YOU NEED A PERMIT FROM THE MARBLEMOUNT WIC TO CAMP AT ROSS LAKE!

We ran into several parties who were camping without permits, and even had to ask someone without a permit to vacate our campsite for us when we arrived (they very politely did, and clearly it was an honest mistake).

Part of the beauty of these backcountry areas is the limited number of people, so always check to make sure whether or not a permit is required before making your plans.   

ROAD:

Highway 20 is in great shape, trailhead is mostly easy to spot. Arrived around 8ish to a partly full parking lot but still lots of open spots.

TRAIL:

East Bank trail is in great shape, had a group of runners pass us on the way up but didn't see anybody else. Couple small stream crossings that were pretty easy to get through. Went for about ~3 miles until turning onto the little jack mountain trail, took just under an hour. 

The little jack mountain trail is much better then I expected it to be, a couple blowdowns but all were pretty easy to get through.Trail is slightly overgrown in some places but not bad at all. Thanks to people like CP keeping these trails in good shape. Snow started appearing near 5000 feet but trail was still pretty easy to follow, if you take your time making decisions it shouldn't be too hard. We lost the trail around 5700 feet or so, and gaia stopped working. So we ended up going more up instead of across and finished at around 6200 feet. There seemed to be another summit above us, but it was getting later and we were starting to get tired. Found a nice rock and took our break and headed back down. 

SUMMARY:

All around, it was a gorgeous day with great views and saw 2 groups on the East bank trail and 0 on the Jack Mt. trail. Ended up doing about 4800 feet of elevation gain and around 17ish miles. Highly recommend this trail, especially in a couple weeks once the trail melts out some more.

We were out on Ross Lake for 2 nights, camping at Lodgepole both nights and taking a day trip up 7300-foot Bear Skull Mountain (off the Devils Dome Loop Trail).

There was a trail crew working the East Bank Trail and the Devils Dome Loop Trail (up to the National Forest boundary). When we were there, they had just reached Devils Junction. So the entire East Bank Trail and lower part of the Devils Dome Loop Trail will probably be clear in the next week or so.

On Saturday, we arrived at the WIC in Marblemount at 6:30 am, took a ticket, and had our permit by 7:15 am (we were 5th in line). We parked at the Ross Dam Trailhead on SR 20 and portaged our canoes 400' down the 0.7-mile trail to the road then followed it 0.5 miles and 200' down to the lake. From there, it was a 10 mile canoe to Lodgepole. The portage took 1 hour, and the canoeing was another 6 (including breaks). After arriving at camp, I ran up the East Bank Trail above Lightning Creek. There were many blowdowns, some difficult to cross. The trail offers great views just 500 feet up.

On Sunday, we canoed 2 miles back down the lake to Devil's Junction to start our hike up Bear Skull Mountain along the Devils Dome Loop Trail. The trail became completely snow-covered as it rounded to an east aspect at 5750', and looked to be mostly snow-covered for the rest of the loop (it'd be best to wait at least a month before doing the full loop). There were several dozen blowdowns before this point, none too difficult to cross. We cleared half of them and made the rest more easily passable. The three seasonal creeks (at 4090', 4550', and 4750' according to my watch) were flowing well, with the first being the healthiest and maybe the only one which will last into fall. After Dry Creek Pass, the trail was too obscured by snow to follow, so we just took the ridge up. The steepness of the snow to the summit approaches 35 degrees, but it was the perfect density for kicking steps, so traction was unnecessary (we only had poles). It's a gorgeous non-technical summit with views of all of the North Cascades, including two volcanoes (you can only see Glacier Peak from the east end of the summit ridge). The glissading down the top 1000' was sublime. The upper half of the hike offers near-constant views of Jack Mountain. Stats for this hike: 13 miles, 5780' gain, 9.5 hours. Canoeing back to Lodgepole, we picked up a strange west wind radiating from Skymo Creek (perhaps a local circulation driven by the recently-sunny slopes east of the lake and shaded, snowy slopes above Skymo Creek).

On Monday, we canoed back to the Ross Dam boat launch and portaged the boats up to the highway. Taking a break at the road-trail junction and walking down to the dam was worthwhile. This portage was the least pleasant part of the trip, but at least it was immediately followed by dinner at Glacier Peak Eatery!

The lake was at 1558' when we started our trip and is rising at 1.5' per day. So it should be full pool (1600') by the end of June. Because the Ross Lake Resort isn't open yet and the lake is too low for the Hozomeen ramp (and the border is closed), the lake was very quiet. We saw one other canoe, two power boats, and a float plane. Lots of folks backpacking up the East Bank Trail though.

We ran into a Ross Lake Resort staffer, and he said they were considering starting their Diablo Lake to Ross Lake portage service as early as Memorial Day weekend next year. That would make the lake much more accessible in the Spring before the resort starts normal operations (when the lake is at full pool).

We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of mosquitoes given the warm weather, lack of wind, and proximity to the lake. I guess there isn't much mosquito breeding while the lake level is low (and the shore is entirely rocky).

Note that the Lodgepole campsite is actually located 1/4 mile south of where it is on Forest Service topo maps (and Open Street Map). It's well-signed from the trail and the water though, so you won't miss it. Lodgepole still uses a log as a dock, but the rest of the boat-in campsites have new aluminum docks. Every campsite seems to have received an upgraded outhouse in the past 2 years. Some had toilet paper, some didn't.

There are links below to: 1) a photo sphere from the summit of Bear Skull Mountain, and 2) a CalTopo map with our routes (among other routes).

Not much to add to the previous report, but want to acknowledge and thank the trail work. It's more or less clear to Hidden Hand Pass, where some downfall will keep stock from getting through a bit further on. Beyond that, it's all fine for hikers with little effort. We stayed at Ruby Pasture the first night, as we got to the TH around 6PM on Friday. Then overnighted at Roland Creek, and dayhiked to May Creek to get the first (and our only) view of the lake to that point. Only saw a handful of people until we hiked out Sunday.

For dayhikers, this hike doesn't follow close enough to see the lake until about 8 miles or so; it's a fairly unremarkable and meandering trail.  Never too difficult, though. If you're hoping to have a nice stroll along the lake, you'll have to put the miles in.