and there is small boot path that takes you to an overlook several hundred feet above Lake Angeline that lies far below. We checked out the view of the deep deep blues and then started back toward camp, but the rain started falling much harder and so we found a large natural over hang / cave from large boulders piled on top of each other. Back at camp rain and fog continued to roll in, things were cold and we all climbed into our tents to read and hang out until dinner.

Day Three - To Azure Lake

Wednesday morning we woke and packed up camp, something that always takes a bit longer for younger crew. McKay's stomach had been bothering him since their arrival and so he and his Dad, said their goodbyes and headed back down to return home. We headed up around the ridge on the same path we'd taken the day before. When shortly came to the split the fog had cleared and we stopped and slathered on sunscreen and took off a layer. We headed up the ridge and reached a nice flat spot on top where there were fantastic views of Lake Angline on one side and Big Heart on the other. We camped out on a rock and broke out lunch and spread out some wet gear to dry in the sun. I also got out my Hanergy solar panel and laid it out on a rock and hooked up my iPhone which was at 2% battery, 30 minutes later at the end of lunch it was up to 37% charged. We posed for some photos on a big rock overlooking Big Heart Lake before packing back up and carrying on along the ridge. The trail dropped down through some 3rd-4th class scrambling to a forest that came to a small saddle that was fairly close to the shores of Angeline and Big Heart Lake. Here the trail climbs up and over the final ridge which is littered with small tarns and large granite slabs that have been smoothed by long ago glaciers.

As Mark Matthews led the boys toward Azure I was in the back of the pack with Miles, encouraging him to keep going when I heard Wade yell at me that Joe had been hurt. I ran up to where Joe was sitting on the ground holding his right shin and there was a gash in his knee and blood was streaming down his leg. He had slipped and hit his knee on a sharp rock. I took off my pack and got Mark and I both got our first aid kits. I had a smallish butterfly bandaid that was around 2 1/2 inches long but the main center part of the bandaid wasn’t big enough to cover the gash and close the wound which was around 1.5 inches long, around 1/3 to a 1/2 inch wide and a 1/4 of an inch deep. With Mark applying pressure, I first placed on the butterfly bandaid and then with medical tape I ran long strips criss crossing from the bottom of the left knee to the top of the right and vice versa. I attached them to the skin away from the knee and then pulled them tight to the skin on the opposite corner or side. I then used tape to wrap around Joe’s leg above and below the knee to keep the long pieces of tape holding the wound together from coming off. Mark gave Joe a naproxen and I gave him a 600 mg Ibuprofen. Joe didn’t cry once throughout the entire ordeal. That night was a long ordeal of texting and worrying. You can read more about the way that experience went in the blog : Choppered out of Azure Lake. Route from Big Heart to Azure Lake : Stats : 2.88 miles, Ascent 1726 ft, Descent 1437 ft, time : 3 hours.

Day Four - To Iron Cap Lake

That morning I woke for the sunrise, but was disappointed that Azure Lake sits below the ridgeline such that sunrise is pretty much a non-event. By the time Joe and Wade were choppered out, the time was 12:30. We were watching from the rocks on the hillside above and after they left, we had a super quick lightweight lunch. We loaded up our packs and set off down to Azure Lake around 1pm. From there there are several small tarns below the lake and we made our way through the forest around the edge of the ridge and then started our ascent. The way got steep and we took various routes to reach a mid-point several hundred feet high on the ridge. From here the route carried on south on the west side of the ridge, you don't want to go this way, you want to angle to the east side of the ridge. Mark and I explored various options forward, one dropping their pack and trundling further up. If you were wrong and it didn't go you were glad because the way had been light and you could move more quickly up and back your pack. The better option was when you were right and you wore your full pack as you could drop it up high and scramble quick back and motion for the team to follow. Eventually we found a series of ledges which led to some high benches that would make good campsites as they overlooked Azurite Lake. Just beyond these was a rather large unamed tarn that fed into Azureite. Above this tarn to the south was an obvious pass between two large ridge tops. A valley of boulders filled the valley between these two ridge tops and we started slowly picking our way up through the rocks, hoping or clambering upward.

