Four people on a Day Hike:  Drove to trailhead to MP138 on North Cascade Hwy (SR20) and locked a bike to a tree.  Drove back to trailhead at MP134.  We found lots of available parking spots.  It was a brief 1 mile hike down hill to a gravel road that connects Diablo Lake to Ross Lake.  Turned right and followed road until it ended at a dock on the lake.   We used a telephone on a nearby pole to call Ross Lake Resort for our 10 AM pickup. (FYI - reservations and payment must be made in advance).   It was a fast and beautiful 15 minute boat ride to Devils Junction.  The $115 was worth it for 4 people.   But maybe not so much for 1 or 2 people. From Devil's Junction, it took us 6 hours to hike 12 miles to SR20 with 2 short water breaks and 1/2 hr for lunch.  The trail is great the first 3 miles because it is right on the shoreline with terrific views of the nearby mountains.   Then the trail moves inland thru a mixed forest with old growth trees.   After a couple of hours, it got boring without any viewpoints.   One highlight was a side trail down to Rainbow Point where we sat on the waters edge for lunch and talked to people in kayaks and canoes.  The terrain has very slight up and downhills.   We didn't even notice when we went over Hidden Hand Pass because elevation gain was so gradual.  I took 1.5 liters of water and run out.  I took a water filter just case and glad I did.  Water is available in numerous streams.   Roland Creek was easy to cross this time of year because the water level was low.   We saw fresh bear scat on the trail but didn't see a bear.  I carried a bell on my pack that might have warned the bear of our presence.  The trail is well maintained with very few rocks and downed tress to climb over.  The 4 mile bike ride back to the car was mostly uphill.

Huge thank you to previous contributor C P for the work he did on the trail. Unfortunately, without many people hiking this trail, devil's claw and other plants are trying to take back the trail already.

For my trip, the first 2.8 miles was fairly flat on the East Bank Trail. Then I encountered endless switchbacks for roughly 4 miles. Eventually, the maintained trail runs out. I didn't see the cairn C P or others left at the edge, indicating a trail up the ridge/along the cliff until my way down. Instead, I saw a faint trail leading up through the trees and took it. I was using AllTrails and Garmin Earthmate apps to keep me on track. The maps on both apps were incorrect, indicating I was at the end/summit at around 6000 FT. Thankfully, I had PDFed C P's trip report and read it again after spinning my wheels trying to find a view. As he notes, the summit is at around 6750 ft. So I then just headed straight up to the 2 summit areas. I tracked my day hike on AllTrails and Garmin Earthmate which indicated 17.3 miles and 18.48 miles respectively. 

I had a late start at 10:30 and kept extending out my turnaround time when I realized the mileage was greater than expected. Round Trip took me nearly 8 hours with limited breaks. There are 2 summit areas at the top. The one on the right faces the backside of Crater Mountain, Jack's Mountain, and the Pasayten Wilderness. The one on the left is where you can see Ross Lake, Diablo Lake, and Canada. Views are gorgeous. Given the length, the endless switchbacks, and the straight up, I nicknamed this Sourdough's Evil Cousin hike :)

Be careful - the trail is very narrow at times. I found myself hugging the mountain. I encountered around 5 blowdowns, some worse than others, but was able to get around or over them all. I don't recommend running down the trail as it is easy to snag on roots or roll your ankle on loose rocks. I came close to flying off the mountain ~4 times when I was moving too quickly down.

I did not encounter any bears but came prepared with a fog horn just in case. I encountered 3 groups of people on East Bank Trail on the way in, but none on the Little Jack Mountain trail. It's definitely a great social distancing trail. A lot of trails share that TH, so 10:30 AM is the latest start that I'd recommend. I snagged a parking spot, but there were only a few left.

If you aren't up for doing this as a day hike, there appears to be Hidden Hand camp/Ross Lake access about .5 miles beyond the East Bank Trail / Little Jack junction (2.8 miles in). Backcountry permits are required though to camp.

Anyone have any recommendations for a lightweight machete to take with me next time to help maintain the great work C P has done? 

Main squeeze and I parked van at East Bank Trailhead Friday night for an early Saturday morning start.  We took East Bank Trailhead into the Pasayten (we did Devil's Dome down into Ross Lake loop a few years ago, and wanted to do a clockwise loop this time!).  We camped in Devil's Park (lots of stickers to punch holes in bottoms of tent! It was aptly named, but the sunset and solitude were worth it!  

Day 2, we refilled water at the creak by 3-sided shelter and headed up Jackita Ridge.  It was gorgeous! Again!  We saw people, but it was certainly not crowded and nearly everyone wore face masks (thank you!).  At Devil's Pass, we opted to turn right and deeper into Pasayten rather than down into Ross Lake (we didn't have a permit to camp at the lake).  We camped at the top of a no-name peak just after Sky Pilot Pass.  The sunset was GORGEOUS and it's that fantastic shoulder season of being able to sit out and watch the sunset--no bugs and plenty warm... with layers).

