[KarlK]

I'd last hiked the Diablo lake trail on February 27th, 2010, two weeks before the huge, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad cliff collapse on March 15 obliterated the Ross dam haul road a short distance from the powerhouse. The ponderous mitigation process severed the connection between the Diablo lake trail and the Ross lake West Bank trail until late 2014. I’d been hankering to return for some time. So, availing myself of freakishly favorable December weather, and my status as a newly retired old crank, I arrived at the Diablo parking area adjacent to the creepy old swimming pool at the crack of noon on Friday (the definition of a nooner for most retired old cranks). From the pool site it's a half-mile to the start of the Diablo dam trail at 900’ elevation. This rocky path briskly gains 300’ to a service road a quarter mile from Diablo dam. Diablo, finished in 1929, has eclipsed its nominal service life by nearly four decades, but why worry about such things in the age of potential tweet (twit)-initiated nuclear annihilation? (Nonetheless, the Skagit dam failure inundation study does make for fun light reading: (http://www.skagitriverhistory.com/SCL%20Docs/1981-12%20Skagit%20River%20Dam%20Failure%20Inundation%20Study.pdf)). From Diablo dam it’s another half-mile plus to the start of the Diablo lake trail, 1200’ elevation. This 3.7-mile trail attains an elevation of just over 2000’, and in the process makes a notably exposed and attractive traverse some 800’ above the Skagit gorge, and then descends to a suspension bridge leading to the Ross haul road at about 1250’ elevation. The haul road reaches the E side of Ross dam in one mile involving 500’ of elevation gain. Ross was completed in 1949, with the first generator installed in 1952 (the year of my birth). In the mid 1980s I wandered all through Ross dam’s interior in the course of a consulting project. Lots of narrow dank passageways with lots of water seeping from lots of little cracks; a little unsettling, but the City Light guys said “no worries, this is what dams do.” “Yeah,” I thought on Saturday as I walked by the remains of a very large cliff collapse within arrow shot of Ross dam, “and this is what geology does.” It’s exactly a quarter of a mile across the dam. From its W side, it’s another 1.2 miles to the Green Point junction at 1860’ elevation, and then 0.4 miles to the Green Point campground at 1600’. My GPS recorded the total hiking distance at 8.8 miles with a cumulative elevation gain of just over 2500’. Upon reaching Green Point, I promptly set up my brand new Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 (2 lbs) and was really happy with how easy that was, even for a demented old crank working in fading light. The next task was fire of course, for which Dr. Karl’s Magic Waxy Balls were just the trick. These, the right tools, and some know-how greatly aid making a fire in decidedly unpromising conditions, and conditions at Green Point were indeed crummy: limited wood available within acceptable gathering distance, and all of it wet save for the interior of the bigger stuff. But fear not, my Waxy Balls, lightweight saw, Gossman knife and lots of wet-weather fire making experience had a nice hot blaze going in short order (it burned well into the wee hours). A wee dollop of Dr. Walker’s Amber restorative followed by a fine meal of rice topped with Salmon in Chardonnay sauce, and the warmth of the fire made for a fine evening. During a very comfortable night in my new tent, I heard two substantial-sounding rock falls occur across the lake on the SR 20 side. Danged geology.

Diablo dam spilling, 12.09.17

Bridge from Diablo lake tral to Ross haul road, 12.09.17

Ross dam haul road rockslide mitigation, 12.09.17

Rockslide scar, 12.09.17

Scuffmeister General & new tent, 12.09.17

New ultralight tent, 12.09.17

Looking across Ross lake, Ruby arm on right, 12.09.17

[puzzlr]

Thanks for the shots of the landslide remnants -- that's interesting to me.

[lookout bob]

I have to point out that with your birthday in '52, you are too young to be an 'old crank'. 65 is the new 45. Green point is a neat place this time of year with no cars whizzing by on the NCH. Nice report and pictures. P.S I was born in 52 also but am not yet an 'old crank'.

[KarlK]

Lookout Bob, there are two interpretations of your comments regarding 'old crank': 1) You have taken a trip up de Nile to the land of illusory youthfulness . 2) See # 1.