We picked this trip for a family backpack. Left the car at the trailhead at milepost #138 off highway 20. Began the 2.8 mile hike to the junction with the East Ross Lake Trail. There's some elevation gain to get the party started. Nothing too terrible. After the junction we hiked the East Bank Ross Lake Trail to our first campsite at Roland Creek. Found the campsite after a bit of hunting. Our map made it appear that the camps were south of the creek when in actuality they are north. Had the camp to ourselves save on other hiker. Pumped water easily and had a quiet night. The next morning we broke camp and hiked north stopping at Rainbow Point for lunch and a swim. Water was lovely and a welcome respite from the warm temperatures. Continued on to Devil's Junction along (what we thought) was the prettiest part of the trail, along the lake. We enjoyed spotting larger fish in the lake from our vantage point on the trail above, and were a bit envious of all the kayaks and canoes moving faster than we were down on the lake. Arrived in Devil's Junction and got an amazing spot on the hill overlooking the lake. We were the only campsite with such a stellar lake view and more than a few other campers commented they wished they had arrived earlier and nabbed it. We pumped water from the creek in the Stock Camp next door. The stream was pretty low and the mosquitoes in the area were the worst we encountered on the trip. After setting up camp we hiked down to the lake (boat in sites) and took a swim off the dock before dinner. We enjoyed a small campfire (allowed!?!) and a lovely sunset. Warn night, hardly needed a sleeping bag. Day three we woke up and ate a leisurely breakfast savoring our lake views. Then broke camp and started to head back south. We had a spot reserved at Rainbow Point for our last night (site of our swim and lunch the day before). We ate lunch on the beach, but the winds were picking up and clouds looked to be coming in. Many of the paddlers/kayakers we had envied the day before were struggling to paddle upwind and really having a tough time in the choppy lake. Our kids (ages 14 & 11) decided they were strong enough and motivated to hike out. We found a couple in a canoe who were debating what to do given the weather conditions and passed our site along to them. We knew that a 14 mile hike (total for the day) would be ambitious but with a hamburger and shave ice as motivation our crew decided we would rally and head home. It was a lot of mileage for everyone but we all made it out safely and well before dark. Burger and treats were delivered as promised. What we'd do differently: In the future we would take the water taxi (didn't know it was an option) up to Rainbow Point and start the hike along the lake from that point heading north. The hike south of Rainbow was all forest (few lake views) and while that is lovely, it is long and a bit monotonous. We'd schedule a water taxi pick up further up the lake and only hike one direction. Or conversely, start further north (Hozomeen) and work our way south to Rainbow Point.

This was my first backpacking adventure. It was perfect. Planned for a weekend of sunny weather and ended up on the day in getting soaked. Learned a lot from this. ALWAYS bring wet weather gear. ALWAYS! I camped at Rainbow Point and there was a fire pit so I got a fire going with what I was able to find laying around. If you plan on staying here and want a fire, plan on having to do a decent amount scavenging outside the immediate area because it was picked clean. Probably a popular spot. There was a dock at this camping location so and you would be able to canoe in if you wanted. There was also a bear box at each tent site. The weather was better at night. Heads up though it gets windy at night. Morning there was zero wind. I hiked back out on the second day and had perfect weather. Most of the time is spent in the woods but I never ran out of things to look at. There is all kinds of different vegetation, streams, and a few spots where I was able to see some mountain peaks and the lake below. All in all it was a great trip. I learned a lot about my essential pack list. I met a few people on the trail and everyone was very friendly. Highly recommend this trail.

This was a long outing. The plan was to start on HYW 20 and hit Desolation Peak. From there I would go up the valley to Hozomeen CG and the Canadian Border. This was only half way. I would then turn around and do the route in reverse. East Bank Trail was in good condition with minimal blow-downs. What blow-downs were there were easily stepped over or navigated around. The only creek crossing that wasn’t straight forward was Roland. If you had waterproof boots, which I didn’t, you could do it. Rock hopping would lead to wet feet so I crossed on a large log (nature’s balance beam, as my son and I like to call them) 20 yards up creek. Climb to Desolation—This section was clear of blow-downs and the trail crew did a great job brushing out sections of the trail and rebuilding a few treads. Pretty straight forward. A few small snow patches just before the lookout no more than a few yards long so no biggie. No one home up top. Not sure when they start… Lightning Creek to Hozomeen—A few more blow-downs. Again the trail crews had done some great work back here brushing sections and clearing a lot of blow-downs. There was one area that was tricky as several trees had fallen parallel and on the trail so it took a little rout finding on the other side to find the trail again. I was coming back through this section at night and got turned around. When I found the trail, I was 2.75 miles along when I realized I was back tracking! Tacked on a nice little 5.5 mile out n back…ARRGG!! It was my own damn fault for not checking my headings after I found the trail again. The whole trip was a great experience--4th time up Desolation ! Bugs were not a problem and no ticks found... Full Report can be found at the link below...

My husband, daughter and our two dogs hiked out to Hidden Hand camp and Lake Ross. The weather was good, partly cloudy and mid 60's. The trail was in really good condition. I could tell the trail had been recently cleaned up by the fresh cut logs to clear the trail and the creek crossing were easy to pass with rocks and logs laid out for easy stepping. This was a day hike that started out midday. It took us three hours for a round trip hike of 7.3 miles. I used my app, Map My Run, to calculate our mileage and time. We ran into two groups hiking out from an overnight camping trip. One couple was packing up when we hit Ross Lake. The lake is super cold so caution if jumping in - the cold water can shock you. There are ticks so use precaution. I found one on me when I got home. We checked our dogs and each other but only one us brought home a traveler. Happy hiking.