Trip Reports

Hiked to the Thorp Mt. Lookout via French Cabin Creek and the Kachess Ridge trail.

We started from FS road 4308 to access the French Cabin Creek trail. There is a side road leading to the trailhead in about 1/2 mile, but I wouldn't recommend trying to drive it. You could go a short ways, but then it becomes brushy and quite narrow in places.

We found the trail starting in a cleared area on the left of the road. The trail was in pretty good shape except for the upper part, which was quite brushy. The section of the Kachess Ridge trail from the junction with French Cabin Creek north to the high point was also very brushy.

Then the ups and down started, but the trail was in good condition. We saw no one until we came to the junction with the Knox Creek trail. Lots of people coming that way. There was a nice young Ranger lady and her dog staffing the fire lookout. No fire watching that day as it was foggy and cold, so she had lots of time to visit.

Trail is in an overall poor condition. Due to a large amount of snow left on a majority of the trail, it is not recommended to be hiked until at least August. The glaciers on the trail are not safe to cross as they present a very challenging cross. Once the snow has melted, it should be fine to hike.

Happy Hiking!

The Seattle Explorer

The hike up from the #1315/#1212 trailhead was fine apart from the mosquitos. We took the #1315 Kachess Ridge trail, intending to loop round via Mount Thomas. After about a mile it became difficult to follow the trail because of the snow on the ground. We persevered by following the creek but eventually hit a point where the trail was wiped out with many downed trees mixed with packed snow from an avalanche.

We attempted to to the French Cabin Creek area via the Lake Kachess side - road 4818 from Easton to road 4824. About 8 miles from the paved highway road 4824 was partially blocked by trees and was getting very rough. The bushes are growing in from the sides of the road and are unavoidable in places. We turned around at that point and chose a different hike on Trail 1315 up Silver Creek.

Starting from the southern end in Easton, the trail was in good condition to the top of the ridge, where we enjoyed a snack. The light breeze dispersed the mosquitoes, which were abundant in the woods. In the clearings there were plenty of flowers in many colors. Once the trail flattened out along the creek above the ridge crest, it disappeared under about 18 inches of hard snow. The old blazes help, but if you haven't been here before there is no way to know where the trail is, although it is easy to follow Silver Creek. After about 30 minutes of easy walking on the snow, still beset by mosquitoes, we turned around and hiked back down.

In my quest for a snow free trail I decided on Kachess Ridge. However, there is still a lot of snow on this trail that starts about a mile and a half in. At the trail intersection that heads up to Kachess Ridge there is still four feet of snow. You will need good route finding skills to hike this trail as it is completely under snow to the ridge. Once you reach the ridge it is mostly snow free and we had good views although it was cold and windy. We came down the ridge as it was snow free and met the main trail about a mile from our starting point. There is a faint boot path going down the ridge but I don't recommend trying this unless you have a good sense of direction.

I went exploring for a snow-free scramble route up the south end of Kachess Ridge to the old beacon site. To my great surprise I found an existing scramble/game trail that is 95% snow free to the beacon site at 4,615' (TH is at 2,360'). Or maybe it should be game/scramble trail since for every partial boot track I saw there were many more game tracks.

Over the years I have hiked to the former beacon site many times. I know from past experience that after a heavy snow season the trail in the hanging valley along Silver Creek will not melt out until the middle of July and maybe later. Yes, you can sorta follow the snow-covered trail from blaze to saw cut up that hanging valley to the trail junction where you either turn left to go the beacon site or stay right and cross Silver Creek. Been there done that on snow a bunch. So finding a mostly snow free trail (although fainter and steeper) was a most welcome discovery.

Now for all I know this trail is common knowledge and I simply have missed all the trip reports and great pics. But just in case you don’t already know about this trail, the route description is below. This trail is easy to find and easy to follow. There is one route issue to watch out for on the way down. More pics are posted at http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7967486

Oh BTW, unless there already is a more-or-less established name for this trail, I propose we call it the “Kachess Ridge Scramble Trail”. And by all means leave the ice axe and gaiters at home unless you intend to run the ridge north past the beacon site.

Head up the Kachess Ridge trail to 3,350' where there is a sharp switchback to the right. If you do this fairly soon you will encounter a small amount of avalanche snow on the trail a bit lower down. I recommend you hike up the left side of the snow. You will soon get back on the trail. At the 3,350' switchback there is a small pile of sticks across the prominent side trail heading westerly. Take this side trail till it comes to a cliff top at 3,380'. Head up hill. Since there is a wide variety in line-of-travel options for this next section, there is not much in the way of visible tread. Climbing to the right is fine but by the time you get to about 3,700' you want to have worked back to your left so you are once again on ‘top’ of this same ascending ridge that has a cliff/steep face on the west side.

I have a hard time calling this a scramble. Yes, it is steeper than most trails. But most of the footing is soft ground which makes for technically easy hiking albeit pulse elevating.

Once you are back on the ridge ‘top’ at around 3,700' continue up. Soon you will see tread. From here on most of the way has visible tread.

At 3,950' this ascending ridge sorta runs into higher ground. This is a terrain junction and you need to take careful note so you recognize this spot on the way down. As you descend you need to turn right here. It would be painfully easy to space out and miss this right turn on the way down and keep following yer nose on a descending traverse with high ground to your left. Doing so is guaranteed to put you somewhere on the sorry side of unhappy. You’ve been warned.



Also, at 3,950' as you look uphill you will see two ‘trails’ heading sorta left. You want the higher one. From here you simply do indeed follow your nose. The trail never strays far from the steep face to your left. In due course you will arrive at the beacon site.

