Little Joe Lake #1330.1,Red Mountain #1330,Kachess Ridge #1315,Thorp Creek #1316
Jul 11, 2005
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Red Mountain
- Region: North Cascades -- Mountain Loop Highway
- Trails: Red Mountain (#651)
- Avg Rating: 3.00
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Red Mountain
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass
- Trails: Red Mountain (#1330)
- Avg Rating: 3.50
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Thorp Creek
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass
- Trails: Thorp Creek (#1316)
- Avg Rating: 3.33
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Joe Lake
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass -- Snoqualmie Pass
- Agency: Wenatchee Okanogan National Forest, Cle Elum Ranger District
- Trails: Joe Lake (#1314)
- Avg Rating: 4.40
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Kachess Ridge / Kachess Beacon
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass -- Snoqualmie Pass
- Agency: Cle Elum Ranger District
- Trails: Kachess Ridge (#1315), Kachess Beacon (#1315.3)
- Avg Rating: 3.25
- Be Aware Of
- Blowdowns
- Bugs
Starting with the Thorp Creek Trail, you can assemble various paths into an enjoyable 10 mile loop touring the heights of Kachess Ridge. The scenery is not of the alpine stunner variety-- in fact, Kachess Ridge is not in protected wilderness and clearcuts are visible everywhere-- but the flower show right now is **fabulous** in the many meadows traversed by the route. It's also nice that the trails here tend to be more lightly used compared to the more glamorous wilderness areas. Some skeeters were out, but not enough to make me use repellant.
I started by following the Thorp Creek Trail, which is in good condition although a little overgrown with knee-high brush. I was glad to see signs of recent trail work activity: new signs, cut logs, drain dips, and such. The grade starts out easy, then becomes steep near Thorp Lake, reached via a quarter mile spur which I didn't do. Beyond the lake, the trail rapidly climbed a meadowy slope to a junction. Here I went right onto the Kachess Ridge Trail, whose decent tread took an up-and-down course first on the side of the ridge, then on top of it. There were potentially good views on the ridgeline in spots, although I don't know for sure because clouds and drizzle got in the way.
At the next junction, I went right on to the Red Mountain Trail. This path is also of the up-and-down variety, giving me plenty of exercise while I admired the flower-strewn meadows and the views. There are some confusing spots in places: a poorly marked junction with an unmapped trail and a spot where the trail has been wiped out by a logging road. But if you pay attention and have a map, the route is not difficult to follow. With this trail, oversteep grades and slumped tread suggest that some treadwork and reroutes are in order.
Eventually, the trail crossed one last ridge and plunged down a slope to arrive at Little Joe Lake, a marshy pond in a peaceful wooded basin. At a junction next to the lake, I left the Red Mountain Trail and headed downhill on the Little Joe Lake Trail, which sports some rather steep grades. Rerouting and regrading of this trail would be beneficial. A few logs on the trail need removal.
After one final knee-busting dive to the bottom of the valley, where the trail was doing its best to imitate the Mailbox Peak path, the Little Joe Trail ended at a logging road not far from the Thorp Creek trailhead. A final easy stroll on the road brought me back to my car. Despite Sunday's clouds and showers, the loop hike made for a nice day in the woods.
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