Devil's Dome Loop
The hike around Devil's Dome in the North Cascades has been on an old outdated list of mine for a decade now. Upon further investigation this time in the summer and fall of 2022 I realized that the section of the loop that goes through the Pasayten Wilderness is actually part of the long distance Pacific northwest trail.
Which then made me remember that 'Kindle Ninja' from Arizona completed this long distance route a couple weeks after our time together on the AZT.
We had managed to squeeze 3 full days off in the unusually warm, dry and smokey October month. The new day in the annual calendar called National Truth and Reconciliation Day may have helped facilitate this. Forecast was clear so we loaded up backpacks and drove south across the border to the little town of Marblemount to get permits for this hike. The elevation gain from valley bottom into the alpine was planned for a long day 2 so camping the first night was on a beach in the Ross Lake National Rec Area. I thought it was going to be a somewhat busy area since the great weather and long weekend, etc but the holiday is only for Canadians and there were not many boats out on the lake so we had the whole place to ourselves. Also good to know is the East Bank trailhead where we left our car is free for all and good access.
The next sections of trail connects into the Pasayten Wilderness over Dry Creek Pass up to Devil's Dome summit then drops to Devil's Pass turning south along Jackita Ridge through Devils Park and finally back down to Ruby Creek which parallels the highway and feeds into the lake.
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