Diablo-Ross Lakes (North Cascades)

Rating: SKII

Distance:  10 NM

Date:  June 3-5, 2005

Leader:   Pete Schwab                     Participants:  4

Launch:   09:30                                  Return:  2:30

This report covers Diablo Lake only.  There are Ross Lake comments below.

A Couple of things to remember about Diablo Lake:
1.  If the Lake levels are UP to normal, you'll only find a couple of places to take the boats out for a break or lunch!
2.  Around noon you can expect strong winds on the lake.  Waves are only about a foot but the wind will definitely give you a workout.

Weather:  Temperatures were in the high 50's, low 60s.  Friday and Saturday were partly clear.  Sunday rain beginning at 07:00.  On both Friday and Saturday (as on other days that I've visited Diablo Lake) the wind came up around 11:30 - Noon.  On each of our days it blew from the west and was strong enough to slow you to one knot occasionally.  It's a little like being in a funnel with the lake squeezed between the mountains as it is.

Description: Friday was the day to drive up to the Colonial Creek campground, set up camp, and lay around a bit.  Once the four of us were all in camp, we had our supper and hung out around the campfire.  The wind died down around 5:30 in our camp on the bank of Thunder Arm, granting us peace for the balance of the evening.  As is the case with many Mountaineer's trips our evening was filled with what a friend of mine refers to as "Mountaineers' Moments".  Lots of great conversation and camaraderie.  It doesn't get much better than this.
    Saturday morning began with a leisurely breakfast.  We launched at the ramp inside Colonial Creek campground.  The first thing we noticed was that the lake had been drained of about 6 feet of it's depth.  The Park Service confirmed that they had, in fact, drained some of the lake's contents just three days prior to our arrival.  Not a problem for kayakers but the water in Thunder Arm was far too shallow for power boats to launch.  We had the lake to ourselves! 
    Launching from  Colonial Creek Campground we headed north on Thunder Arm, towards Diablo Lake.  The weather was calm and mostly sunny.  Rounding the bend and heading east towards the Ross Lake dam we passed the Hidden Cove Camp.  There's a campsite there with a floating dock. The site was occupied so we didn't investigate further.  Following the arm towards the dam is spectacular.  Steep cliffs, views of the mountains and, in a wetter year, Horsetail Falls might be quite a sight to see.  Reaching the damn we found a small beach for a pullout and took a break.  There's a spot here were a jeep trail comes down to the arm.  It's probably a potential take out at any lake level.
    We headed back to the lake and ran into some light breezes as we headed west.  Stopped for lunch at the Buster Brown Camp.  The camp sports a log boom and has the appearance of a small bay that cannot be entered but, at the west end of the log boom, there's an opening that affords access to the beach.  Lunch was nice in this protected little cove but we were here to paddle so off we went.  It was around noon when we pulled out of the cove.  Heading west we ran into some really strong head winds from the west.  The wind blows straight up the Skagit River, the mountains acting as a funnel.  Waves were nothing to pay attention to due to the lack of fetch but the wind was pretty serious.  Heading west it slowed us to probably one knot with occasional gusts stopping us dead in the water.  We took a short break at the boat ramp near the Environmental Learning Center.  This is another of the few take outs you can count on regardless of lake level.  After a quick rest we completed the paddle to the log boom that keeps you away from the Diablo Lake dam and sped across to the south side of the lake in the protection of the dam.  The balance of the trip was a breeze.  All the wind we'd faced on the north side of the lake now put us in following seas and we glided effortlessly back to Thunder Arm.  As we pulled into the arm, we noticed the Thunder Point Camp.  Here's another take out spot you can probably count on.  The west wind blows southeast down the arm so we just laid back and had a free ride back to Colonial Creek.
    The evening meal was well earned.  A simple little lake trip....but with winds that kept it honest!  The Rangers were giving a talk that evening so we walked over to the amphitheater and spent an enjoyable hour hearing about the adaptation of plants and animals in the alpine and sub-alpine eco systems.  Nice way to end the day.
    Around 07:00 on Sunday I was awakened by the Crow from Hell!  This bugger really needed a serious machine gunning!  As it turns out is was merely a harbinger of things to come.  No sooner was I out of the tent than the rain began.  Slowly at first, then with a little more commitment.  Time to pull the plug.  While our tent and equipment were still nice and dry we broke camp and headed back to Seattle.

Tides/Currents:  No tides and currents, needless to say.  But the lake level depends on when they decide to raise or lower it.  A low lake affords a few more places to pull the boats up and take a break.
 

Charts:  Green Trails Map #48, Diablo, WA is probably all you'll need.

Notes:

1.  The Problems with Ross Lake.  Kayaking Ross Lake from the south end of the lake is not feasible, in my opinion. 

    A.  There's a trail just north of the Ross Dam.  You could carry your boats down and launch from there (according to the Park Service).  Sound good?  It's one mile and 800 vertical feet.  Not so easy.  And considering 2 people carrying each loaded boat that's two trips at the beginning of the trip and two at the end for a grand total of 8 miserable miles! Not me.

    B.   Ross Lake Resort: The resort offers Truck Portage between Diablo Lake and Ross Lake for small vessels. Launch vessels on Diablo Lake at the Colonial Creek Campground. Travel 5 miles to the end of Diablo Lake and park your vessel in the gravel area just north of the second boat dock on the east side of the lake. Walk north on the gravel road a short distance to the Ross Powerhouse and call us from the phone (dial 82-31974) in the gray box on the building. Recomended times to call are between 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.  1 canoe/kayak/rowing shell ------------$25.00  Worse yet, for us...the boats must be 14' or less!

    C.  The only feasible way is to approach the lake from it's north end.  Go up into Canada and then back down into the states to the Ross Lake campground at the extreme north end of the lake.  There's a boat ramp there.  The distance is, of course, far too much to combine with a Diablo Lake trip.  Probably you'll want to make a separate trip for this one.

Directions to Launch Site:  Directions to Ross-Diablo Lakes (Colonial Creek Campground) from I-5 at Hwy 16 in Tacoma (~3 hours, 30 minutes, ~172 miles).  From I-5 at Hwy 16 in Tacoma drive north on I-5 96.5 miles and take the WA-20, Exit 230.  Take WA-20 east for ~75.5 miles to the Colonial Creek Campground, on your right, on Diablo Lake.

Facilities:

1.  Colonial Creek Campground has 147 sites!  They cannot be reserved and are on a first-come, first-served basis.  There are toilets and an excellent launch ramp with direct access to Diablo Lake.  Fee is $12/night.  The park service folks tell me that you can put as many tents as you want in a site (within reason) and the price is still $12...no fees for extra campers and such. There is usually firewood available from the campground host but it could be in short supply in the early part of the season so you might want to take some along.

References: 

North Cascades National Park:  http://www.nps.gov/noca/index.htm

Mount Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest Web Site:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/

Ross Lake Resort (at the south end of Lake Ross).  A floating resort with cabins and kayak (single and double rentals).
http://www.rosslakeresort.com/