OK- disclaimer - on the last few hundred feet of gain to the beacon site there was some well-consolidated snow. Even if there is no tread here the going would be easy and obvious.

We were looking for a hike Sunday just over the ""hump"", away from pouring rain around Mt. Si, with not too much of a drive. We ended up here, and were happy with this option for a quick hike on these shorter days. From last spring when we went to Mt. Baldy and somehow found the new trailhead, it's a much easier drive. This trailhead must be getting more popular, what with all the great options available, as we saw 7 other cars. We headed up the Kachess Ridge trail, which starts out steep but well-graded. As we climbed, there was a skiff of snow. Just before entering the hanging valley, we encountered 5 mountain bikers who apparently had driven up to the saddle beyond the French Cabin Peaks and were doing a downhill only run. This road isn't on my map, but when I've hiked in that vicinity, it seems like it is getting more and more use.

Once intot he hanging valley, we quickly came to the junction. Thoughts of heading further up Silver Creek valley were stopped by the cold weather and how high the stream was flowing. We headed up and were impressed by how easy to follow the tread was. There are numerous trees down, a couple of which are large in diameter and tough for my shorter legs to jump over. Finally, up at the beacon, the wind was blowing, so we made a quick lunch out of it. Coming down, we encountered another 3 parties of hikers coming up. I have never seen this number of people on this trail ever. I wonder if it's described in the new Snoqualmie Pass trail book which I haven't seen.

One note: the trail sign right at the new parking area is down and used as firewood. From the older campsite and parking area, there is still the sign for Kachess Ridge, but no sign for Easton Ridge. We met hikers on the Kachess Ridge trail thinking they were on Easton Ridge. Smaller wooden signs at both these places would really help, especially if this area keeps receiving more hiking visitors. Which it should - it's a great area, not that far a drive, easy trailhead, and many options...

I started the hike at the Easton end of the Kachess Ridge trail. Cloudy, drizzly weather did not dampen the beauty of this trail. Maples still provided lots of fall color and the moss on the cliffs glowed a vivid green. Some rugged cliffs are visible at viewpoints on the first steep grade of the trail. Saw a mountain goat up on one of the cliffs.

Snow appeared on the ground where the trail leveled out in the valley of Silver Creek, and steadily became deeper the further I went upstream. I turned around several miles past the airway beacon trail junction. Although not in designated wilderness, the valley of Silver Creek is quite beautiful and well-protected from the sights and sounds of civilization.

Trail condition summary: the Kachess Ridge trail is in fairly good condition. Downed logs have been cleared. lots of sloppy snow and mud on the trail at higher elevations. Creek crossings are a bit tricky on slippery snow-covered logs. The lower steep section of the trail is eroding and needs drainage work. Mountain bikes are legal on this trail; their wheels tend to flatten drain dips.

This hike (see French Cabin Creek Trail to Thorp Mountain in the trail guides) turned out to be a bit ambitious for us (w/ two kids ages 7 and 9, both reasonably experienced hikers for their ages). We didn't make it all the way to the fire lookout at Thorp Mtn - but we did summit the first part at 5700-ish ft, which gave us absolutely terrific views of Mt Rainier from one side of the mountain, and equally terrific views out towards Thorp Mtn and well beyond to the north. We didn't bump into anyone all day: the trail looked like it has been used maybe a couple times all season, and it was a bit difficult to follow up the trail higher. The Green Trails map has at least two errors that we detected: first, not long after the trail junction to Silver Lake, there's a fork that is not marked on the map (we took the right fork up the mountain); and second, the trail briefly joins the forest road that is shown on the map as at least 1/8-1/4 mi. away (just follow the trail up to the right). But man is it gorgeous up there - this is my favorite hike of the season so far.

Notes: 1. mid-day Aug 11 there were almost no bugs the entire length of this trail (sweet!); 2. bring water (lots). there is almost none the entire length after the early part, and you're hiking thru clearcut in broad sun for a good chunk of the trail; 3. the berries are out!

We started from the end of road 203 at the south end of Kachess Lake. We took trail #1315 to French Cabin, Thorpe Mtn. and back. The first part is really steep, so we weren’t running much. The trail crosses silver creek many times, and we were mostly successful at keeping our feet dry. At about mile 4-6 there is lots of large blow down. Someone wonderful has been through with a chainsaw so there are some work-arounds, but seems that new blow down has happened even since then. Then the snow patches started, and it was just warm enough for the occasional post-holing. Where the trail flattens off near the rim of French cabin basin, there is lots of standing water in the trail, probably was snow a day or so earlier. So much for dry feet. Dropping into French Cabin Basin is where it gets interesting. It is still completely snow-covered, so we needed to kick steps in the soft snow and gingerly descent the sideways slope. The snow is mostly continuous after that, with some route finding skills required as you peak around 5800’, 2 miles or so away from Thorpe Mtn. There is an exposed meadow and it is completely covered with snow, along with the trees continuing on from there. We pretty much got lucky to find the trail coming out the other side. There were some fairly treacherous snowfield crossings along the steep ridge side, I would recommend an ice axe or at least some trekking poles. We encountered our first other humans at the intersection of the Knox creek trail, where they had come in from the road. From there it is fairly easy going up to the top of Thorpe Mtn, only the occasional snow patch to cross. There were several others up at the lookout enjoying the sun and fabulous views. The wildflowers were abundant. We didn’t stay long, for we needed to start the 10 mile run back. Much easier this time since our steps were already kicked in, and the snow was softer. We made no attempt to keep feet try on the way back, and splashing through the creek felt pretty darn good. Made the round trip in just under 7 hours, we figure an hour or so extra for the route finding and kicking steps across snow fields.

