A terrific 3 night backpacking trip along the east shore of Ross Lake with a neighbor and her sixteen year old daughter both experiencing their first backpacking trip.
Because we didn't have reserved campsites, I got up early the day before our planned trip and drove to Marblemount (a bit over 2 hours) to secure our permits at the Wilderness Information Center. I was glad I did as there were around 50 folks in the parking lot when I arrived at the 7:00 opening. I'm fairly sure that securing the permits the day before our planned start (vs on the start day) helped us get the campsites we were hoping for.
The next day we drove up, parked at the Ross Damn trailhead and hiked the 1 mile trail to the lake. We were met by the Ross Lake Resort water taxi (pre-arranged) who dropped us off at Lightning Creek Campsite about 1/2 way up the lake (at a cost of $110 for the 4 of us). We spent a relaxing first night near the water.
The next day we hiked the 6.5 miles to Rainbow Point campground where we spent the night and once again enjoyed the lake. The following day another 6.5 miles to Hidden Hand Campsite (ditto on access to the lake).
All in all a very nice trip and hopefully a positive introduction to backpacking for our friends. The weather was warm and the bugs were tolerable (largely because we were near the lake).
Comments