Wanted to hike out to Junction campground but didn't realize it was 10 miles out. We were doing a single overnight so the ranger suggested we do the Roland Creek campground on the East Bank trail. It took us 3 hrs 30 minutes to get to the campground. Multiple blow downs and obstacles to either pass over or under. Me and my cohort did our best to clear one branchy blow down, but there are more.Creek crossings become larger and more difficult to pass as each one progresses. You either need to submerge your boots or cross on a log (see pics). Overall I wasn't too excited about the trail. a little elevation gain here and there, but for a 6-7 mile hike out, there aren't any views except a single small break in the trees looking across the river bed, the forest doesn't change much, the wildflowers seem to be dieing down. nothing really excited us about the hike in. The two camp spots are isolated enough from eachother so thats nice, although both are pretty close to the creek. Foraging deer came up to our campsite both days, and came up to about 10 ft away without much trepidation. Must be hungry :) no food from us! On the hike back it took us only 2 hr 10 min so shaved quite a bit of time off. Around an hour in to our return, we saw a lone bear cub run up a tree away from us. My bud was intrigued but I couldn't see Momma anywhere and the cub was scared so I moved us along lol. Parking space was great, no permits required unless your overnighting. Overall good trip but the hike not so pretty.

Wanted to add to the previous report since I made it out a little further. Camped at Lightning Creek. 

There are more of the same, down trees of various sizes - all relatively easy over, under or around type situations. Water levels are high this time of year, so rock hoping isn't always an obvious option. I went with quick drying shoes & pants & extra socks which worked well for me given the nice sunny weather. 

Now, the serious stuff. Ticks! Wear long sleeves and pants if you can stand the heat. I found 6 on me, 2 of them got a bite. Bring your tweezers and do tick checks. They're everywhere! *shudders* No mosquitoes, though. So there's that. 

Second, two sections of the cliff-side portion of trail are going to need some work. There's rockfall and some center slumping/holes in one section. The end closest to Devil's creek is in need of serious repair as the retaining wall is falling apart. The trail here is sliding down the rocks. I did choose to make the crossing, but I could see how this might turn some people around and really, after a couple of good hard rains it could be gone. I don't see it lasting another winter. As stated in the previous report, this trail is no longer suitable for stock. 

With the Mountain Loop Highway still closed, we loaded up on backpacks on a bicycle trailer and biked to the East Bank Trail from Colonial Campground  for an overnight hike on Saturday, May 5. We ended up going about 8 miles on the trail and camped at Rainbow Point. The trail was in relatively good condition given it's been vacant most of the winter. There were several trees down, but only 3-4 were tricky to get around. Never caused more than a 2 minute delay. We saw two other hikers, who appeared to be staying at Hidden Hand campground (about 3 miles from the trail head). Other than that, we had the lake entirely to ourselves. From the trail head, it took us 6 hours to get settled at camp, including a couple of nice food/beer breaks along the way. 

There were a few creek crossings to note. Two of the crossings in the first five miles were a little deep, so while not difficult to cross you might want to change out of your boots if your goal is to keep them dry. At both Roland and May Creeks (both by campsites so easy to identify), the crossings were a little more difficult. At Roland, if you head east from the trail about 150 feet there's a logjam that you can work your way over without getting wet, otherwise you're wading through water about a foot and half deep. At May Creek, the railing for the bridge is out. It's still very sturdy - just take it slow if you get woozy with heights like I do. See photo below. 

Rainbow point is an excellent campsite, complete with groomed tent sites, picnic tables, established fire pits, and bear boxes!

The quiet weekend and beautiful weather led to some good wildlife viewing! Two very curious deer followed us for awhile and kept trying to sneak up to steal food from our campsite. Western Toads were on the trail, and we saw two black bear cubs on the hike out! We must have startled the cubs and mom as we saw them quickly climb up a tree as we came around a corner (about two miles from the trail head) but never saw mom. We quickly backtracked to make sure we weren't accidentally going between the mom and cubs, and then watched them through binoculars for about 20 minutes until then climbed down and scampered into the woods. It was a good reminder to refresh ourselves on bear etiquette :-) https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm. Our bikes were safe and sound where we'd locked them up the previous day and it was an easy ride back to the campground. 

Overall amazing two days. 

Took a week to complete this beautiful loop. We'd attempted it with our kids 7 years ago, but got turned back by snow in mid-August. We were back again at the same time of year, but this one was warm and bone dry. 

Go to the East Bank Trail Head on HWY 20, and head up the 57 switchbacks (yeah--make a game of counting them, it's 3300 ft of elevation gain, you'll welcome distraction) to McMillan Park. The Trail has many logs over it, but not hard to follow. Water on Aug 17 was near impossible to find, despite large stream beds. But it's gorgeous up there, no regrets! 

We encountered a lot of people hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail, and they spread out around this area depending on which route they choose after getting to Castle Pass. We were going against the flow, heading up through Devils Park and over to Devils Pass. This section has some ups and downs, but more water.

After Devils Pass it's lovely high hiking, gentler grades and fun saddles and streams. Once you get to the PCT, it's clear sailing and spectacular up to Castle Pass. 

At Castle Pass you turn left at a rock cairn in the meadow beyond the sign. PCTers head straight to monument only 4 miles north, we met lots going both ways, yoyoing back to Harts Pass or getting to Manning. The Trail from here is brushy and often hard to follow. We counted 218 downfall, so currently it takes some patience. 

Once the boundary trail starts the major switchbacks into 3 Fools, the Trail has been very recently logged out. It was dry as can be there. We also ran into Customs and Border Patrol trainees, about 25 of them. They are already patrolling the boundary trail in the eastern Pasayten, so they are no doubt going to start on this section once it's logged out fully. 

After the decent, the Trail down to Ross Lake is in great shape, and it's a nice quiet corner of the park. We hit the lake and were overwhelmed by the boating campground scene so we stayed briefly and got back to the car early. 

We are hoping that CBP and others that explore this area are respectful and use no trace camping techniques. It's been a remote area during the years of deferred maintenance on the trail and unlike the bombed out camps along the PCT, this area got a rest. It's also dry, and parts may have burned by now, so no fires should be started up there. 

 

 

 

 

Great 2 night overnight on the east bank Ross Lake. Hiked 6.7 miles in to Roland Creek for the first night - ample water flowing, nice big open campsites here. There was even a throne to use. Trail was in good condition, fairly flat though with some ups and downs, and peekaboo views of the lake. 

Second night was spent 2.5 miles down the trail at Rainbow Point campground. Again, 3-4 campsites here, really big and spacious all with nice views of the lake. Big dock here as well. Really nice tent pads, picnic tables, and big bear boxes available at Rainbow Point. Rainbow Point was super windy all afternoon and into the evening, but calm in the morning.

Headed back the 9.3 miles back to the trailhead on the 3rd day. Beautiful weather throughout the trip. Some buzzing bees and bugs got annoying in the late afternoon and evening, but really not terrible.