Nice day or overnight hike!

It was 3.5 from Hwy 20 to the camp site (one way). Drop down from the parking lot and cross the bridge. Go left on the East Bank Trail that leads to Hidden Hand. The trail has some gradual ups and downs but is mostly flat; it is in the trees with glimpses of the Ruby Arm of Ross Lake along the way. Trail is smooth with very few roots or rocks; about five little trickle streams that were easy with two rock steps this time of year (late August). About 2.7 miles later is another junction with a sign for Hidden Hand. Continue downhill on that for another half mile to the camp located on the knoll to the right (48o45'50"N 121.1'12"W 1820 elevation).

The campsite is on the top of the knoll (good workout doing that all day). We had half of our tents up top next to the fire pit with the others down below closer to the trail. I was lucky and got a flat spot up top. Plenty of trees for hammocks. Vault was okay but a long walk over the knoll for those camping in the lower section. The Ranger was replacing the seat and starting to dig a new hole on our last day. Had two Ranger visits who wanted to see permits over the four days.

Nice creek close to camp to easily get water. No bear bin but a good cross branch to raise bags. We put most of our stuff in bear boxes on loan from the Ranger station. We hung the rest. We didn't see any bears, but had a few mice entertain us in the unusable fire pit (due to the burn ban). The mice know how to run cords, but the bear bell on my bag got their attention.

The stock camp on the other side of the creek looked like it had four flat tent spots and its own vault.

The trail from the junction continues past the camp to a bluff above the lake with amazing westerly views. A smaller trail down goes down to the water. Swimming was great here. This is also where the Ross Lake taxi drops off hikers.

The rangers at the Wilderness Information Center were very helpful and set up a beautiful itinerary for us. They said several permit holders had cancelled because of some wet weather in the forecast. You can see backcountry campsite availability in real time at
https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/backcountry-availability.htm .
The following boat-in campsites on the east bank of Ross Lake are
accessible from the trail (which is difficult to tell on the map):  May
Creek, Rainbow Point, Devil's Junction, Lodgepole, and Lightning Creek.
May Creek and Lightning Creek also have separate stock camps, which
hikers without stock can also use. If you're a hiker and want one of the
boat-in sites, be sure to make that clear when making your reservation /
permit request.  Otherwise, rangers generally save those sites for boaters.

Day 1. East Bank Trailhead to Roland Creek camp. 6.5 miles. Left TH at 1 pm or so, at camp by 5 pm. Only one other party was staying there. Privy is in good condition, creek is delightful.

Day 2. Roland Creek to Lightning Creek Stock Camp. 9.5 miles. This trail opens up to the lake about half way through. Lightning Creek Stock camp is by far the most posh and excellent backcountry camp I have ever seen. The privy is brand new, private, spacious, and clean. The lake access for swimming is right at the camp edge. There is a bear box and picnic tables - elegant living. We stayed here 2 nights.

Day 3. Desolation Peak day hike. 13.6 miles. This is a steep trail but the highlight of our trip. Straight up and straight down; your knees and ankles will thank you for using trekking poles in both directions. It is worth it though. It's 6.8 miles up to Desolation Camp from Lightning Creek. There were SO many huckleberries at Desolation Camp - we grabbed handfuls. The 2 campsites at Desolation are smallish and there is no water at Desolation camp, so you have to bring it up from nearer the lake. The rangers are cagey about a spring that is about 2.7 miles down from Desolation camp, when we passed on 8/23, there was a good amount of water running across the trail from this spring and we considered it a good water source. The rangers are cagey for a good reason - if it's dry, there is no other water source. We saw 3 black bears between the spring and the camp. One was right on the trail. Make plenty of noise when hiking to warn them you're coming. It's another mile from Desolation camp to the fire lookout, and WOW, what a view. There had been a few showers that day, so the sky was dramatic chiaroscuro and there were rainbows to the north and east. The fire lookout Jim and 2 NPS workers were living up there, restoring the lookout to its 1930s glory. They offered us lots of conversation and hospitality. (Dana and Reed - you're doing an amazing job!). The trip down was long. A swim in Ross Lake at dusk was refreshing and delightful.

