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I did a quick overnight hike up the West Fork Foss River and Lakes trail this past week. The trail follows the west fork of the Foss River until it gets to Trout Lake and then takes you to a string of lakes. After Trout Lake you’ll pass a short branch hike that will take you to Malachite Lake. Following the main trail takes you to Copper, Little Heart, Big Heart and eventually Chetwoot Lake, with views along the way of Angeline and Delta. There is a lot to see in roughly 7 1/2 miles each way.
What I did was to hike about 5 miles in and set up camp along a stream that runs between Copper and Little Heart and then, with a lighter pack, continued on up past Big Heart to the top of a ridge that sits between Big Heart and Angeline. I’ve not yet ever gone all the way to Chetwoot but hope to get there sometime in the next few weeks. I have a plan…
This is a beautiful area but it’s extremely popular, especially on the weekends. Most of the lakes have at least a few available campsites but it can get crowded. I like camping next to streams rather than lakes for a few reasons, bugs are normally less prevalent and the water source is usually higher quality for example, but the main reason is the white noise a stream provides. Camping on a lake can make for a poor night’s sleep when you can hear half a dozen conversations. Noise travels well across a lake!
Anyway, it’s a great hike. The only thing of note was that I got stung coming down the trail Friday morning. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten stung, which is kind of surprising actually. I’m not allergic so bee stings aren’t necessarily dangerous to me but I still can feel it three days after the fact so whatever it stung me was pretty potent.
I’ll leave you with more pictures here.
[…] of the Foss River into the Necklace Valley and then a couple of weeks ago did the same thing up the West Fork. What I’ve really been wanting to do though is the loop that connects them together. In order […]