[fourteen410]

Hozomeen Lake sits just south of the Canadian border but the trailhead is accessed via the Silver Skagit Road on the BC side. The road washed out in November 2021, cutting off all road access for the time being. What better time than now to visit by boat? We arrived at the Ross Lake TH at 9:30am and grabbed the last parking spot. Yikes, that lot fills up early in the summer. We hiked a mile down to the dock, where we used the phone to summon our boat. We were picked up by a speedy boat that whisked us across the lake in under 30 seconds.

We picked up our motorboat rental at the Ross Lake Resort and were on our way. This was my first time driving a motorboat, so it took a few minutes to adjust to the acceleration and steering. With a 9HP motor, the boat's top speed was 10ish MPH, but we were plenty happy to not be paddling uplake in the gusty winds. It took us about 1.25 hours to motor up the 12ish miles to Cat Island. We were surprised to see a couple large groups on the island, but most people were only visiting for lunch. There were a few tents in what appeared to be a group site on the west end, so we set up camp in one of the north sites before heading back out on the lake.

About 45 min later, we docked at Hozomeen Campground. It was eerie to see the popular campground completely empty in the middle of summer.

A half mile road walk brought us to the offical trailhead. From there, the trail gradually ascended through rocky, open forest before reaching a much shadier forest in about a mile. Lots of interesting plants along the way.

After a few miles, we reached the junction with the lake access trail. Half a mile later, we arrived at beautiful Hozomeen Lake. The water temperature was perfect and the views of the Hozomeen peaks were outstanding.

Without question, a foot soak was in order.

We wanted to stay longer, but we still had to hike out and boat downlake before sunset. We reluctantly left the lake and headed back through pleasant, quiet forest.

Back at the trailhead, we explored the spooky campground a bit futher. An old cabin/guard station was undergoing renovations at some point.

We came upon a few larger buildings, one of which had lights on and a truck parked outside. Not sure how that truck got there, unless it was there before the washout.

Back at the dock, we boated up to the border. The clearcut line is always fanscinating to see - I wonder if someone regularly clips it?

As the sun dipped below the mountains, it was time to return to the homeland. Another 45 minute ride brought us back to Cat Island.

After docking our boat at sunset, we came upon a most unpleasant suprise: a family of 12 had taken over our campsite, insisting that we had set up in a group site that belonged to them. Ugh. We had to pack up and relocate our camp, which sucked. It appeared that the other group site was occupied with people who didn't have permits, which pushed the large group into our spot. Not cool. After a late dinner, we headed into the tent and enjoyed a pleasant night with comfortable temps. We slept in the next morning and had a lazy breakfast. A deer came down to check out our camp. Sadly, it appeared that the deer's companion had recently perished.

After a short walk around the island, we packed up and bid farewell to Cat Island. Unfortunately, no cats were seen during our stay.

On our trip downlake, we stopped by some nice waterfalls and took a side trip into Devils Creek Canyon. The rock formations and water color were very pretty. We didn't make it too far into the canyon due to a logjam of sorts, but perhaps someone more ambitious could explore further.

The afternoon winds picked up quite a bit on our journey back to the resort. After returning our trusty boat, we hopped a ride on the (very) speedy boat across the lake. From there, it was just over a mile uphill back to the car. Fun trip!

[Bosterson]

We did a canoe rental trip up Ross Lake in 2014 or 2015 and that logjam in Devil's Creek Canyon was there back then so it's probably a permanent thing. Nice little side trip in there for sure though.

[Malachai Constant]

We paddled down from BC to camp on Cat Island. Never saw so many ticks in our lives our kid got about 10 each, nie wieder.

[KascadeFlat]

Hozomeen Lake is a very special place. My sister and I had a blast yelling across the lake and listening to the echo when we were kids. Your report brought back great memories — thank you!

[Slim]

Thanks for the great pics. I have also experienced a not-so-pleasant situation with others infringing on reserved sites at Ross lake. Fortunately we made it work. It seems like the Rangers are spread too thin to enforce reservations. Also from your timings, it seems like the trip from the resort to Hozomeen via the resort rental boats, is about 2 hrs one way. Is that correct ? ~Slim

[Cyclopath]

[jaysway]

That looks like a lovely trip. We were on Ross lake at the beginning of the month and planned on camping at Hozomeen Lake but ended up heading back a day early to avoid camping and boating all the way back to the resort in rain and thunderstorms. The lake looks so serene in your photos, I hope to come back and check it out. That stinks about a group taking over your campsite . If I'm remembering correctly, there are four sites total on Cat Island but only one is a group site? It's quite possible I have that wrong, but I believe that the group site fits up to 12 people but each of the three normal sites holds only up to 4 people ("up to" as in the maximum allowed on a group's permit)? The site right next to the weather station is technically a normal site I believe, but you could fit multiple tents in easily if you needed to - was that the site that you got (unfairly) kicked out of? A few weeks ago there were two deer on the island, I wonder if one of those two was the one that perished?

[Stefan]

[John_B]

As of 2011 the NPS has used that building for staff based in Hozomeen. I know that because I was based out of the door on the left. It is also possible to boat vehicles up Diablo, over the haul road and then barge them to Hozomeen. Either that is what was done or the truck was left in Hozomeen after the wash out

[fourteen410]

Slim - yes, it's about 2 hours in the 9hp boat. I believe they also have some 15hp boats that could get you there faster, but those are first come first served, even with a reservation. Jaysway - yes, there are four areas: a large one on the north end by the dock, a small one just south of that, a large one by the weather station, and small one by the outhouses. We initially set up in one of the north tent sites. We saw a few tents in the west site by the weather station and assumed that was the 1 permitted group. Turns out those were the site poachers and the actual permitted group arrived when we were out hiking and set up their camp around our tent. I'm told that the rangers are planning to add signage and a map on the island, which should be helpful. The deer remains looked to be a couple weeks old, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the two you saw. Unless maybe deer swim to and from the island?

[Cyclopath]