My husband and I did a 3 day/2 night loop trip starting at the East Bank TH.  We camped Wed night at May Creek Boat camp and Thurs night at Lodgepole Boat Camp.  Friday morning we were picked up by the Ross Lake Resort Water Taxi and dropped off on the South side of the dam.  From there it was an easy 5 1/2 mile hike on Happy Panther back to the car.  We checked out Roland Creek CG and Devils Junction Boat camp on our way uplake.  All the camps had friendly deer hanging around.  The boat camps made for very plush backpacking.  They each had a remarkably clean outhouse (stocked with TP and hand sanitizer), a picnic table, fire pit, food locker, and smoothed out tent pads.

Both trails were in excellent condition.  Only about half of the East Bank trail is near the lake's edge.  There were plenty of creeks for collecting (and filtering) water.  Ross Lake is down about 20 feet right now, due to both dam operations and low snowpack.

Jack Mountain via the Nohokomeen – May 8-9, 2024

Last week’s attempt of Jack Mountain via the Nokohomeen as a two-day climb starting from the East Bank trailhead. The 7+ miles of the East Bank trail section is in great shape (no blowdowns and no snow). Along the cross-country route above May Creek, consistent snow starts around 4800 feet, and we donned snowshoes at 5000 feet. We camped at 7400 feet with amazing views of the glacier, upper Ross Lake, and countless peaks to the west.

The next day, we reached the base of the headwall by 5:15am. We roped up to cross the bergschrund only, which was not an issue, and then we soloed the headwall and summit ridge. The headwall snowpack was variable but predominantly deep sugary snow, but double ice axes/tools and steel crampons were helpful, nonetheless. The summit ridge was truly awesome and held much better snow for travel. At 7:45am, we reached the summit and enjoyed stunning 360-views. We agreed this mountain has some of the most impressive views of the sea of peaks that is the North Cascades.  

Truly an unforgettable trip for me personally, and my 69th peak of my WA100 Project (my personal Bulger project) and my 78th Bulger overall. Full trip report: https://www.scott-kranz.com/wa100-climbs/jack and main project page: https://www.scott-kranz.com/wa100.

parking lot and trail in good condition. Easy hike to the lookout

Did this loop as an overnight backpacking trip clockwise from East Bank TH. Day 1 was East Bank TH to just the other side of Devil's Dome 20.43 mi / 6690ft gain and Day 2 was Devil's Dome to East Bank TH via Jackita Ridge at 21.6mi and 3320ft gain. Big thanks to anthonyE's previous trip report with the detailed water and campsite beta - it all checks out and was wildly helpful. 

TL;DR:
If doing this again, I would still go clockwise. Snow free (a few patches off trail if you heart so desires). The bugs weren't bad, and it felt almost like a fall trip, except when the heat of the afternoon was felt, and lack of ripe blueberries was noted, but views are splendid and plenty! There are sections of overgrowth that you've got to push your way through, lots of chest/head height growth which is more annoying than it was difficult to pass, but no loss of trail at any point*. This trail felt pretty exposed on both ridge trails, but shaded on the lower trails. There are a few longer spurts of dry sections, so depending on your water carry system, it may be prudent to fill up when you can. If you don't mind a little brush and some solid climbs, you will be highly rewarded with views and would recommend this trail to anyone looking for a nice mountain loop!

Road Conditions: Hwy 20 paved all the way, and TH is just off the road, so any car can access. Parking was not even half full when I arrived around 7:30am on Saturday morning. There is a well stocked and clean pit toilet here.

Trail Conditions: 
East Bank TH: well maintained, easy to follow, well marked. You will need a permit if you plan to camp at any of these sites along the way. Roughly 12.5 miles before the junction. Not a ton of gain, plenty of water sources, quick miles and made for a nice warm up to start the trip.

Devil's Ridge Trail: in fairly good condition with sections of overgrowth and a handful of single blowdowns. There's a tree fallen on the Pasayten Wilderness boundary sign as you climb up, which honestly is a sign in itself (this feels so par for the course with Pasayten), as the trail becomes noticeably more unmaintained, but you never lose trail or have to route find at any point. There was a solid water source about 3 miles into the climb, and some smaller trickles on either side of the summit, but otherwise pretty dry, and more exposed. Really windy up at the Dome, but 360 views and honestly the breeze was a welcome treat with the heat. 