We wanted to camp at Thorp Lake and were inspired by trip reports from Climbbike's report on June 9, and dogandpony's on June 23. We easily found the well-marked Knox Creek trailhead and started up about 3 pm. The narrow and sloping path was in good condition, and we encountered only one annoying blowdown at 5100 ft shortly before reaching the ridge. (We cleared the branches from it near the trail on the way down so it's now just a minor obstacle.)

From the intersection with the Kachess Ridge trail to the Thorp Mtn cutoff the trail has only small snow patches in the woods. The trail to the summit lookout was dry except for one steeply sloping snow patch near the lookout that can be easily bypassed on the left along the ridge crest.

Descending the Thorp Creek trail to the lake late in the day proved more difficult than expected due to steep snow that obscured the trail so we backtracked and spent the night at the Thorp Mtn trail intersection on the ridge. We melted snow from remaining drifts for water. It is a small site that is well sheltered by trees and terrain from the gusting winds from the west. It will not have any water once the snow is gone.

Two aging hikers, rapidly becoming related to snails, enjoyed the flower display on Kachess Ridge. The Silver Creek Trail is snow free except for the flat area that runs along Silver Creek at ca. 3,500 feet. Just before where the main trail crosses Silver Creek, the Beacon Ridge Trail takes off up the hillside on the left [facing the creek]. The Beacon Ridge Trail is in reasonably good shape considering that it gets little foot traffic. At the beginning the trail is a bit hard to follow, but it soon becomes an obvious pathway. There are several blowdown but nothing overly difficult to get over. If us old geezers can get over them, so can most everybody else. The Beacon Ridge Trail comes out on Kachess Ridge at the old abandoned tower at ca. 4,700 feet. From there the ridge is easily run to the high point at ca. 5,200 feet. There are several avoidable snow patches on the final pitch from the saddle between the middle and main summits.

The flowers were abundant along much of the ridge. There were only enough mosquitoes to remind one that it is summer; there were not enough to be much of a bother. We had the entire day to ourselves except for the solo hiker we met at the parking area.

Note: It is obvious from the tire tracks that some motorbike riders are incapable of understanding that a picture of a motorbike with a red line through it means that MOTORBIKES ARE NOT ALLOWED. This is similar to the dog owners who are incapable of understanding that a picture of a dog with a leash means that YOUR DOG MUST BE ON A LEASH.

At the North Bend ranger station, they told me that most of the trails in the forest were still under snow. Seventy-five degrees and sunny, and no snow on the gateway peaks – maybe they’re wrong? So: over the pass to Easton, to check out the approach to French Cabin Mountain.

The driving directions in “Rain Shadow Hikes” are correct, although my copy of Green Trails # 208 doesn’t show the new road. The trail started out as advertised: dusty and moderately steep, but in good shape and unobstructed by blowdown. Some kind soul has gone out and done some spadework lately...

At about one mile from the trailhead, at the top of several switchbacks, there was a sudden cool breeze coming down the drainage. As soon as I came over the hill and into earshot of Silver Creek the snow began. I trudged a few hundred meters following someone’s old bootprints in the snow until I reached Silver Creek, full of barely-melted water and rushing along happily. The prospect of multiple stream crossings and serious route-finding in an unfamiliar area struck me as extraordinarily foolish for a solo hiker, and so I revised my plans and headed for the site of the old beacon on Kachess Ridge. I was lucky enough to stumble onto the sign for the side trail, but certainly couldn’t find the actual trail. Although the snow was soft and mostly ice-free, crampons were helpful on the slope, and it was easy to pick out a route for the saddle behind the beacon.

The view to Rainier is great, but the trees on the ridge obscure everything to the north and east. Staying in the trees on the snow – and off the fragile meadows – I followed the ridge north to the next high point. Views to French Cabin, Mt. Daniel, and the Stuart Range improve the setting, and are worth the extra work. I had to spend a few minutes trying to relocate the trail on the way down – make a note of where you are when you hit the snow on the way up, and don’t depend on your GPS under the heavy trees and narrow sky.

Only about 3.5 miles each way; but it’s a tough slog over snow through the trees with no trail. Maybe that’s why I didn’t see anyone else all day...

I have wanted to do the loop to West Peak and then back over Thompson Mountain for a couple of years. I did it today. I found the description in Best ""Best Loop Hikes Washington"" by Nelson and Bauer.

The trail 1315 is in very good shape; great hike through the fragrant meadows after the initial steep climb. You have to look very closely not to miss the Silver Tie Trail on your right (East) side: there is no sign and it is a rather humble trail. The beginning if it is marked by two smallish logs placed perpendicularly to the 1315 on your right. This trail climbs to just below West Peak and as you climb up beautiful wide open vistas open up including, of course, Mount Rainier. I lost this trail twice in broad daylight and some of the up and downs are sheer scrambles.

I then turned right (South) onto #1308 Domerie Divide trail. Again beautiful views on both sides if the ridge and scrabling straight up and straight down every hill along the ridge. None of those wimpy switch back on this trail. Then steep (and I mean steep) decend back to the 1315 trailhead.

The total distance is 12.8 according to the book. The net vertical is 3000 feet but you can easily add another 1000 for the up and down scrambling up to almost the top of West Peak and later along the 1308 ridge trail.

There not too many bugs, very few berries. After the first hour and a half there is no water and it was very dry and hot. There is fair amount of shade but still I took half a gallon of water with me and would have drunk more had I brought more. The whole loop took me 7.5 hours and left me weak at the knees.

This is a wanderful loop if you like the views and are looking for a bit of a vertical challange. Also I must add that even though today is a Saturday in the middle of August I saw NOT A SINGLE PERSON the whole entire time. So if you do not like to share your trail this one may be it for you.

