Devils Dome Loop: Day 2

Day 2 – Up and Down and Up and Down and ……

5:45AM…. Snooze.

6:15AM…..Okay get up time.

Realized I left the instant coffee in the car……….. After getting over that loss, I make some quick food for us to eat while K attempts to pack the tent, but we get invaded by a herd of deer. I think this is their territory, because they seem all too comfortable around us.

We eat breakfast and finish packing up everything, while being happily distracted by our new found visitors.

7:07AM Off from our Randomly Selected Point – Part 1

[elevation = 1783 m (5850 ft); day 2 distance = 0 km (0 miles)]

As we head along the trail, we look around at the beautiful skyline slowly coming to life. In short order, the mountain to our east that we thought we didn’t have to climb, we began climbing along the open slopes.

After a fairly swift elevation gain, we reach the first ridge of many we would climb this day [elevation = 2080m (6825 ft)]. Not so bad of a start before 8:00AM. At this ridge, you see the true beauty of Jack Mountain and the distance from Crater Mountain.

Looking on the other side of the ridge is the scree scramble down…

As we, slowly make our way down the scree slopes, I very reminded of a recent hike we did. (insert future connection to Mount XX). Use caution as you descent the steep slopes. Depending on the time of year, there can be varying snow patches and water run offs throughout this section which make for a slow and difficult descent. Once passed the scree slopes, we walk along the trail through and enter a tree filled area where we trek along.

8:32AM we are in a bit of clearing and stope to look back behind us to see the previous scree slope we just descended. I feel small. [elevation = 1875m (6150ft)].

We continue along at a fairly normal and even elevation, which makes for a good pace, around a mountain. We notice we are loosing elevation as we continue on a descent down to a “creek’ and campground if you choose.

[elevation = 1768m (5800ft); distance ~5 km (3.2 miles)]

Here K decides to go up higher to get some fresher water. It’s slippery; he breaks one of his poles. Sad Panda. We fill up the water bottle, have a quick snack, mourn the broken pole, then get ready to continue on. Note the water  source here at this time of the year was pretty sparse.

We then start to climb back up again, which I find out after the fact is a ridge of Jackita Ridge. And continue on up, until we see the light on the other side. Actually. We we reach a beautiful ridge that gives you that beautiful first shot of the northern ranges and looks down into a forested basin which then turns into the North Fork Devil’s Creek Camp. Its 9:32AM.

[elevation = 1890m (6200 ft)]

Second ridge of the day. I swear I’m not counting. At this ridge you have a beautiful view of the surrounding areas on 270 degrees. There’s no water source up here, but it looks to be a another good spot to camp. In my usual taking in the moment, bag comes off and running around the area to take in the views.

9:40AM Jungle Time! – Part 2

Bag back on, we prepare ourselves for the descent down into the jungle. A steep descent into a wild filled, bushy infested, tree filled path. Essentially, we climbed down and down and down [me wishing I’d left my knee brace on, slipped and regained my footing a couple of times.] and down and eventually we reach what we think is the bottom of the valley and a beautiful creek. Looking back at the past, we see the ridge we just came down from.

But keeping the focus on our future, we take in this beautiful creek filled with fresh glacial runoff.

[elevation = 1570 m (5150 ft); day 2 distance = 7.9 km (4.9 miles)]

This creek is a superb spot of fresh wild flowers, bees and buzzing life. Being in a spot filled with a fresh source of clean and moving water felt rejuvenating after the past few hours of hiking. We took in surrounding area while we filled up on water and had some food. Its an amazing feeling being in between multiple layers of mountains, down in the basin by the creek.

Shortly past this creek is the North Fork Devil’s Creek Camp which is a recommended spot to set up camp due to the direct water source and sheltered nature of the basin you are in. The camps are a brief and steep climb up from the creek. [day 2 distance to camps = 9.0km (5.6 miles)]  After filling up the water storage devices one last time, we throw on our bags buckle up and continue on.

We continue the climb up from Devil’s Creek. It’s steep, brief and to the point. We pass the noted camp grounds as we continue a loop in and around the mountains. It’s a steady, non-stop climb. As we continue on, we change from hiking east into a northwest direction just after passing a non-maintained trail that leads to Anacortes Crossing. [elevation = 1890m (6200ft); day 2 distance = 10 km (6.2 miles)] As we continued up, we reach a smaller stream which is the last water source, on trail, that we know of from Devil’s Creek to Devil’s Dome. We take the time to drink some water, and fill up any spare source that we have. [it’s 11:44AM]

Coming up from the valley below, we look back at the mountains we climbed up and down and up and down….

and finally, we reach a lovely stretch of rolling pastures which makes for an easy 3.2 km stroll. As we traverse across the ridge line, we note how far we have progressed and how beautiful the surrounding environment around us is. [elevation = 1964m (6444 ft); day 2 distance = 12.5 km (7.8 miles)] We pause for a brief lunch break in the shade on the ridge, where our entertainment for that moment is the ever so sculpted Jack Mountain sitting in front of us, and Baker making an appearance to the right.