Jackita Ridge Trail: in good condition, and similar to Devil's Ridge in that there are sections of overgrowth and blowdowns, but never really bad enough to lose trail. Whoever developed this trail likes to get where they're going, and is not a fan of switchbacks. Aside from the end (beginning if going ccw), and the scree field, which is almost necessary, the trail is notably steeper grade on the ascents and descents than Devil's Ridge. I was glad to be going up the scree field and to have poles as it's quite loose, but the views are varied as you wind your way around, over, and down the mountains. The water sources were more notably stagnant in the lower meadows, but there are some really nice flows in the woods including a couple little waterfalls. I hit the final descent in the heat of the day, and despite being in the shade, you can really feel the heat trapped in that valley, so be mindful and stay hydrated!

Ruby Creek Trail: quite possibly the longest 3 miles of my life, the trail is fine, similar to others with some overgrowth but mostly shaded and runs along the creek. I think this trail only stays "maintained" by the foot traffic, but seems otherwise like the forgotten trail. *REALLY large blowdown and loss of trail to landslide (see pic 4). I almost considered going down and just walking in the creek to get around, but you can go up and around which is what I ended up doing, but the tread is very loose and unstable. You won't slide to your death, but maybe scrape yourself up a bit if you lost your footing. I do think it's a bit more interesting of a trail than East Bank with some fun features, and seeing/hearing the creek flowing, but at the end of the trip it feels like a slog, and the heat was really trapped in the valley, so despite the shade and cooling from the river, it got pretty toasty and felt I was overheating.

Pro tip: bring a dry change of clothes and keep in your car, and dip into the creek just on the other side of the bridge, and you've only got a quarter mile hike to the TH. I hiked it in my camp sandals, so totally doable. Or if from Canyon Creek TH, just ford the river and then take a dip in! It felt so refreshing to cool off and put on dry clean clothes for the drive back home. 10/10 would recommend. 

Animals/Bugs: I did not find the bugs too bad especially on the lower trails, but I also camped near Devil's Dome which was notably cooler and breezier than the rest of the trail. There were bugs around, enough that you'd hear a high pitch buzz pass by your ear to remind you they're there, but as a self-proclaimed mosquito magnet, I was able to enjoy dinner with a view without much trouble. Jackita Ridge felt buggier in general (warmer and more stagnant water), but staying on the move I didn't encounter much trouble, but perhaps camping along here would be more bothersome. Surprisingly no animal sightings aside from your classic chipmunks, squirrels, and birds. I expected to see at least 1 bear, as the terrain seems like bear heaven, but maybe in the fall when the berries are ripe they will be more abundant. I did see a little Marmot on Jakita and a little snake slither off the side of the trail on East Bank TH. 

Water sources: Fairly reliable for the most part. There are a few longer stretches as mentioned above, but I didn't ever find myself low on supply. I did carry an extra L up to camp, knowing it would be dry, but collected earlier than I could have. Some of the water sources on Jackita are more stagnant as mentioned, which is not a problem, but I prefer a little flow and trickle when I can get it. If you're the same, just keep on trekking and know you'll hit a more flowing source in a mile or two. 

Other: I was able to pluck a few ripe thimble berries on East Bank Trail! You can see the baby blueberries starting to grow, so will be ripe for the picking come fall. I only passed a handful of people on each trail, and had no one else camping nearby, so plenty of solitude and quiet. I suspect pushing bigger miles perhaps makes that more likely, as I did see people setting up camp at various spots. If you see a blow down that's not easily stepped over or walk under, I found most had an alternate boot path, or newly established trail that went around it. 

Happy Trails!

I've wanted to get back up to the North Cascades after getting my first taste with a Copper Ridge / Tapto Lakes trip in 2021, and since I'm driving up from Portland I hoped to do a bit more than a long weekend—thus this combination of the East Bank / Desolation Peak trip with the Devil's Dome Loop. I had to cancel this trip twice last summer—first due to snow, then due to fire—so I was excited that the conditions seemed propitious for my mid-July permit this year.

Itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: East Bank TH to Lightning Creek Stock Camp (15 miles, 1900' elevation gain). Smooth sailing to Lightning Creek Stock Camp. Encountered about 20 people and a juvenile black bear just past the Devil's Creek Suspension Bridge. Nice solitary camping experience along the lake.