I had an ambitious day planned and with a full day to devote to it. I made my way over a rainy Snoqualmie Pass. I wasn't concerned,in fact, if it rained it would be much better than recent hot weather. The goal was for a loop trip starting with Kachess Ridge trail with a summit bid for West French Cabin Mt. and finishing over Thomas Mt. and out the Easton Ridge trail. The weather couldn't have been more ideal as I made my way along Silver Creek. It was mostly sunny but only in the upper 60's with enough wind to keep the mosquitoes at bay. I made good time to Silver Creek Tie, too bad for me I walked right past it. I started to feel like I may have gone too far when I recrossed Silver Creek. I backtracked a bit to a quite obvious junction. I just couldn't believe I could have missed it. I made my way to where the trail crests the South Ridge of The West Peak of French Cabin Mt. I dropped pack and I had hoped to stay on the ridge to the summit. I wasn't thrilled with the rocky ridge so I contoured on the moderate west slopes. I found a heathery gully that took me easily to the 5724 foot summit which ranks it #48 on the Homecourt List. I dropped quickly back to my pack and turned my attention to the next peak on the ridge (pt 5563). I dropped into the basin which still had some patchy snow covering the trail. I soon topped out at (pt 5563 )which is a nice vantage point affording some nice views of the area peaks. My next goal was for a summit of The South Peak which is mostly forested and is nearly summitted by The Domerie Ridge Trail. I only stayed for a moment because the views were mostly obstructed by trees. Next was the long ridge leading towards Thomas Mt (#81 on the Homecourt List), the ridge has many ups and downs but the trail is quite easy to follow. I wasn't looking forward to the 800ft climb to the summit but soon I was back for a return visit to the summit that I had climbed some years ago. I now turned by attention to the to the long descent to the truck. I wasn't thrilled with the short climb to the junction near 5000ft but that was much easier than the steep portions of the descent. I had forgotten how steep portions of the trail are. I took my time and soon I was back to the truck. Be wary there is no water for the majority of this loop. I was thankful I had taken some extra water for my thirsty pups.



Approx 16 miles 4800ft of climb 8 hours car to car.

Since the trip reports indicated that much of the high country is still snowed in, I decided to do one of my favorite early season get-away-from-the-crowd hikes, namely the south end of Kachess Ridge. Good choice! The flowers along the ridge were in full bloom. These are mostly rock garden flowers - lots of phlox, stonecrop and their friends.

A few years ago, a new trailhead was built for the Silver Creek trail (#1315, also called Kachess Ridge trail) and the trail to Easton Ridge, Domerie Divide, Thomas Mtn, etc (#1212). It is no longer necessary to drive along under the powerline. Leave I-90 at exit 70 and zero out your car’s trip odometer. Cross to the north side of the freeway and drive west on the frontage road. At 0.6 miles turn right onto the Kachess Dam Rd (#4818) which has been recently graded (hooray!). At 1.6 miles turn right by the “trail” sign onto a gravel road. At 2.2 miles park by the “trail” sign.

I was pleased to find only a few very minor snow patches in the valley along Silver Creek. There was only 1 tree down on this part of the trail but it can easily be stepped over by hikers and horses. At the first place where the main trail crosses Silver Creek you will find a sign showing where the lightly used Beacon Ridge (ie Kachess Ridge) trail begins. This is your last chance to pump water, there is none on the ridge.

There are a few trees down on the trail up to the ridge but they are easy to deal with. In due course you will come to the very southern end of Kachess Ridge, the beacon remnants and a charming view of I-90. I generally don’t linger here as the best flowers and views are along the ridge to the north. From the beacon a boot track wanders north along the ridge varying from faint to invisible. The going is never difficult and while there are some areas of trees to go thru, most of the ridge crest is a series of meadows. At one point the faint trail drops down on the west side of the ridge just a bit to avoid some heavier forest.

At point 4,884' (see the Kachess Lake 7.5ʺ quad) the ridge crest narrows to a rocky spine. It is an easy scramble to continue out onto this rock outcrop until you come to two small trees and then descend to your left and make your way to the next saddle. From that saddle it is all rock garden to point 5,194'. The best flowers were on the bit leading up to 5,194' which features of 360 degree view. Here I had lunch and turned around.

As expected, even though this was the 4th of July weekend I had the ridge to myself. In fact, I only saw one other person all day and that was down on the main trail along Silver Creek. While driving back I noticed the parked cars that had overflowed the Granite Mtn trailhead. I hope the hundreds of folks who hiked that trail today enjoyed their outing as much as I enjoyed mine.

This trip is about 7.5 miles round trip with 2,900' elevation gain. Only a few bugs - mostly at the trailhead.

This was potentially a really great idea, but the huge snow pack derailed my plan, which was to make a through hike up Thorp Creek, along Kachess Ridge and down the French Cabin Creek trail (1305). So, we left a bike at the trail head of French Cabin Creek, then drove to the trailhead of Thorp Creek. The trail up to the turn off to the Thorp Mtn lookout was really nice, with a couple of wet crossings, but nothing major. A few snow fields, but again, nothing too tricky. The trail to the lake was non-existent, but it was easy enough to find the lake just by heading due south through the trees. The trail to the lookout was impossible to follow because of snowfields and in fact I don't think I was ever on it on the way up--it was just sort of a scramble. At the top the trail re-emerged, but en route down it quickly disappeared under snow. After the junction with 1315 things wen fine for a while, but after passing the Knox Creek Trail heading steeply down to the east, things got tricky. We managed the first snow field, but after another 300 meters or so we hit a point on the east edge of the ridge where the snow was so deep and treacherous that we elected to turn around. Sigh. It would be a great hike later on in July or August. Thus, we had to go to Knox Creek trail (totally snow free) and then I hoofed it back to the bike on road 120, then 4308--some 3 miles--then rode back to the car--another 5 miles on gravel, got the car and came back for the grumpy husband and dog. I think I did him in on this one as he's elected to forgo my next weekend outing... But it really would be a great hike to do and I think I might even feel the need to go back and try it again when the snow's melted... Just can't get enough!