Shortly after this break, we make a brief descent and reach Devil’s Pass.

12:54PM – Devil’s Pass to Devil’s Dome – Part 3

[elevation = 1859m (6100ft); day 2 distance = 13.2 km (8.2 miles)]

On the approach, you are taken in by the beautiful mountain views that have opened up on both sides of you. Devil’s Pass is situated at the end of the Jackita Ridge Trail (No. 738) and the connection to the Devils Ridge Trail (No. 752). Its a good area to camp, if that’s what your plan entails; our plan was to continue forward. Note – If you head north, on the Devil’s Ridge Trail this eventually connects you to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). #futureplans

For those those that do want to camp at Devil’s Pass, there is no water source at the camp. When we passed the trail signs, someone had posted a recent note indicating where the closest water source is, which is off the trail and makes for a bit of side trip.

If you need water, the closest water source is on the north trail (to the right), which connects to the PCT. You follow this trail for 200m, take a right when it splits going on the lower trail and follow the path to a small spring. At the end of the summer, this spring may be dried up, so continue on the path for another 500m dropping down into valley to another water spot. There are also more camping spots too. If you do plan to spend the night at Devil’s, Pass there is a beautiful lake northeast which you can spot from Devil’s Pass. We didn’t have time to go down to the lake, but from talking with other hikers we passed they highly recommended the side trip to go for a fresh dip in this lake.

As we continue on, we begin to loss elevation as we descend into a forested area. We continued climbing down to an elevation of 1820m where we entered into the valley. We pause to look out at the open landscape to our left and loop back at the multiple ridges we just climbed and where we had started in the morning. It created that satisfying feeling.

Moving along, we look forward at the path ahead where we begin the elevation climb. At this point in the day, we were in the direct path of the sun. So we definitely felt the heat come at us. Seeing the ridge directly ahead of us, we continue the trek along the open steep slopes that rounds the mountain. At the top of the ridge, we come across Skyline Camp [elevation = 1935m (6350ft), day 2 distance = 17.2km (10.7 miles)] where we take a brief break in the shade before tackling the final climb.

The last stretch to Devil’s Dome is a short and steep climb of switch backs. As you come up the last section of the climb, you walk onto the Dome and the view you are rewarded with is 360 degrees of glorious mountains.

3:36PM Devil’s Dome + Hunt for Water – Part 4

[elevation = 2128m (6982 ft), day 2 distance = 19.6km (12.2 miles)]

After taking in the view, we maneuver around the dome to find the perfect tent spot. After many moments of indecisiveness, we pick our home for the night and all too happily drop our bags. Holding off on the urge to just sit and take in the majestic beauty that is around us, we both agree we need to on the hunt to get water.

The closest water source at Devil’s Dome is east, further down the trail; about 1.16km and 200m descent from Devil’s Dome. It took us about an hour to figure out where the water source was; as at first we didn’t have all the water storage devices with us as we were about half way down, and the real good pools of water were a little off the trail further away from where the streams were. These streams are fed from the patches of snow still lingering on Devil’s Dome. Taking in the fresh water through the filter straw and washing ourselves felt surreal. (At this point I began to notice that I may have gotten too much sun today). With full water on hand, we make the climb back up to the dome. Exactly, what you want to do after hiking 19.6km. But at least we didn’t have our bags on us.

At the summit, we set up our camp and got ourselves settled. It was surreal standing on this mountain and spinning around with nothing but more and more mountains to look at. The mountains that enclose you in, include:

• To the west – Mount Challenger and Mount Baker.
• To the north – Castle Mountain and Mount Frosty.
• To the south – Crater Mountain and Jack Mountain (the two peaks that were on your left up until this point).
• To the east – Blizzard Mountain, Powder Mountain, Shull Mountain and Three Fools

To the north of us, we saw plumes of smoke way in the distance from some of the recent forest fires up by the Canada-US border. It was a scary and eerie feeling to see something of this scale. Looking at the ranges in front for a period of time, we felt comfortable staying on the summit as the fires were far enough north.

Once set up and after running around the dome looking at all the beautiful angles we were spoiled with. We made some food and sat in the shade created by our tent. While we ate, we were in awe and the environment around us. Feeling beyond satisfied and entranced, we ate our food and reminisced on the day.

Stuffed and feeling in a food coma, I took a 30 minute nap. All the while, K went off exploring around the ridge taking photos of the deep drops around us.

Up and refreshed, we set ourselves up in a comfortable spot to position ourselves for some primo sun set action.

Watching the sun set was a sight like no other. Words cannot describe it, but photos can.

Sun goes down. Bedtime.