Day 3 we woke to some rain, but quickly the clouds pushed it away and it was sunny! We had gorgeous alpine hiking (and a bit of trail finding) down the ridge to Center Mountain and then a bit more trail finding.  Once you find it, it's obvious!  No water until we hit Cascade Creek/North Fork Slate Creek.  That was a gorgeous spot! We wished we had another day to camp there!  River had really washed out trail, but some trail maintenance folks had been there recently and left some great clues!  Gorgeous creek walking.  Past a few old mining claims.  A rickety old bridge (a bit scary... I walked quickly).  I could have sworn we heard vehicle sounds at Cedar Crossing, but looking at the map, it doesn't appear that there's road access??  The next bit of trail was interesting.  It's the kind of stuff we're used to coming from Alaska where trail maintenance doesn't exist off the tourista-beaten trails (washed-out steep trails where a slip could be damn near deadly, a downed bridge with nailed in 2x4 for foot holds and a rope with knots to pull yourself up.  Eventually, we got to a sign that said the trail we had just been on was CLOSED! It closed in 2011 and the signwas made in 2018... we wondered why we had so much solitude.  It clearly had had other hikers this summer, but not a hike for the unprepared hiker/unsurefooted.  We loved it!  East bank trailhead was a slog to get back to the van but we made it!  43 miles and 10,100 feet of elevation.  Lovely weekend!  Unfortunately, came back to the nasty air warnings.

I had some time left after my jaunt up Cabinet Creek, wanted something easy.  Few hike Ruby Creek for itself, now more used due to the out bridge over Canyon Creek.  With the lower water, most people are fording the creek rather than walking the 3+ miles up this from the East Bank TH.

From the Canyon Creek TH, Highway 20 MP 141, I tried to ford Granite Creek to the old Granite Creek Guard Station, only to be stopped by waist-high water.  I ended up taking the Chancellor trail to the missing Jackita bridge and crossing knee-deep Canyon Creek instead.

I cur some trees out and clipped a bit of brush, others have complained about conditions but this is one of the best trails in this area.  Built as good as they get, this was the main drag through here back in the mining days.  

Some ups  and downs along the way, nice campsite with water just before entering Ross Lake National Scenic Area.  When I hit the East Bank TH,  I walked the Highway back to the Canyon Creek TH to save time, was passed by 60-70 cars in the hour walk.  Was able to enjoy the numerous waterfalls above the road without worrying about pulling the car over.  It's a different experience on foot.

Just got back from a 4 day, 3 night adventure along Ross Lake and it was great! We started out Monday morning getting our backcountry permit from Marblemount Ranger Station. We got there at 7:07am and there were about 20-30 groups in front of us, so definitely get up and get going if you're hoping for a specific camp spot. We got our permit at 8:50am after napping and eating while we waited. We wanted to stay at Lightning Creek to be closer to the start of Desolation Peak, but ended up using Devil's Creek as our base camp for our 3 nights.

From the East Bank Ross Lake trailhead it took us 7 hours with our full packs to do the 12.4 miles to Devil's Creek (It's a great spot with just 3 tent sites, plus a stock camp nearby for larger groups that a couple YMCA groups used 2 nights, but they were quiet). We are not regular backpackers and definitely didn't set any speed records. Most of the trail is through the woods, without many views of the lake as others have said, but it is relatively flat and crosses lots of streams for water access even this late in the summer. The section along Ross Lake near the campground were a nice reward. Mosquitoes were definitely annoying when we stopped, but bug spray helped and they were not out all the time. Just be prepared for them.

On our second day, we hiked from Devil's Creek to Lightning Creek (3.6 miles) and another 2.1 to the start of the Desolation Peak hike. We had not done our research properly and thought that the 4.7 (one-way) miles to the top of Desolation started from the turn off just past Lightning Creek but it does not. It starts at the sign 2.1 miles from Lightning Creek. So, we decided to call it for the day, and went back to swim in Ross Lake and head back to camp. We were slowed down waiting for a mama deer and her two littles to make their way down the trail, but they eventually went on their way.

On day three we set off from Devil's at 7:30am and after stopping for breakfast, made it to the Desolation Peak starting sign at 10:20am. We were the last group up to the top that day. We passed maybe 4 or 5 groups of 2 or 3 coming down, plus the ranger living in the lookout who was headed down the trail and stopped to give us some quick and helpful advice for our last push to the top. Once we made it to the top (with multiple stops, snacks, and lunch) at 3pm, we had the peak to ourselves and we saw no one else the rest of the day.

We left the top at 4:25pm, made it down in half the time it took to hike up and jumped in Ross Lake again at Lightning Creek for a welcome swim around 7:30pm. We ate our dinner, watched the sunset, and hiked the 3.6 miles back to camp with our headlamps in an hour and fifteen minutes, arriving back after a very full day at 10pm.

The next day (Thursday) we packed everything up and hiked out, leaving at 9:55am and making it back to our car at 4:30pm. My knee was feeling it from the descent down Desolation the day before and we both had some healthy blisters. The whole trip rounded out at 57 miles and over 5000' elevation, the vast majority of which was on the way up to Desolation, which is about 4400' in 4.7 miles. Staying at Devil's certainly added miles to our trip up Desolation, but the whole trip was great: the weather was warmer than we expected at night, the lake was warm enough to swim comfortably, and after a false start on day 2, we made it up to the top of Desolation Peak for gorgeous 360 degree views.