I was really feeling poorly so I thought it best to sweat it out. I was hopeful that the I could make it quite a ways up the Kachess Ridge Trail before it became snowbound. The trail starts a bit more steeply than I was expecting. The first 1000ft of climb went quickly on the good trail. The trail above 3400ft is completely under snow making route finding much more difficult. I was able to follow the trail easily until where I am guessing it crosses Silver Creek. The crossing looked nearly impossible with the deep snow and the high water. There are some bigger logs that would make for a dry crossing but they were still snow covered. I followed the faint tread of those who had gone before me. With the low overnight temps the snow was rock hard and a bit tricky. I was a bit concerned about my downclimb because I didn't have an ice ax with me. It isn't that it overly steep it is more the many trees that would have halted a ten foot slide. I pressed on to around 4200ft and called it a day. I backtracked to around 3300ft where I had seen some tread heading more Westerly. I followed this up to around 3600ft which led me to a nice open area that was sunsoaked. I quite contentedly ate my lunch. I was left with some extra time so on the way out I drove the road that parallels Lake Kachess's eastern shore. I took the branch road 4824 until I was halted with a small snow berm that I am quite sure will be gone within a few days. The road was snowless beyond that point as far as I could see.

General: nice views.

Weather: mostly sunny.

Snow level: continuous snow from about 3000' on.

Snow conditions: snow was consolidated, soft, and wet; snowshoes sunk in to snow from 3 to 7 inches.

Windfall: considerable on lower trail.

Auto approach: needed to walk about 1.5 miles to real trailhead.

Companion: Amy.

Lately I have been checking out the Thorp, French Cabin Peaks, and Kachess Ridge areas east of Lake Kachess. First let me say that there are some good roads in the area and there are some bad roads. Last week I checked out ""Hard Knox"" via the Knox Ck TH. The last 2 miles of that road suck to put it mildly but it was in really good shape compared to the roads for this trip. From the west side it was 11 miles on FS4818 and then FS4824 to get to the 4900' saddle to the north of Kachess Ridge. The first 4 to 5 miles are full of potholes - big time. The last 6 to 7 miles was loose, sharp rocks. All this to save 1000' of gain from the TH on the east side of the ridge. It is really tough to recommend this west side approach for regular cars but the photo shows that it can be done.

The hike/scramble is actually quite short. I found a boot path at the end of the spur road and headed up and south right on the ridge line. Other reports indicated that it would be best to drop down below the ridge line when nearing the summit point (5525') but there was an acceptable boot path right on the ridge line although there were a few airy steps here and there. I tried the sidehill way on the return and it was OK but sidehilling in the Teanaway kind of sucks.

Fortunately there was a nice breeze on the ridge line to keep the bugs at bay with great views of Rainier and Stuart. There were also some great rock formations on and near the ridge line to enjoy too.

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.

This loop hike in the Salmon La Sac area includes a seldom traveled ridge where the trail passes through several beautiful meadows and one ugly clearcut. There are some limited snow patches in higher spots. But do leave the gaiters and ice axe at home, they are not needed. Later in the season expect the vegetation in meadow areas to partially obscure the higher portion of this lightly used trail.

Note that the USGS quad does not depict all of this trail. If you would like to see the location of the rest of this trail, I posted a snip from the quad with our gps track. Go to http://mysite.verizon.net/jelfelt and follow the link for maps.

Right now there is water running in every ravine. Even along the ridge part of the trail there were at least two meadow areas where it would be easy to pump water. (These may dry up later.) Not many flowers yet. The best show will likely be around the 3rd week in June.

We had a good look at a bear that didn’t know it was supposed to be black and was brown instead. One of our natural history references indicates this coloring can occur east of the cascades.

The only people we saw were two adventurous horse riders doing the loop in the opposite direction. Them: “Any trees down on the trail?” Us: “Nope.” Later we encountered the only sizeable tree blocking the trail on the entire loop. No problem for hikers but it surely must have been a challenge for the couple on horseback to get past.

Set your trip odometer to 0.0 where you leave the Salmon La Sac Road and follow the signs for the Thorp Lake trailhead. At 4.6 miles turn right onto Road 121 (small sign “Thorp Creek trail). Cross the creek and park. Hike west 1/4 mile on road and then watch for where the trail turns off to the left. The spur trail to Thorp Lake is well signed. After another ~1/3 mile there is a junction at a switchback with the Kachess Ridge trail (weathered sign on ground). Keep right (do not switchback). After about another 1 mile watch for the junction with the Red Mountain trail (2 signs on tree) going east. Follow this trail along the ridge. There a number of interesting looking scramble bumps along the way. As the trail approaches Little Joe Lake it appears to get more use. As you go around the lake you will see the junction (signed) with the trail up Red Mountain. From the lake the trail descends a long way to a spur logging road that leads back to where you parked.

The total distance is about 7.5 miles and around 2,200 feet of gain. Be sure to allow enough time. There is some upping and downing along the ridge and some sections of the trail down from Little Joe Lake are steep. The pics show two views of Little Joe Lake.

