Little Kachess Lake, Lakeshore Trail, Trail #1312
This trail is described in 100 Hikes in the Alpine Lakes (1st Ed., 1985) on page 155 as part of the long approach to Mineral Creek Park and Park Lakes.
Doing it only to where it joins Mineral Creek Trail 1331, it is a nice day hike, starting at Kachess Lake campground. Kachess Lake campground is closed for the winter, and if it is closed, you must park at the road junction in front of the campground gate and that adds 1/2 mile each way to the hike. During off-season, if you use a mountain bike, riding your bicycle would bring you to the trailhead faster and it is a very pleasant ride through the vacant campground. You can stash the bike in the woods near the crossing of Box Canyon Creek. In the summer, one can drive by car to a trail head parking area inside and on the north edge of the campground. The bridge at Box Canyon Creek has been washed out for several years. At times of high water, crossing Box Canyon Creek on a log may be tricky. After a very dry summer of 2012, the water level in Box Canyon Creek was low enough to go rock hopping without getting one's boots wet. It is surprising to see all the improvements the Forest Service has installed on the north side of Box Canyon Creek at a time when the bridge was still in place: a loop trail, park benches, a gravel trail with log borders, a viewpoint platform. So, why has the bridge not been replaced to allow campers, casual walkers and hikers to safely access this scenic area at the start of Trail 1312? We are not even talking about the hard-core hikers embarking on the full length of Trail 1312 (and beyond) to whom the creek crossing is only a minor obstacle. The trail is narrow and steep and exposed, and not recommended for families with small children. The trail has received recent maintenance with dozens of windfalls cut and moved out of the way and it is now in good shape. The mighty MY T has left his marks on the cut trees. Thank you for clearing the trail!
This is an upsy-downsy trail with lots of elevation gain and loss. Between the Box Canyon Creek crossing and a turnaround point at about 4 miles (close to Mineral Creek) we gained 1230 ft. going up and lost 970 ft. going down. On the return trip, we climbed 900 feet up and lost 1130 ft. going down. In spite of the inconvenience of repeated elevation gain and loss, the delightful high points are when the trail reaches one of the cliffs that offer a splendid view of the lake and an island in the lake. Near the island is a rocky peninsula that sticks out into the lake and has several camp sites. This appears to be a popular camping spot. They even have a fancy toilet with a real toilet seat. It appears this camping area is mostly frequented by boaters and not so much by hikers. The trail must have existed for a long time since there are remnants of puncheon board walks, most of it now rotten and decayed. At about 3 miles the trail crosses a creek coming off Box Ridge in a narrow gulch (difficult to cross at high water). There is an eerie narrow log high above the creek water but one would be better off crossing it roped instead of trying to tiptoe it across. One thinks that the lakeshore trail ends once it reaches the upper end of the lake, but it continues for quite a mile even after the lake is out-of-view. At the end of summer, the lake water level has dropped to a point where the upper end of the lake is just a stump farm. After a lot of ups and downs the trail joins an overgrown old mining (logging?) road and walking becomes a bit easier on flat ground, although the trail continues to gain elevation until it reaches Mineral Creek Trail #1331.
We tried to spot Thorp Mtn. lookout tower on one of the peaks across the lake, but could not find it.
We last visited the area at the other end of the trail, near the Mineral Creek trailhead accessible via Cooper Pass, in 1995 while a controversy erupted about Plum Creek Timber Company's plans to clear-cut a stand of old-growth forest at the upper end of Kachess Lake. Fortunately this old-growth forest was saved by a land swap in 2000 (although it is not in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness) and it is a pleasure to be hiking through it now.
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