Day 4. Lightning Creek to May Creek stock camp. 7.9 miles. There is only one site (i.e. 1 party maximum) at May Creek Stock Camp, and the creek is just a short walk away. The May Creek boat-in camp (also a single site) is on the lake and accessible to backpackers from the East Bank Trail. It's very large, with a great latrine, picnic table, sunwarmed rocks, and lakeside swimming. But it's exposed to wind, and the lake can get very windy. The privy is not that private, so it's important to have a good flagging system to let fellow campers know when it's occupied.

Day 5. May Creek to TH. 7.8 miles. This was basically the only hot day for us. The trail was quiet and smelled of fir needles - my favorite smell. When we arrived to the TH, we heard a nearby tree crash to the ground with a terrific thump - a reminder that trees falling can be a significant hazard.

This was a delightful trip and the highlight of my summer. With the Desolation Peak dayhike, the total mileage was 45.6.

Two night backpacking trip to the Hidden Hand Group Campsite on East Bank Ross Lake Trail. The trail was in great shape and mostly flat, short, and great for kids! The Hidden Hand camp is pretty with an upper plateau for cooking and campfire (when allowed). Campsites are on the hillside which is not so flat, but it was not terrible either. It's a short jaunt to the cliffs/water and the kids had a blast jumping off the cliffs into the cool water. The cliffs would be very scary for younger kids, but we had older kids so it was fine with supervision. Amazing scenery and solitude here. Fishing is good too!

The first day we arrived as we were getting situated and our food packed up and ready to hang, a mama bear and three little cubs scampered into our camp from up the hill and scared the crap out of a few members of our group that were around. Mama was not aggressive or getting into our food (just digging around), but the cubs were scared by the our yelling attempt to get them out of camp and ran up into trees in the camp. Once the cubs were in the trees mama was not leaving. We all just backed off and gave them space until they were ready to leave, but it was a bit frightening. I have seen other bears and cubs on Ross Lake in previous trips, so be prepared!

We also had rodents chew through our hung food bags, so I really recommend bear containers for Ross Lake.

Did a three-day, two-night backpack of the first half of the East Bank Trail (from the East Bank Trailhead to the Desolation boat dock) with two friends. We initially wanted to hike all the way to Hozomeen but the water taxi was not available to pick us up from that location on the day we needed to leave. Word of advice if you are planning on doing this trail with day-of permits from the ranger station and want to use the water taxi to get back: book your water taxi FIRST at least one week in advance (the whole process takes several days via email), then try to get the permits to match your water taxi plans. If you can't get the permits you need, you can cancel the water taxi without penalty as long as you cancel before 4:00PM the day before your scheduled ride, and there is cell service in Marblemount so you can cancel if needed after visiting the Ranger Station. 

We drove out on Sunday afternoon to the Marblemount Ranger station and were able to get permits for our first-choice campsites on Monday (Rainbow Point) and Tuesday (Lightning Creek) with no problems. We car camped at Colonial Creek on Sunday night.

Day One: East Bank Trailhead to Rainbow Point, 9 miles 

We dropped one car at the Ross Dam Parking Lot (VERY well marked and easy to find off Highway 20), then drove a second car about 5 miles down the road to the East Bank Trailhead (also large and easy to find). Most of the elevation on this day was in the first half of the trail. Some good creek crossings along the way to refill your water bottle but you are mostly out of eyesight from Ross Lake and in the forest for the majority of this section. 

Rainbow Point was a great little campsite - three sites total, bathroom stocked with TP and hand sanitizer, and three heavy duty bear boxes. Lots of little fish and minnows to watch in the water, plus several very brave deer. Both of the other campsites had folks who had kayaked in. Pretty strong winds from about 4:00PM - 9:00PM; we were definitely glad we brought our tent stakes! 

