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?
Comments
C P on Little Jack Mountain, East Bank Ross Lake
Pretty great, huh! Thanks for the acknowledgments. I think you want clippers rather than a machete, you probably already have some.
Where did you get photo #1?
Posted by:
C P on Nov 20, 2020 09:20 AM
second summit
Photo #1 was from what I refer to the second summit area. I think it's where the fire lookout used to be on the northwestern side. When I go back, my time will be spent more on that side. My full track is on the AllTrails trip report/link. We need to get more boots on this trail.
Posted by:
RisiP on Feb 06, 2022 10:51 AM