Due to the low snowfall last winter, this trail is almost snow-free. The hike is about 7.5 miles round trip with 2,900' elevation gain. For driving directions, search the trip reports on “beacon” and see my Jun 20, 2002 post.

Already there is some paintbrush and its friends blooming at the first sunny spots the trail passes. When I reached the hanging valley (3,600') I was pleased to find the trail remained at least 75% snow free to the point where the Beacon Ridge trail (yes, there is a sign) forks to the left at the point where the valley trail crosses the creek.

Surprise! Most, but not all, of the logs down on the Beacon Ridge trail have been cut out. This hike no longer requires the moves of a gymnast to negotiate.

From the beacon site a faint (sometimes invisible) game/boot trail runs north along the ridge. The first bit passes through a wooded area as it descends to a saddle and that is where the meadows start. Presently the first several meadows are wall-to-wall spring beauty and glacier lilies. Most impressive.

About 1.3 miles north of the beacon site is point 5,194' which is the destination. The first pic is looking north at this high point. The other pic shows one of the finger meadows along the ridge - note the elk. Other pics will be up for awhile at http://www.cnw.com/~jelfelt/pics.html

Also spotted a calypso orchid (sure is early) and a chocolate lily (Fritillaria lanceolata).

Only saw four people and one bug - all were at the trailhead.

Finding the trailhead is the hard part. Take Exit 70 off I-90. Turn left (NE) and cross over the road on the overpass. On the far side of I-90, take a left on the service road (Sparks Road) that parallels the interstate. Then take a right on to Kachess Dam Road (FS 4818)after about a half mile. Travel about .4 miles on this road (during which it will turn to gravel) until you get to some power lines. Turn right on the power line road. This road is quite rough and I would recommend a high clearance vehcile.

After about .6 miles you will come to a junction with two roads heading north, one heading south, the the power line road running east and west. A tip that you are at the right junction is that it is only a few hundred yards before where the power lines angle off to the south. Take the right hand road going north. After about a half mile, take another right hand fork that will take you to the trailhead for the Easton Ridge Trail (1212). There is a parking area and a sign, so you cannot mistake your location. Cross over Silver Creek on a nice bridge and head on up the trail. The route briefly touches a road. When you hit the road turn left and return to the woods as indicated about 100 yards up the road.

When we reached the ridge we turned left (NE) up trail 1308.2 and started to hit snow at about 4300'. At point 4942 we dropped our packs and did a qick round-trip to Mt Baldy. There was snow on most of the trail, but not so much that we had any trouble following it. The summit of Baldy was bare.

Back at point 4942 we grabbed our packs and headed up toward Thomas. Once on the north side of point 4942 the snow immediately got deeper. We plowed along without snowshoes without difficulty and were mostly able to pick out the trail even in this deeper snow. There was perhaps a couple of feet of snow on the summit.

We back tracked to the col between Thomas and 4942 and then left the trail. We plunged straight down (west) through the woods to a couple of small lakes, and then further down to Silver Creek. This was steep in parts and covered in snow a good bit of the way. Call it class 3 bushwacking.

There were numerous fallen trees that made good footbridges across the creek. Once we crossed, we immediately came upon trail 1315 and headed south. The trailhead turns out to be right next door to where we started.

We concluded that we had lucked into the best route. It would have been very difficult to do the loop in the reverse direction because it would have been impossible to know when to ascend the slope above Silver Creek to hit the lakes.

This trip was 6.5 hours round trip to the car.

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.

We hiked the Thomas Mountain / Silver Creek loop out of Easton today.

OK, first I need to add my comments about distance and elevation gain. My TOPO! program says this loop is 4600' vertical and 12 miles, not 12.8 as labeled on my Green Trails map or 3000' as ""The Best Loop Hikes"" book puts the elevation gain (and as I very roughly guesstimated also). Well, it felt like 4600'. The Cle Elum ranger district trail guide says the Domerie Peak trail is very steep. It is. The Loop Hikes uses the word stroll. Go see for yourself. If I had looked at these stats on TOPO! first, or read up on the trails in the Cle Elum ranger district guide, 2 members of our group would have said no way - not going. So lucky for me, I hadn't looked into it since it is a pretty tough hike and I've wanted to hike this for awhile.

We did this loop counterclockwise which is the way I would do it again in the future. Get the steepest stuff done first while the sun is mostly at your back, then at the end of the day, it is a nicer, cooler and much easier downhill along Silver Creek.

This was a great hike on a perfect day. Be warned, if you hike this, take plenty of water for the ridge portion and plan on going straight up and straight down on the Domerie Peak section of trail and the trails connecting to it. This hike has great views of Lake Cle Elum and off to the east and north. Right now there is a nice assortment of dry climate wildflowers in bloom in the open portions of the ridge - mostly buckwheats and mingled in is a gorgeous majenta penstemon. The ridge is a mix of forest and open rocky outcrops. At times, the trail is faint, but not hard to find again. The trail junctions were all visible.

Once we got to the Silver Creek valley floor the bluebells were out along with sitka valerian and vanilla leaf. Many other flowers were in bloom also, but not as predominate. This portion of the hike was very easy and quite gorgeous.

We saw 3 other solo hikers doing the loop.

This loop has been cleared of logs recently - thanks to the trail crew.

I couldn't get any takers on the trip I wanted to do so. Rubberlegs suggested I tag along on his trip with the amiable Alan Bauer so I jumped at the chance. Before I knew it, Mike and Kim were also coming along. I knew the day would be full of good company.

We met at the Preston P&R at 11:00am because one of the party members had a ""honey-do"" to do. So after a bit of a late start we headed out toward CleElum. The road to the TH is in good shape except for one tree down across the road about 1/4 mile from the TH. No problem though...most cars should be able to drive around and over the debris.