I called this low point Iron Cap Pass. The snow hung on directly at the saddle and we covered what was soft snow before cresting and looking down into Iron Cap Lake, a milky greenish lake set in a very rocky cirque below cliffs of Iron Cap Mountain. We picked our way down the ledges to the outlet and Dane was very disappointed in the fact that there were no trees and that we weren't carrying on for the day. Given our late start where we were at in our journey we weren't going to get out on Friday like we had planned. Mark and I knew that the route ahead was going to be tougher and even less straight forward and we knew where we were at, we had some probably camp spots, we had water and we were stopping for the night. I threw my pack on the ground and took off my socks and shoes and took a very very cold dip in a small bowl at the outlet. Alec followed suit, no one else opted to join us. We spread out looking for flat spots on the rocks. Miles and I were going to sleep together and we found a flat rock on which we had the awkward task of pitching our tent. We were using a lightweight 6 Moon Designs Tent, which was not free standing. Meaning you had to set up trekking poles on either side and only if you staked it out would the tent "stand up". Given we were pitching on solid rock, this required us to use big boulders to set on top of stakes laid flat. This was a tweaky exercise of micro adjustments until the tent was taut and we could settle in. Dinner that night tasted delicious as the route finding had been steep. Tired we settled into bed early, but not before I scouted out a couple of locations for a possible night shot.

When Miles woke me at 10:30 to get something from his pack that was up on a higher ledge at Dane and Alec's tent, I got up and on the way I took several long exposure of the night sky. Being so far in the back country meant there was no light pollution and I got some good shots of the stars and milkyway. Back to bed we slept soundly for the night. Route from Azure to Iron Cap. Stats : 1.4 miles, 900 ft gained 300 ft lost, time : 7 hours and 40 minutes.

Day Five - Over Iron Cap to Tank Lakes

This would be our toughest day. We knew this. We knew the route finding and terrain were going to be more difficult. After another pancake breakfast we loaded up our packs and headed up the ledges above the outlet to make our way up and around and over the ridge. Some routes describe going directly up the the back of the bowl to the summit of Iron Cap but we weren't really interested in the summit but the way across and over and through. We fond our way up the ledges to the edge of the ridge. From below this way looks quite steep and might be if you went straight up but there were broad ledges that you could make your way along until you cross the ridge to a nice set of heather benches. Here a large talus field rises above you that leads up to Iron Cap peak, and the heather bench leads south along the ridge below the talus field. Mark searched high on the talus above and I went south along the heather searching for cairns, or signs of travel or a way down. The heather bench as you travel south has a set of trees along the eastern or left edge that slope downward. I knew from Jason Hummels report that we descended through trees off Iron Cap but just wasn't sure where. I reversed back north along the benches until I could gain some perspective and the trees mid-way along the heather bench dropped off into steep cliffs. Would not want to descend through those trees. The route then was to go all the way back to the edge of the ridge and drop down through some large trees and then head south through a miniature forrest to reach the talus slopes beyond and you could see clear traversing to the far ridge that connects up to Iron Cap and to the ridge that runs north toward Tank Lakes. The forest required some minor annoying bushwhacking, stepping on limbs and off into rocks that you couldn't see before breaking through.

Then a long of seemingly endless interleaving heather and talus slopes to the far ridge. Mark Mathews, Brian, Dane and Alec opted for a gradually descending traverse to drop below some cliff bands and then ascend up to the north ridge running for Tank Lakes. Miles and I opted to head straight across, choosing a line among the heather slopes that avoided that talus. There was one small snowfield maybe 8-10 feet across that we crossed which was still pretty hard, I thought I was going to have to break out the ice axe and crampons but I managed to kick hard with my Altras and create steps for Miles and I to cross safely. From there we made a short easy walk up to the ridge line and then followed the blessed bootpath down the heather to where we rejoined Mark and the rest of the boys. Crossing this far had taken us 7 hours. Tedious route finding and careful crossing made for slow going, but the views were gorgeous. As we rested on this ridge the full glory of the range on the far side the Middle Fork rose above us. These include Bears Breast, Summit Chief, Chimney and Overcoat, this range is one of the most under rated in the area, big peaks, with prominent features with hanging glaciers hit you right in the face.

From the ridge its a matter of ascending another small bench and then traversing along the rather flat glacier polished granite until you turn the corner and there appears the first or most southern Tank Lake. The lake is rather shallow and due to positioning on the flats from the northern the alpine lake mountains seeming rise at its edge and tower over the worlds most beautiful anti-infinity pool. We camped on a heather bench just above the lake. After 9 hours on the go the boys were hungry and we dug ferociously into our freeze dried dinners. We all went down to the lake to watch the sun set. I found a nice rock right on the water to sit and shoot photos. The boys sat on the rock and talked and laughed. Maybe it was just because we weren't hiking. Maybe they would have had a grand time no matter where they were but I'd like to think that magnificent setting had something to do with as well. Finally after years of seeing everyone else's photos at Tank Lakes I had captured several of mine own and we headed off to bed. That night we resolved to get an early start on the day, 7:00 am departure in hopes that we would get home early. I spent a very very cold night trying to stay warm in my summer sleeping bag. Route from Iron Cap to Tank Lakes. Stats : 3.19 miles, 1700 ft gained, 1332 ft lost, time : 9 hours and 10 minutes.

