An incredible backpacking trip filled with rare solitude and a variety of scenery.
East Bank TH > Water Taxi to Rainbow Point > Lightning Stock Creek Camp > Desolation Peak > Lightning Stock Creek Camp > Hozomeen Lake > Picked up by Water Taxi at Hozomeen campground
TH: The East Bank TH fills up quickly but this late in the season and on a Thursday we easily found a spot. There is one privy toilet at the TH.
DAY 1: East Bank TH > Water Taxi to Rainbow Point > Lightning Stock Creek Camp
We descended down 1 mile to the Water Taxi pick up spot. We coordinated this in advance with Ross Lake Resort. They are very helpful and give exact directions. Our captain was timely, efficient and knowledgeable.
They dropped us off at Rainbow Point. We chose this start to save time and skip the “repetitive” part of the East Bank trail. The trail is well marked and defined. From here we headed north towards Lightning Stock Creek Camp. The trail is beautiful. It wanders through the words and along cliff edge of the lake. We only saw one hiker and a kayaker on this September Friday.
We had to camp at Lightning Stock Creek Camp bc the regular camp was undergoing privy maintenance. However, they are very close to each other and this camp was stellar. They had one of the cleanest privy’s I’ve ever seen. There were also established fire pit rings. The campsites all had lake access with beautiful mountain views. We swam both days in the lake.
DAY 2: Lightning Stock Creek Camp > Desolation Peak > Lightning Stock Creek Camp
This was a big hiking day but a highlight for sure! You have to make two turns to stay on the correct path. The first mile or so is very mild. Then the switchbacks begin and never let up. For about ¾ or ½ of the trail you are in a forest. After that you start to get stunning views looking south of Ross Lake. With a mile left we reached Desolation Camp. The camp has a pit toilet but no obvious water source. The mountain views only get better with each step. The fall colors were also popping. We reached the peak and the lookout was closed for the season. However, the clouds JUST lifted and we were blessed with a 360, “million-dollar” view!
We only ran across one couple coming up to spend the night at Desolation Camp.
DAY 3: Lightning Stock Creek Camp > Hozomeen Lake
The first part of this day and the 3rd part of this day were the hardest. Other than that it was a long walk through mushroom paradise where we literally saw NO ONE the whole day.
We began climbing up out of Ross Lake and around Desolation. There the trail levels off. You are immersed in a dense forest until you walk down to the river and pass deerlick and nightmare camps. The bridge by Nightmare camp is still posted as “not safe to walk.” The forest was beautiful and we saw A LOT of mushrooms.
Leaving Nightmare camp we had to reascend and switchbacked until re reached willow lake. There is leveled off. Willow lake was very peaceful but I could see it being pretty buggy in the heat of summer.
We finally made the turn off to Hozomeen Lake. Most of the regular campsites are up and away from the lake, which is a bummer. The “day use” area is the only, and the best, lake side view. And what a view it is! Not only are you looking up at strong mountains but you are surrounded by this peaceful forest. It was so quite we could hear the wings of a dragonfly and make echos throughout the lake. There are pit toilets and bear wires. We were here on a late September Saturday and felt like we were the only people on Earth. We had the whole place to ourselves and saw literally no one on the trail the whole day.
DAY 4: Hozomeen Lake > Picked up by Water Taxi at Hozomeen campground
This was a straightforward descent down to Hozomeen Campground. Once we reached it, we head south on the “road” until it ended. This was the new pickup spot for the Water Taxi when the water level is so low. Again, we saw no one during the whole hike.
Our Water Taxi arrived exactly on time. The ride back was SUPER bumping due to high winds. However, our captain was a pro and we were game for the adventure.
Comments