Day Two: Rainbow Point to Lightning Creek Stock Camp, 8(ish) miles

We got a late start this morning and hiked 8 easy miles to Lightning Creek Stock Camp. Minimal elevation on this section and more time by Ross Lake. Lots of great water sources - I don't think I ever needed to carry more than 1L at a time. We encountered a black bear on the trail about halfway between Rainbow Point and Lightning Creek. There were lots of blind corners in this section of the trail which the bear kept walking around, but some helpful kayakers with a better vantage point were able to help us decide when it was safe to proceed. 

Lightning Creek Stock Camp had only two sites in it and we were able to camp right by the water. Amazingly, the lake was even warm enough for some post-hike swimming! Bathroom and bear boxes were, again, in great condition.

Day Three: Lightning Creek Stock Camp to base of Desolation Lookout Hike (2.5 miles), base of Desolation Lookout to top of Lookout (4.7 miles), top of Lookout to Desolation boat dock (4.8 miles), Ross Dam trail (1 mile)

This was by far our biggest day of hiking! We found a lot of conflicting information about distances and times, but here's what our trip came out to: 

- From Lightning Creek Stock Camp to the start of Desolation Lookout is about 2.5 miles. We initially missed the turnoff and accidentally headed down into the Lightning Creek Boater/Hiker camp which is where we thought the trail originated (and sorry for everyone we woke up!) From the main East Bank trail, follow the sign that says "Hozomeen" instead of going into Lightning Creek Camp. There is some elevation on this section of the trail but I'm unsure how much - maybe 250 to 500 feet. We also saw a lot of bear scat on this trail (some very fresh) but didn't see any bears. Make sure you are making some noise while you hike!

- From the bottom of the Desolation Lookout trail to the top is about 4.7 miles. We chose to leave our big backpacks at the Desolation Lookout signpost and packed all of our scented items/trash/food/water into smaller daypacks for the hike up. I wish I had brought a bigger daypack instead of using the removable top to my backpack as I didn't feel like I had enough room for all of the items I knew I responsibly needed to carry. 

- The view from the top is INCREDBILE, but the ranger told us we were lucky because the view had been obscured by forest fire smoke for the two days prior. Keep an eye on conditions before summitting this because you will be missing out on a lot if you can't see the view. Also be aware the trail is exposed, hot, steep, and largely without water. We were very glad we hiked it early in the morning while the temperature was cool and there was still a lot of shade. 

- From the top of Desolation Lookout to the boat dock is about 4.8 miles. From the signpost at the base of the Lookout Trail, follow the sign to "Ross Lake" - there is no separate signage for the boat dock itself. You will see the dock after only a few minutes of hiking. 

We had prearranged a water taxi to pick us up from the Desolation Dock at 2:25PM so we wanted to be very conscious about the time. We woke up at 3:30AM, were packed up on the trail by 4:45AM, and summited around 9:20AM (which includes our time getting lost in Lightning Creek Camp). We hung out at the top until 10:00AM or so and were off the mountain and at the dock by around 1:00PM. I found the way down to be BRUTAL on my hips and knees so it was slow going. 

Waiting for the water taxi was a little nerve-wrecking as we had no cell service and no way of reaching out if there was a problem. But to our relief, the water taxi showed up right on time and took us for a (very bumpy!) ride back to Ross Dam Trailhead. 

From the Ross Dam Trailhead, we had one final push - one mile and 500 more feet of elevation to the car we left parked at the top. Sitting and relaxing at the dock had done us all wonders and so the last mile felt like a piece of cake. We were also very excited to see that neither car had been broken into (I parked on top of broken window glass at the East Bank Trailhead so car prowling is clearly an issue - make sure you don't leave ANYTHING visible in your car, including phone chargers!) 

Overall, an awesome, spontaneous trip with great views and wildlife and easy to obtain permits (at least on a weekday!) Would definitely recommend! 

The snow fields at desolation are completely melted. Water has to be carries up, and as of now there is still one small seasonal trickle at mile 2.0, so plan to carry what you need. 

Desolation and East bank are clear and trails are in great shape.