I have been wanting to visit this peak for a while and finally was able to get a morning hike in while camping at Ross Lake.
Access: This peak requires some planning just to access the trailhead, which adds to the overall experience if you embrace the remote boat in only access. You will want to get an early start if you are hiking in the warm summer months. Your best bet is to camp or stay at Ross Lake and plan to boat in to the trailhead in the early morning. We arrived at 7:00 am and would not have wanted to begin the hike any later.
Trail Conditions: The trail climbs steadily for 4 miles to Desolation Camp, then 1 more mile climb to the lookout. There are very few flat spots and almost no elevation loss for the entire 5 mile treck to the peak. The water source at the 2.5 mile mark is still flowing, but not much more than a spigot turned on low. Bring a minimum of 2 liters of water per person from the lake if you are just out for a day hike. Bring much more if you are camping as Desolation Camp is a dry camp.
The Lookout: The views from the lookout were amazing and worth the climb! When we arrived at the peak Jim was there tending the lookout as thunderstorms were in the forecast. He was concerned about an ill prepared hiker who had arrived the day before. Throughout our conversation he demonstrated his stewardship towards the land and the people who live near and enjoy the wilderness.

Distance: Plan for 5 miles each way from the dock.  Don’t believe the signs at the trailhead. If you arrive at the lookout and your GPS clocks you in at less than that, it will be a pleasant surprise.
Timing: My husband and I are in good shape and enjoy distance running. It took us 3 hours and 15 minutes to go up, and 2 hours to go down. With the mid-morning lunch break at the top we totaled 6 hours for the entire hike. 

TL;DR: Started at East Bank TH. Camped night one at Lightning Creek. Camped night 2 at Desolation Campground. Took the Ross Lake Water Taxi from Desolation TH to Hidden Hand and hiked out 3 miles to East Bank TH. Desolation Peak is amazing. 10/10 would recommend. East Bank Trail is boring af; I wouldn’t do the whole thing again. 

Monday, July 1: Got to the Marblemount Ranger Station at 7am to try for a walk-up permit for Lightning Creek Campground and pick up our reserved permit for Desolation Camp. There were already 5 groups in front of me. Luckily we did get the Lightning Creek permit; the backup plan would have been to get a permit for another campground farther south on the East Bank TH. Drove to the East Bank Trailhead off highway 20. Hiked 16 miles to Lightning Creek with a long stop at Rainbow Point for lunch and a nap. TBH, this hike is pretty bland. There's a short stretch after Rainbow Point where you see some nice views but most of the 16 miles is in the trees and it's very very flat. If I could redo this hike, I would probably pay for the water taxi to take me to Rainbow Point. We camped on Monday at Lightning Creek.

Beware of the deer! They are NOT afraid of humans and will eat your things! At Lightning creek I hung up my sports bra and shirt to dry on a tree and then a deer came along and was munching on my bra! He came back later to munch on my hiking pole and actually started walking away with the pole strap in his mouth. Seriously. I threw an acorn at him and he was unperturbed. He eventually dropped the hiking pole, but that night I stored literally everything in the bear cabinet. 

Tuesday, July 2: Broke down camp at Lightning Creek and started the hike up to Desolation. It’s about 2.5 miles from Lightning Creek to the Desolation Trailhead. From there, it’s another 2-ish mile to a stream, which is your last water source before camp. We had lunch at the stream and filled up about 7 liters (between two people) to take to camp. From the stream, it’s a little over a mile to camp. 

If you have the chance to get a permit at Desolation camp, I highly recommend it! It’s a slog to carry all your stuff + water up to camp but it was a wonderful experience to be the only ones camping on the mountain. After setting up camp we hiked another mile up to the peak. We brought our chairs and dinner so that we could enjoy a couple hours at the top. Had a nice chat with the guy manning the fire lookout. We were originally planning to stay for sunset but there were quite a few clouds that evening so we just hiked back down to camp. 

Wednesday, July 3: Hiked down to the Desolation Trailhead, where we waited for our water taxi.  Water taxi took us to Hidden Hands, where we hiked another 3 miles back to the East Bank TH.

Excellent time of year for this trail. There is still water at 2.2 miles in the form of a small stream crossing the trail. Tiny bit of snow near the top. Shade is excellent if you start early. Views from the top are so good. And we got to meet the famous Jim Henterly staffing the fire lookout.

East Bank Trail:
We started at the east bank trailhead off highway 20. Friday night we hiked to our first camp spot, Roland Point, after picking up a walk up permit from the ranger station. Then the next day we hiked to lightning creek and met up with the rest of our party that boated in. We set up camp for the night and lightened our packs before heading up desolation.
The east bank trail is chill! It’s rolling and the one climb is very mild. You’re in the trees a lot but the break out parts where you get views of the lake are great. The bridges are pretty cool too!

Desolation Peak:
From lightning creek it’s about 6 miles to the top. The desolation trail is also 4500 ft. Of climbing. It’s a pretty consistent steady climb all the way up. And unfortunately in the trees for a while but with about 1500 left you start to break out. We got some wildflowers up in the alpine and then views of the surrounding peaks. It’s definitely a grind but worth it! The lookout at the top had luckily just opened and the ranger there was cool. He gave us a tour of the place and chatted with us a bit about what his duties are while he’s up there. Both times I’ve been to a manned lookout have been very fun experiences. Chatting with them is the most fun! We took some pics of the nearby Hozemeen and Jack mtns and then hustled back down to beat the dark. Took us 8 hrs in total with a 45 min break at the top.

Sunday we hung out at camp until our boat picked us up at 4pm and drove us back to the parking lot.

Tough doing so many miles on Saturday but an awesome trip to start the season!

We took the Ross Lake water taxi to lightning creek camp and stayed overnight there in order to get an early start and beat the heat up to desolation peak. Our second night was spent at desolation camp.

We did not find any snow lingering to melt at desolation camp, but I found the spring thats just about 2 miles from the desolation boat dock junction and 1 and half-ish miles from camp to be flowing very well - cold, tasty and easy to fill bags with - we got our water here. The spring is in the only very shady part of the trail and deep woods. I'd recommend about 4 liters (or 5 to be on the safer side) each person hauled up to camp. While you'll feel pretty weighed down once you fill up, the good news is views start shortly after that the views open up and only get better, a nice distraction.

The lower part of the woods is sparser and offers a lot less shade, but more  flowers. I was surprised to see a few lingering balsamroot blooms! Up higher above the treeline there was plenty of paintbrush and phlox.

After dropping our tents and things at desolation camp we continued to the top of the peak, which is another mile.  Jim has opened the lookout to visitors for the season (he arrived only hours before we did) and we got to be the first to sign the log, which was pretty fun. We stayed for sunset. I expected to have to use a headlamp but the moon was so bright I hardly needed it.

The hike out the next day was super easy by Cascades standards, the trail is in excellent shape the grade is ever overly steep.

Happy Trails!