My original plan had been to do a three day, two night trip backpacking in on the East Bank trail and spending 2 nights at the Lightning Creek Campground with a day trip up desolation peak. Well, plans change. Note: All boat in camps on Ross Lake are closed to all users, I had wrongly assumed that the Lightning Creek Stock Camp would be open to hikers, it is not. I found this out when I stopped by the Marblemount Ranger Station to pickup my backcountry camping permits. This means that on Ross Lake you have Randal Creek, May Creek, and Devil's Junction to choose from.
After some hemming and hawing and chatting with the ranger, I decided on an alternate and more strenuous tactic. I would camp at May Creek on night one and then Desolation Camp on night two and then out to the trailhead on day 3. This meant more miles and elevation with a heavy pack and necessitate that I carry a bear canister. With my permit and a bear canister, off I went.
Trailhead -> May Creek Stock Camp
There were a handful of cars at the trailhead, including an Aspire Trail Running van, which meant I saw lots of trail runners headed out as I headed in. The trail was in fine shape with 1 down tree which was easy to walk around. At the first trail junction, I ran into a deer on the trail. The day hikers behind me had a dog with them and the dog was all about the deer. I headed out in front of them and tried to shoo the deer off of the trail, but it really wanted to just continue eating and was not at all bothered by our presence. Eventually, I got the deer to head up the Jack Mountain trail a bit so that the dog could pass without harassing it.
All of the creeks were easy to cross and there was a double log bridge you could cross at Randal Creek or you could take your shoes off and cross in just above ankle deep water.
I had left the car without eating lunch thinking I'd break up my walk a bit and have a snack with a lake view. Little did I know that I would have to walk about 7ish miles to find my first lake view from a giant boulder. I took a rest here and ate my sandwich and continued a little over a mile to my destination for the day, the May Creek Stock Camp.
I took a stroll down to the boat in camp and soon understood why everything was closed (besides from the obviously severely low water levels), all of the boat in camps have fancy vault toilets that have not been assembled; so, the toilet situation is non-existent.
May Creek Stock Camp was lovely! It is set in lush forest and the rushing sound of May Creek is such a tranquil way to fall asleep.
May Creek -> Lodgepole Campground
In the morning I woke to two deer happily munching on moss and watched them for quite a bit as I leisurely started to break down camp, drink some coffee, and have my breakfast. I wasn't in a hurry, I had 15 miles to cover and plenty of daylight.
I was on the trail around 8 AM and it was overcast. As I passed by Rainbow Point Campground, I noticed a couple of backpackers were camped there. The finest bit of trail is here, from Rainbow Point until the Devil's Creek Bridge. It hugs the lake shore and gives you stunning views. There is a small 50 foot section where the trail has collapsed. It is not hard to walk across, but since the ground is unstable, if you are in a large party I'd cross one at a time. There weren't any other difficulties on trail, I counted 3 blow downs, which were easy to step over.
By about 10AM the sun was starting to poke about and the skies were blue and the sunshine was fully out by the time I hit Lightning Creek Campground around 11AM. I also saw a party in a boat here and stopped and had a snack.
The trail between the campground and the junction where you can head down to the dock could use a few more feet as it is grass covered in places and seems to be disappearing. I stopped at a creek along the way and gathered water. I had been looking at Desolation from the lake shore and I couldn't see a lick of snow and was worried that the camp would be dry and figured it best to prepare. As I was getting ready to begin my upward journey, I noticed that there was a boat parked in the shallows between Cat Island, I wondered would I have company along the way? Or were the boaters exploring other lands?
Up and up I went. It was hot. The trail was dry. There is a small stream at about 3800' where you can filter water if needed, this might dry up later in the season. I was glad to be under the cover of the canopy due to the heat, but was stoked by the views and the wild flower bloom once I neared the top and broke out of the canopy. I stopped in the shade at about 4890' and began to hear dog barking above me. Was this the boating party that I saw? As I climbed higher the dog barking got louder and louder. When I was just about at Desolation Camp, I became frightened and I wasn't sure how to proceed? This dog sounded mean. It definitely didn't want me getting any closer. I began calling out, hoping that the owners of the dog would respond to my calls. They did not. Did someone leave their dog alone at the camp? Was it tied up? Was it even someone's dog? Maybe it was a wild stray? Not wanting to have an altercation with an unknown animal in the wilderness, I reluctantly turned around and headed down until I got back to my shade spot at 4890'. The dog was still barking loudly, but a little more intermittently. I stopped here for a bit and decided that my best option for the day was to just head down and camp at one of the closed campgrounds, if I ran into a ranger, I'm certain that they would understand my predicament. I was quite miffed as I had shouldered a heavy load for 13 miles and would now have to walk 6-7 miles back to the lake shore and find camp. I would not reach the Desolation Peak Lookout and would have to come back another day.
On my way down, about 2800' from my high point, a trail runner came blasting past me. I asked him if he had a dog? He said yes, and explained that it had gotten sick 4 times on the way up and so they had tied it to a tree and continued their way to the summit. I explained that I had intended to camp at Desolation Camp, but had turned around because of the unknown dog bark. He apologized and offered me a lift back to the trailhead in their boat. I declined. His 4 kids and a dog came past me a while later. As I write this, I'm still a little angry about the whole situation. People if you bring a dog, you need to stay with the dog. It is not okay to leave your animal unattended on the trail. If this means that you need to change your plans, then do so and prioritize the health and safety of your animal and other trail users.
Anyways, I made it back down mostly unscathed, my dreams were a little broken and I had a couple of blisters brewing, but otherwise I was okay. I decided to push the extra-mile to Lodgepole Camp as it would mean I would have 1 less mile to do the next day.
This camp was okay. Walking down to the lake to get water was a little tenuous and I did it only once. I also had a hard time falling asleep as the sound of the lodgepole pines rustling in the wind was not the most soothing.
Lodgepole Campground -> Trailhead
There isn't much to be said as the trail out was much as it had been on the way in. In lovely shape. I saw a few parties headed in and few headed out. I did note a couple of mountain bikes parked along the trail on Sunday and they were still there when I headed out on Monday. I wonder where their owners were adventuring? There was also a ranger who was headed in that I stopped and chatted with for a bit. She asked for my permit and I relayed my change in intended plans due to the dog. She asked if she would run into the party as they shouldn't have left the dog unattended, but, I told her that they had boated out the day before.
Anyways, I was hot and tired when I finally got back to my car. I'll have to go back to make it to the lookout, but I'll likely use a boat assist next time, or maybe I'll hike in from the north.
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