For an ""easy"" trip this trail doesn't waste any time. It immediately starts out in a series of switchbacks climbing the 1.25 miles to the top of the ridge and gaining over 1000 feet in elevation. The trail is in good shape.

Once hitting the top of the ridge we headed right (north) toward Thorp Mtn. This is a beautiful ridge walk. We hit a tad bit of weather once reaching the ridge. It was hard to find a good combination of clothing. It was windy, spitting rain, and yet kinda warm and kinda cold. At one point Alan said he never saw so many changes in clothing. We ran the ridge from this junction the 1+ miles out to the ""summit"". At the summit there is a great old lookout complete with radio antenae and solar panel. It was such a reward to visit with the lookout since so many of them have been removed. Whenever I visit a lookout I imagine what it's history must have been like. We didn't stay too long here. Just long enough for Alan to take a few pictures, for our group to get a bite to eat, and long enough for rubberlegs and MtnMike to discover two priveys (one abandoned, one new).

We eventually left the lookout site and headed back down the ridge to the trail junction. From here Kim, Mike, and Alan took a leisurely hike back down the the car. Rubberlegs and I darted off toward S. Thorp. The trail continues on the ridge and then contours along the east side of a bumb just before reaching a saddle about 1 miles from the Knox Ck junction. From this saddle we did a rising traverse up the hillside and reached the top of the bump labeled 5841' on the USGS. We peered over at the bumb due east of us and scratched our heads wondering if it was the taller of the two bumbs. Our bumb had a cairn. Just in case...lest anyone dare to say we summited the wrong bumb...we dropped down the the saddle between the two and then tagged that other bump.

We told the other group members that we would be about 45 minutes behind them. So, rubberlegs and I ran - yes ran - down the trail and down the switchbacks and reached the trailhead about 25 minutes after the others.

Great trip. Good company.

Stats: 6-7 miles, 3400' gain

A motley crew of four total imbeciles (Putz-in-boots, MtnMike, Quark, and yours truly) joined Alan Bauer on a photography/lookout/peak bagging expedition. But in order to get our beauty rest, we didn't leave Preston until 11am. We were on the trail about 1pm -- a true alpine start. Usually Alan has hiked 45 miles, shot 16 rolls of film, and eaten three burgers by 1pm.

The road was mostly in good condition (ok, some washboard) except for a downed tree 1/4 mile from the trailhead. But Alan's rig got around it no problem, ""knox on wood"". We hiked 1.25 miles up the Knox Creek trail, with a few steep sections but nothing totally out of hand, to the junction on Kachess Ridge. Turning right, we followed a great ridge (I love ridge hikes) to another junction. The left path heads to Thorp Mt and its lookout. We had a few minor spits but stayed pretty dry. At the summit we viewed the bottoms of several impressive mountains. Alan correctly named Cathedral Rock and the flanks of Mt Daniel.

On the return, Putz-in-Boots and I continued along Kachess Ridge while our compatriots enjoyed a more leisurely descent. We followed this trail to just below the South Peak of Thorp Mt, one of the ""Home Court"" peaks. It's an easy non-technical off-trail stroll to the summit from just SE of the peak. Our compatriots patiently waited at the trailhead for us selfish peak-baggers, for which we thank them profusely.

A beautiful hike on a great Saturday. The last 2 miles of road to Knox Creek is narrow and not well maintained but my Taurus had no problems getting to the trail head.

Knox Creek is moderately steep trail that took about 50 minutes to go up. Once on the ridge crest the Kachess Ridge trail is fairly level going up and down to the junction in about one mile with the Thorp Mt. Look Out Trail.

Throp Mt. tail winds up to the top in a series of switch backs as views open up of Rainer, Mt. Stuart and the Snoqualmie Pass area. The lookout site is occupied by a friendly forest service employee and his dog ""Teddy"". It took about 2 hours to reach the look out from the trail head. After some photos and a snack I headed down. The trip back to the car took about 1 hour.

There was a large group of Mountaineers? on the summit but I hiked most of the trip in solitude getting the trail head at about 10:00 AM. This is a relatively easy view hike with friendly natives at the end. I even got to sign the guest book at the look out.

Recent rain fall was evident on a damp (not dusty) trail.

This trail was on my ""list"" for this year, so decided to take advantage of the clear September skies. The directions to the trailhead are somewhat difficult to follow, as road markers are negligle. But, on first try, we arrived at the trailhead smack dab by Silver Creek. Upcreek a minute or two is a bridge, which beats the ford right from the trailhead. The USFS should take down the old sign on the far side of the creek... As described in other reports, the trail swithbacks up moderately steeply, intersecting with an old logging road. You can easily find the trail to the left at a switchback in the road, but there is no sign. Shortly, we arrived at the junction with the Easton Ridge and Domerie Divide. Taking a left, we contoured along the Roslyn watershed, and really enjoyed views overlooking the country we were about to enter. From here, the trail goes to pot, however, climbing very steeply. I imagine this trail used to be open to motorcycles, but now is only open for hikers, per the sign. Up and down, up and down, we eventually arrived at Thomas Mtn for our first lunch, and views east to the Stuart range. Second lunch was had at South Peak, but after the steepest down I have ever experienced on a trail coming down off of Thomas. Aftern lunch, we headed west up and over one more steep shoulder of West Peak, eventually arriving at the Kachess Ridge trail, which seems more popular with the mountain bike set, than hikers. The trail here was quite chewed up in places. At least it was easy to follow and creek crossings were low. They would be tough in high water, as they are meant for wheels and not feet. Overall, a hike that felt a whole bunch longer than what the map showed. We saw literally noone all day, and on a sunny weekend day, that's pretty hard to beat!

