The road to the trailhead was in good shape up to the last 3/4 miles. The last section has not been brushed out for some time and the road is overgrown with the brush in many places. The road itself is OK for regular cars, but you may get some scratches from the brush. The trailhead is obscure. At 3/4 mile, there is a broad area with a spur going to the left for only a short distance. The trailhead is up this spur but it is not visable from the road; you need to walk 50 feet up the spur.

Once on the trial, it is in very good shape. It is a steady up to the Kachess Ridge trail and then down. The trail is a bit rocky going up to the pass above Silver Creek Basin but the views toward the Stewart Range more than make up for this. I went down the Basin along Silver Creek to the junction with the trail to West Peak. There is no sign but it is marked by a cairn and is obvious. I went up to the saddle at the base of the peak and the view to the south and Mt. Rainier was very nice. I had lunch and turned around.

The colors are super with larches starting to turn yellow and the vine maples in their glory. There were many huckleberry and blueberry bushes but no berries. A very nice short hike without any other travelers.

I suggest doing this loop counter-clockwise so you’re relaxed and can enjoy the nicer stretch down Silver creek on the return. No matter which end you start you will be hyperventilating for the first half of the trip.

To find the trailhead: If going east on I-90, exit 70. Hang left, cross highway. Left again on Sparks frontage road. Around .5 miles make right on FS 4818, which quickly turns to potholed gravel. After about .4 mile go right on #203. Travel this road thru sometimes large puddles to a crossroads at approx. .7 mile. Make left and go about 1/2 mile till road forks. It’s best to park somewhere around here. It is only about 200ft down both these roads to the trailheads.

The road to the right ends at a renegade campsite. Go left here and cross the Creek on a little bridge. About 100ft past the bridge the Easton to Domerie Ridge trail goes sharply up on the left. After some switchbacks you’ll be on a logging road. Make a left here and after 100ft the trail takes off again to the left. After a mile of many steep switchbacks with the sound of the highway for background, you’ll come to a junction. Hang left for Domerie Ridge. After a short distance of pleasantness the trail will go very steep uphill, without the benefit of switchbacks, all the way to Thomas Mt. There might be 1 downhill then up on this stretch. After Thomas you shoot down about 500ft, then have to make it all up again, and then some. There is a section around here that has a multi-colored flag about 20ft to the left of the trail. I don’t know what it’s doing there but ignore it. When you get to Silver Creek Tie trail it will be quite clear and marked.

The Silver creek Tie trail disappears twice at scree slopes. Just go generally straight to pick it up again. After a thigh burning up and down the trail goes gently to the junction with Silver creek trail. Hang left and enjoy the stroll down.

The most difficult part of the trip was getting to the trailhead. Drive up to Salmon La Sac and turn left to Cooper Lake and drive 2 miles past the Cooper Lake turnoff where you take a left. Drive 2 more miles approx. and then take the left and drive 2 more. The trail stays fairly level going along Kachess Ridge. Our destination was Thorp Mtn which we made in 2 hours. There is a lookout on top and a great view of Kachess Lake. Also could see the Snoqualmie group which had new snow on the peaks and of course it is always a pleasure to see Mt. Stuart. On the way back the rain came. The trail is in great shape.

We decided late on Sunday morning to do an easy loop hike near Easton. The 100 loop hikes book (Mountaineers?) described this trail as a (clockwise) gentle climb up Silver Creek followed by a ""stroll"" back along the Thomas Mtn. / Domerie Peak trail to a descent back to the trailhead. We decided to reverse the route. Evidently the ""stroll"" portion never materializes in the counter-clockwise direction.

Starting at the Silver Creek (Kachess Ridge #1315) trailhead near the Easton Airport, we crossed the creek and followed the connector trail (#1308.2) uphill to the Thomas Mtn. / Domerie Peak trail (#1308). Turning left at the intersection, we traveled north past Thomas Mtn. to another connector trail (#1308.1), left again along West Peak to the Kachess Ridge trail at Silver Creek, then left one more time for the return to the trailhead.

This trail acesses some great views: South end of Kachess Lake, all of Cle Elm Lake; distant views of Rainier, Adams and Stewart / Enchantments. We had an absolutely clear day with enless horizons -- gorgeous! We also got some of the best wildflower displays imaginable, with eastside desert scrub flowers all along the ridge crest above Cle Elm Lake (including an amazing hot-pink dwarf penstemon) and typical west cascade meadow blooms all along Silver Creek. We met three others all day, all going in the opposite direction.

However enjoyable the views and the stroll back through the meadows may have been, the trail up to the ridge, along the ridge, and back to Silver Creek was so brutally steep that we felt quite bruised and abused by that point. This trail is a multi-use trail that has been severely eroded due mostly to the gradient. I can't imagine anyone doing it, but it was obvious that tire treads had carved the deep channels that made a bad situation worse. These trails will eventually lead to unstoppable gully erosion in the thin soils.

After returning home we plotted the trail route on Topo. The book listed 2800 ft. elevation gain and approx. 11 miles. Topo agreed with the distance, but totalled 5050 ft. gain! We thought Topo may have missed a few feet.