14+ Alpine Lakes - Connecting West to East Fork Foss River Trails | August 13-15, 2021

On August 13-15, 2021 Chloë, Samantha, and Brad completed the Alpine Lakes High Route in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. This trail starts connects the West Fork Foss River Trail to the East Fork Foss River Trail and Necklace Valley. We started on Friday, August 13 at the West Fork Foss trailhead, passed the massive tree, Trout Lake, and camped at Copper Lake.
The next morning, we made our way past Little and Big Heart Lakes up to Atrium Ridge. This ridge was slow going with lots of brush and rocks to get through and some annoying elevation change. We made it to Chetwoot Lake for an afternoon swim and then made our way off the official trail towards Iron Cap mountain. This was even more slow going hopping over lots of rocks and practicing route finding skills. After a stressful few hours, we made it to a camp spot just past Iron Cap Mountain. We enjoyed a nice dinner and sunset along with a ton of mosquitoes.
The following morning we used our newly acquired boulder hopping and route finding skills to make our way over towards Iron Cap Gap. The first two days were pretty smoky but we were pleasantly surprised to see that the smoke had totally cleared on Sunday morning! Once we got up to Iron Cap Gap, we had some incredible mountains smack in our face. Chimney Rock, Overcoat, Summit Chief, Little Big Chief dominated the skyline across the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley. These are some of the most dramatic mountains we have ever seen. We then kept going along the ridge to connect with the official trail coming from Necklace Valley in the east. And after a bit longer and more mosquitoes we reached the long awaited Tank Lakes!
We took a lovely late morning dip in these Tank Lakes which was very welcomed after a stressful evening beforehand. We then made our way down towards the rest of the Necklace Valley which proved to be a grueling descent. Plenty more boulder hopping, lots of downed trees and obstacles in the forest, and a long five mile river walk to end it out.
Overall a very tough but very rewarding trip! This is one of our favorite trips of the summer and we are so glad we fought through the pain. We are so lucky to have this so close to us and plan on coming back to explore even more of this amazing Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Here are a list of the 14 Alpine Lakes we saw. Keep in mind we missed plenty
1. Trout Lake
2. Copper Lake
3. Little Heart Lake
4. Big Heart Lake
5. Delta Lake
6. Angeline Lake
7. No Name Lake
8. Little Chetwoot Lake
9. Chetwoot Lake
10. Azurite Lake
11. Iron Cap Lake
12. Otter Lake
13. Tank Lakes
14. Jade Lake

[@jennyfisher3773]

We are doing this hike tomorrow!! Thanks for the video to help prepare us!

[@w8stral]

Good Grief there is a trail up there now. Traveresed ridge from LaBohn lakes all the way to big snow and all the "peaks" along the way. The internet age and amazing pictures from Tank lakes built that trail. Still a gorgeous place.

[@kayla_sulak]

Great video! This is the only KZbin video about the Alpine Lakes High Route that actually helped me understand the route better! I'm hoping to do this hike soon 🤙

[@bradleydosch8884]

Thank so much Kayla! My all trails TR from last year should still be up :)

[@djttv]

Beautiful mountains and lakes. Wonderful video. Well done! Thanks so much for sharing.

[@bradleydosch8884]

You got it

[@MarkGriffith]

Such a great loop, always a challenge but unparalleled wild beauty and solitude!

[@bradleydosch8884]

It's incredible and probably the most popular high route in Wa! This was our first high route and it's a great intro to the concept

[@MarkGriffith]

@@bradleydosch8884 Not sure if its the most popular - though it might be because it is the most accessible. (Closest to Seattle, and the begining and end are so close to each other)

[@JoseRojasYT]

This is an awesome vlog guys, I definitely need to check out these River Trails

[@bradleydosch8884]

Thanks Jose! Yes you do need to :)

[@RelaxationMusicc]

If you take any step, no matter how small it is, towards achieving your dreams then you will surely find the right path and reach the abundance that lies in store for you! You got a new subscriber and watched the whole video😊❤

[@bradleydosch8884]

Amen

[@deathmetal0073]

Do you think a navigation class is needed for a hike like this?

[@bradleydosch8884]

Sure it wouldn't hurt but i don't think that's necessary. Just have a good GPX track and know how to follow it

[@amyuberhaag9499]

Looking to do this in July/August.Any suggestions if we only have one vehicle??

[@bradleydosch8884]

i used a bike to shuttle between the two parking lots!

[@ouamoulton6743]

Do you permit for this hike?

[@bradleydosch8884]

No advanced reservation needed. Just fill one out at the trailhead

[@kayla_sulak]

Great video! This is the only KZbin video about the Alpine Lakes High Route that actually helped me understand the route better! I'm hoping to do this hike soon 🤙

[@kayla_sulak]

Great video! This is the only KZbin video about the Alpine Lakes High Route that actually helped me understand the route better! I'm hoping to do this hike soon 🤙

[@bradleydosch8884]

Thanks so much for the kind words Kayla! Feel free to reach out directly if you want to chat more about it:)