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.
Comments