Canoe Trip to Desolation

Page Type Page Type: Trip Report
Location Lat/Lon: 48.89965°N / 121.01129°W
Date Date Climbed/Hiked: Jun 27, 2014
Activities Activities: Hiking
Seasons Season: Summer

Comments About Canoeing

My brother and I made this trip in late June 2014 and had a blast. We decided to rent a canoe from Ross Lake resort to get to the Desolation peak trail. Here are some things we learned:

- Don't rent a canoe unless you are in good shape and have rowed a canoe before. The wind blows on the lake from the south every afternoon making the water very choppy. Unless you keep your canoe pointed into the waves you can get swamped easily. Also, canoeing southbound is tough due to the chop and the wind in your face. Alternatively, canoeing north is easy with a tail wind.
- Ross Lake Resort is great! You just have to hike 1 mile to the dam from the parking lot and then take a water taxi across. Using a canoe allows you to bring a little more gear or provisions than you would if you hiked in to the peak trail. Make a reservation and the canoe will be in the water when you arrive.
- Canoeing allows you to explore the Devil's creek gorge which you cannot see fully from the trail bridge. A highly recommended side trip. You can also check out other waterfalls that spill into the lake from the west side.
- By canoeing you can stay on an island campground which is cool in and of itself! The campgrounds are very well maintained and have bear boxes. On Cat Island, there were Mule deer roaming the island while we had the whole place to ourselves. All campgrounds (island and trail) have a nice floating dock to tie up to.
- Cat Island is the closest campground to the peak trail and is a short 15min canoe ride away. There is a floating dock at the bottom of the trail.
- It took us ~3hrs to canoe from the dam to Cat Island, but it took 8 hours of exhausting effort to return. We canoed 1/3 on the first evening and 2/3 the next morning. You should budget an entire day to return to the dam or stay overnight at a campground midway home.
-bring a couple of trash bags (or dry bag) to keep your gear dry. It was raining so I used our tent rain fly as a tarp for our gear in the boat.
- be flexible with your plans. You have to check in with the ranger station beforehand and maybe your campground is already reserved. The ranger was very helpful to pick out the best spot available.

Comments on Peak Trail

- The peak trail is STEEP! At least the trail is well marked....
- There may be snow at the top. Make sure you have good boots that can walk in snow.
- There is no water along the trail (unless you boil snow), so load up at the bottom from the lake. I used a Katydn pump and filter.
- I wouldn't recommend staying at the top campground unless you are in terrific shape. There is no water, restroom, or bear box so you have to bring everything on your back up a STEEP trail. I recommend staying at a campground along the lake and then making a day hike to the top.
- My brother and I are in decent shape and we made the trip from lake to top and back within 5 1/2 hours with 1 hr of pictures and exploring at the top.
- The climb up will make you sweat and the forest can get rather humid. However,the top is exposed and windy so all of that sweat will make you cold. Make sure you bring a light jacket/windbreaker and midlayer (fleece) for the top just in case. Maybe we just had bad timing with a storm blowing through and it is warmer later in the summer.

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Desolation PeakTrip Reports