CHANTERELLES AND KEROUAC EXPLORING THE FINER (AND WEIRDER) SIDES OF WASHINGTON’S ROSS LAKE
STORY AND PHOTOS BY FREYA FENNWOOD
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ind is whipping through the big-leaf maples, sprinkling yellow leaves and bits of green sphagnum moss into the air. It drops like green-gold snow outside my window as we zip up Washington State Route 20 toward Ross Lake. The roof of my Subaru hums annoyingly where a canoe and kayak are strapped down. Nolan Leh leans out the passenger window to check. “Just a strap snapping in the wind,” he reports. I crank up the volume on the radio. A rhythmic bass beat vibrates the car and I feel a rush of excitement. Alana seems to feel it too. In the rearview mirror I can see her nodding her head to the beat. This week could be our last beautiful window of Pacific Northwest summer and we are all eager to get on the water. Ross Lake isn’t exactly a lake. It’s actually one of those reservoirs made by those damn dams, one of three reservoirs holding hostage the headwaters of the Skagit River. Diablo Dam, which sits below Ross and the middle dam on the river, was once the world’s tallest dam at 389 feet. The dams generate power and hold drinking water for the sprawling populace of Seattle, less than 150 miles downstream.
The view from Thunder Point hill. Follow the trail up from the camp to gain a little perspective on Diablo Lake and its rocky islets straight from the South Pacific. CANOEKAYAK.COM
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nd even though Ross Lake isn’t really a lake, it is, I reluctantly admit, a pretty nice place to paddle. Our goals for the trip aren’t grand. We simply want to explore the alpine setting, eat good food, and maybe hike to a hilltop to take in the view. Our farthest camp will be Lightning Creek, 13 miles up the 22-mile-long lake. We have two canoes, one kayak, a cooler full of Asian pears, and a bottle of gin. We pull into the boat launch at Colonial Creek Campground on Diablo Lake at 12:30 pm and start packing the boats. Peter and Carson Leh are in one canoe while Nolan and Alana are in the other. I’ve been friends with Carson and Nolan since high school. Their father, Peter, is a lifelong raft guide and ski guide, who doesn’t look much older than his two sons. Their family is loud, artistic, outdoorsy, and love good food. I have been crashing their family trips for years now, so when they invited me to Ross Lake I didn’t think twice to accept.
Campsite No. 1: Thunder Point, probably my favorite of the trip. Located just a mile from the road on beautiful Diablo Lake. It is always nice to start a trip off easy and with plenty of hammock-hanging trees.
Alana is a professional angler in Alaska who enjoys a good nap in a hammock when the dryland opportunity arises.
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The view from Thunder Point hill. Follow the trail up from the camp to gain a little perspective on Diablo Lake and its rocky islets straight from the South Pacific.
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he weather is also quickly agreeable with the lake somehow staying windless for the entire trip. We spend warm days in bathing suits and crisp nights sitting next to the fire, talking with friends. So if you ever get the chance to paddle Ross Lake, take it. For access, you have to either drive in from Hope, B.C. on a notoriously bad road, or slip your boats into the dazzlingly turquoise glacier-fed waters of Diablo Lake, then paddle five miles to the base of Ross Dam, and either carry or shuttle your boats up a very steep mile-long road stitched up with switchbacks. We opt for the shuttle and are thankful to pay $20 dollars per boat to avoid the portage.
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On Ross Lake, heading toward Pumpkin Mountain. CANOEKAYAK.COM
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Father and son, Carson and Peter, checking out May Creek as it spills into Ross Lake.
Night Two was spent at Devils Junction Campground, nine miles up Ross Lake. After a long paddling day, Peter sets up his tent on the end of the dock for a night rocked to sleep by the lapping lake.
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Devils Creek is a must-make detour. Though reservoir flooded this highwalled tributary (about a quarter-mile up the lake), it feels like paddling through a Utah slot canyon covered in moss and Northwest foliage.
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Desolation Peak lookout, built in 1932 and made famous by Jack Kerouac, who spent 63 days during the summer of 1956 as a fire lookout here. He wrote about his experiences in the books Lonesome Traveler, The Dharma Bums and Desolation Angels.
Nolan holds out a handful of mountain huckleberries before he downs them, one of many fistfuls eaten on our hike up Desolation Peak.
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The summit of Desolation Peak offers a view at 8,071-foot Hozomeen Peak.
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Nick Seifer holds out a beautiful rainbow trout caught in Ross Lake, and then grilled over the campfire and served with white chanterelles for a fall feast. Ross Lake is a great destination for anglers. Native rainbows and the protected bull trout are abundant in the cold, clear waters.
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White chanterelles found on the trail to Desolation Peak, wrapped in the sleeves of our shirts: a treat only found in late summer and fall.
A rare glassy, calm day on Ross Lake with the fjord-like landscape mirrored in the uncharacteristically calm waters. Most paddlers end up battling afternoon wind currents coming off the mountains and funneling down the lake.
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n the last day of the trip, I paddle my boat toward the car as slowly as humanly possible. I’m having fun and I don’t want to go back to civilization with its emails and to-do lists and traffic. I look over at Peter. He’s showing the same feelings. “What do you think about loading up the kayaks, surfboards and playboats and heading to the coast in a few weeks?,” he says. “I’ve got a new trailer that needs to have its first adventure.” I smile. “Yes, lets do it! Coastal surfextravaganza!” I can’t help but respond as I paddle toward the car, plotting the next Leh-family adventure that I’ll be crashing.