East Bank Ross Lake — Sunday, Jun. 29, 2014

North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20

We hopped on the East Bank trail from the trail head on SR 20 with a camp site at Rainbow Point as our destination. 9 miles and a few hours later we made it in to camp with two hours to spare before sunset. The camp site was terrific, with a bear box and picnic table provided at each camp site (3 sites total, with two tent pads in each) and a privy. There is also a dock at this camp site. The only other group there had rented a boat from the Ross Lake Resort and tied off on the dock. The trail was in fairly good shape. There were a few muddy sections but no blowdowns. The trail starts off around 1600ft and crests at 2700ft or so before descending back down to 1600ft 2 miles or so before Rainbow Point. It's a fairly decent climb with full overnight packs. We experienced some rain while hiking in, and gaiters and recently waterproofed boots were no match for the large amounts of water rubbed off of the low plants clawing their way across the trail a few miles in; our toes were quickly soaked. Roland Creek is a large obstacle as well right now. We couldn't find a decent way across without getting our already wet socks even wetter. Overall, the camp site at Rainbow Point made this trail. We didn't see another person until we got to the camp site, and we didn't see anyone until the last mile on our way out the next day.