Desolation Peak, East Bank Ross Lake & Lake Hozomeen — Saturday, Jul. 27, 2024

This was a three night trip to Desolation Peak and Hozomeen Lake starting at the East Bank Trailhead. TL;DR: easy hiking along the East Bank Trail. The Desolation Peak Trail is a challenge, especially if you’re camping and carrying all of your water up, but it’s worth it for the views! The stream halfway up the Desolation Trail is still flowing as of 7/29. Hozomeen Lake is lovely, and incredibly warm. All the campsites have pit toilets. Didn’t have any issues with bugs or animals. The blueberries/huckleberries are starting to get ripe!

Day 1 - East Bank Trailhead to Devil’s Creek Camp (12 miles)

The hike along the East Bank trail was nice and easy with only one minor uphill. Most of the hiking is in the woods, and not directly next to the lake, but there were occasional views and we were glad of the shade. There's lots of water flowing the whole way. We saw a mama bear and her cub only a couple miles into the hike, but didn’t have any issues with them. 

Devil’s Creek camp was nice. We had a view of the lake from our campsite and a very friendly deer to keep us company throughout the night.

Day 2 - Devils Creek to Desolation Camp + a trip to the lookout tower (11ish miles)

The final miles of the East Bank Trail stayed flat, but once you turn onto the Desolation Trail it climbs relentlessly until you get to the top. We opted to carry all of our water up for the night from the bottom because we weren’t 100% sure if the stream was still flowing halfway up. It was flowing! It seems like it might run all year, but your mileage may vary. We decided to play it safe.

After setting up camp, we hiked the rest of the way to the lookout tower. Jim wasn’t there, but you can still see into the lookout and sign the visitor log. The views up there of Ross Lake, Jack Mountain, and Hozomeen Mountain were incredible! I can imagine that the sunrise and sets are amazing from the summit. 

Desolation camp was good! The views aren’t as good as from the summit, but you can still see Jack Mountain and Ross Lake. The camp isn’t the biggest, You could probably fit five tents comfortably. Bear cans are required. 

Day 3 - Desolation Camp to Hozomeen Lake (16 miles)

We backtracked down Desolation and onto the East Bank trail before turning onto the Lightning Creek Trail. Lightning Creek takes you down a long valley and is very mellow with only a few short climbs. It was a lot wetter back there with some really big old trees and moss covering everything. There’s plenty of water the whole way. There’s a cool old cabin just before you get to Deerlick Camp/cross the creek for the first time.

We had Hozomeen Lake to ourselves and it was such a lovely camp. It had been raining on and off throughout the day, so we opted not to swim, but I kind of regret not getting in. The water was super warm, and the bottom of the lake wasn’t mucky at all. There was a loon and an owl calling throughout the night. 

Day 4 - Hozomeen Lake to Ross Lake and out via the Water Taxi ( 5 miles)

The hike from Hozomeen Lake back to Ross Lake was super easy. Flat or downhill the whole way. You pop out in the old car campground which looks pretty abandoned and eerie from lack of maintenance. We got picked up by the Ross Lake Water Taxi at the end of Silver Skagit Road. The ride back to Ross Dam was ~45ish minutes and then it was another uphill mile back to the Ross Dam trailhead.