East Bank Ross Lake — Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005

North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20

Took two groups of scouts to Ross Lake (because we had 15 in our group and the group max is 12). One group camped at Hidden Hand Camp 3.2 miles in along the East Bank Trail. Easy backpack with well maintained trail and good camp sites. Excellent trip for young and/or inexperienced backpackers. The other group of us headed up over Hidden Hand Pass (only 500'elevation gain but it seems more when trying to keep up with 16 year olds.) and then on to Roland Creek Camp (3.7 miles up the trail). This also is a wonderfully maintained set of camp sites. Fall colors are more glorious than expected (we're more used to higher elevation trips where there are only evergreens so this was a pleasant surprise to see so many deciduous trees). Only a few blown down trees. Very few bugs. All in all a grand weekend out.