Day Six - From Tank Lakes out Necklace Valley

I woke at 4:30 am to check out the sunrise. This was the coldest night of the trip and since I wans't really sleeping anyway and was super cold I got up and wandered down to the lake. Sadly I watched banks of fog roll across Tank Lake and the obscure the mountain range. After an hour of pushing fog I went back to camp and started cooking breakfast at 6. We were aiming for a 7am departure. We knew it would be a long day and the boys were anxious to get going. We managed to depart at 7:30 am, stopping for a quick photo over looking Tank Lakes. We made our way through the beautiful granite country of polished rocks and tarns. One had even had thin layer of frozen ice, a cold night indeed. As we made our way down the moraine, a set a huge rock which knocked a huge boulder and Dane broke his arm, you can read about the entire episode on this blog : Broken Bone by a Boulder.

We carried on down into the valley where the proper trail began, which meanders down through the Necklace Lakes. I have never honestly been that impressed with them, but then I've never climbed over the ridge and seen Locket or Ilswoot, so maybe some of them are more impressive. Then you come to the eternal descent down the ridge, through the talus and the bramble. Down, down, down. At this point I was carrying Miles pack and Dane's broken pack and several other items. (Mark Mathews had taken several other things from Dane's pack as well. Miles was moving slow, slow, slow. I had to keep prodding him to pick up the pace. I'd stop and gather huckleberries if he woudl keep going and then catch up to him and feed him berries. Dane would hike ahead and then wait as we'd catch up, by this time he was in good spirits with his sling and had stopped talking about his Mom meeting him at the trail head.

Finally at the river we met up with Mark, Brian, Alec and Dane. I was super hot. I took off my shirt, shoes and socks and sat in the river several times to cool off. We filtered water and then Brian, Dane and Alec set off down the trail at a pretty good pace, which left me, Miles and Mark Mathews to bring up the rear. I put Miles in front and kept prodding him along, trying to get him to pick up the pace. The trail had its moments of beauty as you make your way through large unlogged old growth: huge Doug Fir, Hemlock and Cedar. But Miles pace was sluggish and we were slogging. Miles started over heating and I took two bandanas and dipped them in the water, one to put on top of his head and the other to drape over his neck. And we just kept walking and walking. Those last 6 miles were long as they took a long long time. I pulled up Gia every so often to motivate Miles. : "Ok so 1500 more feet and that is the last of the up and then its a long gradual down to the trail head" and "Ok the trail head is only 2 miles away, lets keep going." and finally "Ok the trail head is only 1 mile away" - at which point Miles caught his second wind and started plodding a long a little faster. Finally at 6pm we pulled into the trail head parking lot and we unloaded our packs, and tied them up on the gear carried. The boys were giddy with relief at the end of an epic trip and a long day. Before departing we gathered for one last group photo and then piled into the car and drove down the logging roads to Highway 2. Route from Tank to Necklace Valley. Stats : 9.41 miles, 600 ft gained, 4678 ft lost, time : 10 hours and 56 minutes.

When we got service I text Stac to let her know we were down. Sadly even though I had carried a Delorme SEND with me the entire way and been sending her text updates. When I'd updated here that we wouldn't make our highly optimistic out time of 1pm but it would be more like 4pm and I put the Delorme back in my bag it somehow got turned off instead of sending out the message. So she was worried sick thinking something had happened. We exchanged some heated words, her frustrated at me and me frustrated at her frustration. We drove to Zekes outside of Goldbar and stopped for some burgers, shakes and fries.

Route

Day One : West Fork of Foss to Big Heart Lake : Route from West Fork to Big Heart Lake : Stats : 6.39 miles, 9 4327 0 ft gained 1440 ft lost, time : 9 hours and 38 minutes.
Day Three : Big Heart Lake to Azure Lake : Route from Big Heart to Azure Lake : Stats : 2.88 miles, Ascent 1726 ft, Descent 1437 ft, time : 3 hours.
Day Four : Azure Lake to Iron Cap Lake : Route from Azure to Iron Cap. Stats : 1.4 miles, 900 ft gained 300 ft lost, time : 7 hours and 40 minutes.
Day Five : Iron Cap Lake to Tank Lakes : Route from Iron Cap to Tank Lakes. Stats : 3.19 miles, 1700 ft gained, 1332 ft lost, time : 9 hours and 10 minutes.
Day Six : Tank Lakes out Necklace Valley : Route from Tank to Necklace Valley. Stats : 9.41 miles, 600 ft gained, 4678 ft lost, time : 10 hours and 56 minutes.

Gear

Delorme In-Reach
Hanergy Solar Panel
Hyperlite Pack
6 Moon Designs Lunar Duo
Shoes : Altra Lone Peaks
Grayle Water Filter