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Sheri and I hiked the Devil’s Dome loop near Ross Lake.
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Day 1: East Bank Trailhead to Rainbow Point Camp on Ross Lake (9 miles). We hiked in trees the whole way. About 1800' total elevation gain and loss over the course of the afternoon. Ross Lake is way down, leaving hundreds of old stumps exposed. Took a quick swim before dinner.
Day 2: Rainbow Point Camp to Devil's Dome (11 miles with an extra mile to get water, 6600 feet elevation gain). Hiked 3.5 pretty chill miles along Ross Lake to Deer Lake Camp, crossing a suspension bridge along the way. Then we headed uphill. After 3 miles or so, the trees started to thin out, giving us our first glimpses of Jack Mountain. Wildflowers were lovely. The brush was less appealing...
We set up camp on Devil's Dome and had the summit to ourselves. In fact, we only saw one person all day. Bugs at the top were intense, but the views were lovely in spite of the haze from forest fires in Chelan. 360 degree views from our campsite: Canada to the north, North Cascades National Park to the west, Pasayten Wilderness on the southeast, and Jack Mountain to the south. Sunset and moonrise were splendid. No water at the top, but we found a lovely stream half a mile back down the trail to gather water and wash up.
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| Devil's Dome from below |
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| Campsite on Devil's Dome (cue the bugs...) |
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| Stream 1/2 mile below Devil's Dome |
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| Sunset on Devil's Dome |
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| Moonrise in the smoky haze |
Day 3: Devil's Dome to Devil's Park (12 miles, 3500' elevation gain, 4550' elevation loss). Sunrise was lovely, followed by a tough day of hiking. Beautiful hike for about 7 miles down from Devil's Dome to the valley near Anacortes Crossing (which is the last water source before Devil's Park). Wildflowers were abundant, as were the views of Jackita Ridge and Jack Mountain.
Immediately after the valley creek, the trail gets steep quickly, climbing 1100' in less than a mile. Then a steep downhill before heading up a punishing scree field a little over 3 miles before Devil's Park. (Although we were happy to be hiking up the scree instead of down.) Steady downhill from there to our campsite at Devil's Park. Just one other hiker and lots of bugs at the campsite.
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| Sunrise on Devil's Dome |
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| Jackita Ridge |
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| Contemplating the scree field |
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| Scree field (more impressive in person) |
Day 4: Devil's Park to East Bank trailhead (11 miles, 2000' up and 6100' down). This day turned out to be better than expected. Reports of intense bugs, brushy trail and a dangerous log crossing had us worried, but bugs and brush were not bad at all. The log crossing had its moments, but nothing showstopping. Hiked in forest most of the day, downhill 7 or 8 miles to Ruby Creek and then along the truly lovely creek/river the last few miles to the trailhead. Dumped our packs and took a heavenly wash in the creek. Great hike!
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| The big, scary log that wasn't so bad |
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| Big log from the other side |
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| Ruby Creek |
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