Jack (Mountain), what a handsome devil! We did most of the loop clockwise by entering in on Devil's Junction trailhead and exiting on East Bank trailhead.
Water: Most of the water sources should be there for at least a month or so, with a few of them that should persist longer than that. I read through trip reports, captured most of them here (https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=2909699), and confirmed most of them in the field. The sources I was able to confirm are noted in the waypoint labels.
Blowdowns: There were about 30 blowdown trees that were mostly straightforward to navigate over and around. Most of these were on the section from Devil's Dome to Devil's Park.
Day 1: We took the Ross Lake water taxi to Devil's Junction on Wednesday, July 16, and escaped the heat by hiking up (and up and up...). We stayed at Devil's Dome (only party there) and were awarded by amazing views of endless layered peaks. Fetch water at Devil's Creek (at 6430') before hiking to camp. The slight wind kept most of the biting insects away. The images were not unlike the motel room cheesy oil painting - relaxing and almost not-of-this-world.
Day 2: With a lot of elevation gain/loss this day (gain 3160', loss 4246'), it felt almost as tough as the previous day's hike. There were also many more blowdowns to navigate through on this section of trail. We stayed at Devil's Park, where there was a pleasant stream close by. The dastardly mosquitoes were merciless here. Be aware of the leaning tree over a fairly large campsite (just a bit south of the Devil's Park Shelter) that is about to fall over, and don't camp there.
Day 3: With a few more blowdowns and views of Jack here and there, this was a fairly easy descent compared to the previous day. We expected to exit at Ross Dam (using the Ruby Creek and Happy Panther trails), but a nice passing driver generously offered one of us a ride from East Bank, allowing us to end our hike early. Wahoo!
Comments
pnwgal on Devil's Dome Loop
Hi there! In your waypoints, some of the water sources say "confirmed July 2025, water no." Does that mean no water is currently at that source? Thanks.
Posted by:
pnwgal on Jul 21, 2025 07:41 PM
mtngeek on Devil's Dome Loop
Any waypoint labels that start with "Confirmed" means there was water. It looks like some process truncated the labels I provided. There were only two waypoints around Dry Creek that I could not confirm but I think a previous trip report had said there wasn't any.
Posted by:
mtngeek on Jul 21, 2025 11:24 PM
pnwgal on Devil's Dome Loop
Thanks so much. Heading out on this loop soon!
Posted by:
pnwgal on Jul 22, 2025 07:34 AM
mtngeek on Devil's Dome Loop
Have fun! It was a great backpack.
Posted by:
mtngeek on Jul 22, 2025 07:55 AM