[Brushbuffalo]

Note: I did this trip on October 24, 2017....a bit lazy getting the TR up! I had wanted to go look for the Roland Point lookout site near Ross Lake for years, and when lookout aficionado Eric W. posted his report, I thought of also going via the paddle route. But that's still in the future. This time I wanted to try the overland variation. (Eric gives details of the lookout's history on his website) In late October I took advantage of a clear day sandwiched between storms to go find the site using the East Bank trail. However, just the day prior to my planned hike WDOT temporarily closed SR-20 at the Ross Dam trailhead.

no traffic...yay! (photo taken on way out...note blue sky)7

No prob, just make it a duathlon. The 4.2 mile stretch of road is great biking, especially when no Winnebagos and the like are lumbering by.

(morning stratus clouds)

lookout site is on that little peninsula. For years I had guessed it was on the point to the south where the "2" is on this trailhead map.

After an initial descent to the sturdy bridge across Granite Creek, the trail is an old roadbed for about 2.5 miles to the junction of the Little Jack trail. Immediately past it is your East Bank Trail.

Granite Creek upstream from trail bridge

old roadbed.

ancient displaced culvert

washout and culvert on old roadbed

easy going

they aren't called 'bigleaf maples' for nothing!

plenty of gold to go around

After a gradual climb to forested Hidden Hand Pass, the well-maintained trail descends through pleasant forest but with essentially no distant views....yet.

trail north of Hidden Hand Pass has a couple of minor obstacles, easily bypassed. This sapling is a potential eye-poker-outer.

About 0.2 mile north of vigorous Roland Creek, I turned left (west) and traveled through open woods for about 0.5 mile. My map and GPS helped in quickly finding the location of the lookout site, but all one really needs to do is keep heading west-southwest until on the highest part of the knob forming the peninsula. There is one swamp to bypass on its south, and a stand of dense cedar saplings can also be easily bypassed. There are annoying fallen "jackstraw' trees here and there, but they are no time-consuming obstacles.

the off-trail route starts out in open forest

This Tee-shirt, abandoned in a random clearing, shows that I haven't been the only traveler here. No bones nearby, fortunately.

Roland Point lookout site just ahead. Not much view left in more than a half century of tree growth.

peekaboo views

foundation blocks

artifact

Mount Prophet

nice viewpoint just below the lookout site

On my return to the East Bank trail I followed a path for maybe 400 yards until losing it in salal thickets. It might have been related to the lookout site, although I suspect the lookout was originally approached from a trail along the Skagit prior to Ross Lake being created. The lookout was built in 1933 and Ross Lake formed in 1949.

Photo from Lillian Creek bridge on SR-20. Hard to believe there used to be a sizable USFS horse/mule pasture where the cottonwood trees are over there, below the climb to Hidden Hand Pass. Also, that old road had traffic in the past! Back in 1974, I happened to randomly come by when a helicopter was airlifting an ANCIENT pickup truck from the old pasture.....something about removing old human artifacts from the recreation area....

in the clearing in this image, in 2011 an observer videotaped what I think is a grizzly. The grizzled shoulder hair isn't conclusive, but note the shoulder hump. What do you think?

Diablo viewpoint looking at Sourdough Mountain

Jack Mountain from the road

Along the highway.WHY??

The bike/hike/jog took about 6 relaxed hours round trip, including half an hour at the site. Totals: 8.4 miles bike, about 12.8 miles trail, about 1 mile off trail. Maybe a couple of thousand feet of climb total, mostly on both sides of Hidden Hand Pass. When I returned to my truck, there was an officer in a Border Patrol car parked at the Ross Dam trailhead.....a fairly common occurrence I suspect, with the reservoir providing easy boat access to and from Canada. He didn't question me, correctly surmising that I'm no smuggler. I saw no other hikers, except one deer hunter north of Hidden Hand Pass and also a solo hiker with a large pack heading north to parts unknown on the East Bank trail.

[KarlK]

Yup, I think that was a griz. My wife and I visited the Roland Point lookout site this past summer. Didn't see any grizzly bears, thank goodness.