Day 2: Hike to Desolation Camp, explore Desolation Peak (7 miles, 5000'). I went up to Desolation Camp and Peak. The trail is steep but otherwise easy going. I carried 3+ liters of water up to Desolation Camp for the night, but as of 7/19 there was decent water available at the spring that crosses the trail around 3700'. Pretty fine views of Jack Mountain from the campsite, which I had to myself (save a big buck I saw ambling through the next morning). Views up at the fire lookout are even better, and Jim the Lookout's a good guy to talk to—I got to chat with him for the better part of an afternoon about his years as a lookout, fire in the PNW, and of course Kerouac and Snyder and the luminaries of American letters (Melville, McCarthy, and more)—a real treat.

Day 3: Hike to Devil’s Dome (15 miles, 6000' gain, 4000' loss). I had a permit for Devil's Creek in NCNP but elected to push up to Devil's Dome in the hopes of earning a proper zero day at the trip's high point. Whether you head CW or CCW, there's no escaping the indeed relentless climb, and the 5000' slog up from Ross Lake to Devil's Dome will likely test your fitness and stamina as it did mine. (Probaby a salutary check on my ambitions after a long winter in the flatlands.) The trail is mighty steep and pretty overgrown: the going will be slow, uphill or down. Because I was unsure about the water situation atop DD and had hopes of taking a zero day up there, I carried 5 liters up from the lake, but as of 7/19 there is decent water along the trail at a map-marked stream at about 4100'. Given the afternoon heat I had no trouble guzzling all the water I carried, but if I'd been sure of that stream I would've carried only 2-3 liters up from the lake. Fortunately there was no one else camped up at the summit, which really has room for just one tent (there's a bit more camping at Dry Creek Pass). There are still a few lingering snowfields atop DD, which means there is (as of 7/20) a snowmelt stream located just off trail about 0.25 miles west of the summit (around 6550').

Day 4: Explore Devil’s Dome, Bear Skull Mountain, etc. With the extra water, I was able to take a day to head over to Bear Skull Mountain, a fairly easy bushwhack & scramble up to about 7200' for slightly better views not just of Jack and Nohokomeen but of the Pickets, Desolation, Hozomeen, and more.

Day 5: Hike to Crater Lake (15 miles, 4000' gain, 5000' loss). Heading CW from DD, water again becomes intermittent; the spring just north of Devil's Pass was a very slight trickle—I was able to get 0.5L at a time into my dirty water bag through careful placement and patience. Better in retrospect to just keep moving on to North Fork Devil's Creek basin: the path here again gets steep and a bit overgrown descending to the creek and back up again. The switchbacks through the scree up Jackita Ridge weren't much of a problem, by comparison, and the open views of the subalpine make for a wonderful few miles of walking along the eastern leg of the loop before dropping back down into Devil's Park. Lots of campsites down here, but not much water at this point. The turn-off to Crater Lake is easy to miss—I stopped to mark a waypoint for a campsite with good water at a strange sort of clearing along the trail (48.72846, -120.88850) and went on my way before wondering if I 'd missed my turn. Sure enough, the sign for trail #746 is missing and the way a bit overgrown, but it's there. There's a good campsite for multiple tents a few hundred yards short the lake, but since it was occupied when I arrived I kept moving up and found a spot for a tent on the rocky outcropping just SW above the lake. It was quite windy up there but the views were well worth it.

Day 6: Hike to Crater Mountain Lookout #2 & hike out (10 miles, 1500' gain, 6000' loss). My last morning I took the easy walk up to the site of former lookout #2 (at 7000'); the path strikes off to the east 100 yards or so from the lake. Good views up there of Crater, Jerry Lakes, Jack, etc.—not as good as at the summit of Crater, I'm sure, but with 8 miles and 5000' down to the car and 6 hours back to Portland, I curbed my ambitions and enjoyed my modest consolation prize of a view.

All in all an excellent trip—but very much the workout it's made out to be. Plan carefully to keep yourself hydrated, give yourself a bit more time to travel through the Pasayten brush, and always start a bit earlier in the day than you think—it's astonishing how hot it can get humping up and down these mountains.