Trip Report
Backpack - Devils Dome/Jackita Ridge
4 glorious days surrounded by wildflowers, sunrises, sunsets, and peaks of the Pasayten Wilderness. Side scrambles to summits of South Jackita Ridge and Bear Skull. 37 miles, 11,800' gain.
Colin Chapman
- Thu, Jul 17, 2025 — Sun, Jul 20, 2025
- Backpack - Devils Dome/Jackita Ridge
- Devils Dome/Jackita Ridge
- Backpacking
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The bridge at Canyon Creek trailhead is still washed out, so we started at East Bank trailhead and trekked 3.5 miles east on Ruby Creek trail to reach the Devil's Dome trail. Lots of new blowdowns between Devil's Pass and Devil's Dome (we counted 40+), which weren't there in 2024. Beyond that, the trail is in excellent shape.
A group of 6 Mountaineers -- 3 Devil's Dome veterans, 3 who had never visited Devil's Dome -- spent 4 days trekking counter clockwise from East Bank trailhead to Devil's Junction trailhead. From Devil's Junction, we took the super-convenient water taxi back to the Ross Dam area.
Day 1 (13 miles, 5600' gain)
After meeting at the Ross Dam trailhead, we consolidated cars and made the short drive to the East Bank trailhead. We then trekked 3.5 miles east along the Ruby Creek trail to reach what used to be the bridge over Canyon Creek. There is a notorious cluster of blowdowns to navigate on this stretch -- these are the trees that supposedly took out the Canyon Creek bridge. We avoided the soft / unstable dirt going around the top root ball, and instead weaved our way between the trees so that we could take advantage of the better footholds.
After a 3.5 mile, 3300' ascent in the trees, we dropped our packs and took a side trip to have lunch at the base of Crater Mountain.
On our way to/from the base of Crater Mountain, we had some great views of the peaks so the south:
We then continued our ascent to our camp at Devil's Park:
Where we were treated to a fabulous sunset framed by Jack Mountain:
Day 2 (8.5 miles, 3100' gain)
After spending a lot of day 1 in the trees, we started day 2 excited by the prospect of being up high. And we were thrilled that the mosquitos weren't too bad!
We made our way north towards South Jackita Ridge:
At the base of South Jackita Ridge, we dropped our packs again, so that we could do the short scramble up to the summit. Yes, we love side trips!
We then returned to our packs and tackled an expansive scree field just north of South Jackita Ridge's west shoulder:
We then made our way up towards Anacortes Crossing, with lots of water available as we hiked alongside a substantial stream.
We then cut north and made our way to our camp just above Devil's Pass:
We appreciated the peekaboo views of Jack Mountain to the west:
And Shull Mountain to the east:
The sunset from Devil's Pass was spectacular:
And the sunrise the next morning was a treat:
Day 3 (7.5 miles, 2600' gain)
Today we had a short hike from Devil's Pass to the summit of Devil's Dome. While this stretch was a cakewalk last year, the trail is now littered with blowdowns, which slowed our progress. But we managed to grab the campsite at the summit of Devil's Dome:
After a short break for lunch...
We scrambled up to the summit of Bear Skull. This was the highlight of the trip for all of us.
We were treated to a beautiful sunset, with 360° views of mountains and glowing skies.
Day 4 (8.2 miles, 5400' loss)
We woke up above the clouds. What a visual feast.
It was then time for the knee-busting portion of our trip: a 5400' descent to the shores of Ross Lake.
We were soon down in the clouds.
In short order, we were at the dock, waiting for our ride back to our cars.
We had a wonderful time!