The Kachess Ridge trail (i.e. Silver Creek trail) north of Easton is in fine shape for hiking except it has been 'discovered' be more and more mountain bikers. We did not see any other hikers today but we did see several groups of mountain bikers. Each and every one was most polite and happy to stop and share stories about where they had been and what they had seen. But the trail is definitely wider and deeper in dust than we ever recall.

When we reached the place where the trail first crosses Silver Creek, we turned left on the Beacon trail. Unfortunately, the forest service has chosen to call this the Beacon Ridge trail. This is a misnomer. The ridge between Silver Creek and Kachess Lake is not “Beacon” Ridge. It is Kachess Ridge. Yes, there is a long out-of-date structure at the south end of this ridge above I-90 that no doubt once housed essential “beacon” gear to help planes navigate over Snoqualmie Pass. But the existence of this structure, and the abandoned trail to service it, does not change the name of the ridge.

BTW, after you head up the Beacon trail and climb thru the gymnasium (major size trees down over trail) and go a bit further, there is a nasty bunch of yellow jackets making their home in the trail. Most unfriendly. I was walking last in a line of three and took 7 or 8 hits. OUCH! You’ve been warned.

We took a break at point 5194' which is the sane person turnaround and then kept going. The fanciful goal was to try and reach point 5349' and then descend to the junction of the Silver Creek trail and Tie trail. Alas, this is more than a fun day trip worth of exploring. We took a break at point 4952' and then bailed out down to the Silver Creek trail and back to the car. One interesting thing we saw along the way was an unmapped hunter’s trail at (datum NAD 27) 10 637000E 5240240N. This trail obviously comes up from the Kachess Lake side and drops down into the Silver Creek area.

We took advantage of the new Loop Hikes Washington book to find a day loop hike fairly near Seattle. We ended up with Hike 53, Thorp Mountain. We included the side trips to Thorp Lake and Thorp Mountain lookout along with the loop. It was a bright, very warm, sunny day, and the flies were enjoying the sunshine as much as we were! The trail was in good shape. Thorp Lake was a beautiful gem, and we were really glad we made the quick side trip, especially when we spotted a Hermit Thrush near the lake. The scramble up to Thorp Mountain lookout wasn't bad, and the view of Rainier was spectacular! There is very little water between the junction of Thorp Creek trail and Little Jo lake, so stock up! The section of Red Mountain Trail that is included in this loop says ""Hard to Follow"" and it surely was. The trail is supposed to go right up and over the top of a 5357-foot outcrop, but we ended up flanking it on the south. We stumbled on a dozen elk, including three calves, in one of the small valleys along this section. Little Jo Lake was pretty low and not very appealing. There is water again heading out on Little Jo Lake trail, which you'll need because the trail gets quite dry and dusty before you're done. There were ripe and delicious huckleberries on the way in and on the way out from this loop. A great day overall!!

I hiked the Little Joe-Thorp Creek Loop described by Spring and Manning on a beautiful, clear day. The weather was hot, but most of the steep climb up to Little Joe Lake was shaded by second growth. Wood violets, vanilla leaf, and a few late trilliums were blooming here. I saw nary a soul til I got to the lake, and then only two people. Little Joe is a small, pretty mid-elevation lake with a greenish hue. It is shallow and has a thriving insect population, but they didn't disturb me during lunch.

The Red Mountain trail joins the Little Joe Lake Trail on the east side, continuing around the lake and heading west toward No Name Ridge. A beautiful meadow graces the north end of Little Joe. Glacier lillies abounded among yellow monkeyflower and other damp-loving flowers. It is easy to lose the trail here.

The high meadows between Little Joe and No-Name Ridge had spectacular spreads of phlox. The best wildflowers were near the pass between No-Name and Kachess Ridges. The Red Mountain trail is in very poor condition, with lots of blowdown and several places where the tread disappears suddenly. In one place it led right through a small pond behind a log dam.

I was disheartened to see that the valley between No-Name and Kachess has been heavily logged, right up to the pass, which has been stripped of vegetation and boulders to make way for the end of a logging road.

Once over the pass the trail quickly left the logged area, climbing through forest up Kachess Ridge to join the better-maintained Kachess Ridge Trail, also with blowdown. This follows the east side of the ridge in shade, and there was quite a bit of snow on the trail, soft enough for good tread.

I took the side trip up to the picturesque Thorp Mountain Lookout and it was the highlight of the trip. The way is very steep, but flowers were at their peak and the views from the lookout are first rate. Mount Rainier towers above Kachess Lake. The top of Adams can be seen as well. In the opposite direction looms the Mt. Stuart batholith and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Thorp Lake may also be seen below. I saw the first people since Little Joe Lake, over 4 miles away.

I stopped by Thorp Lake on the way down, but found it less appealing than the view from the lookout. It is low enough to be surrounded by brush, and close enough to the road to be crowded with campers.

The Thorp Creek Trail runs mostly through second growth. The tread is badly damaged for most of the way, but nice stands of columbine and valerian help to compensate. One large stump along the trail has been carved into a throne.

This loop is strenuous and not recommended for children, but the solitude, views, and flowers make it worth the effort.

Just returned from this ride today. We climbed the logging roads up to the the top of the trail then rode the trail down. The weather was very cold for the end of June with rain turning to snow at the upper trailhead. That's right, it was snowing fairly steady and sideways due to the wind. The trail has sporadic snow patches which turn to steady snow just before climbing through the notch. If you haven't hiked or ridden this trail before, I would definitely wait until it is snow free as routefinding through the snow is tricky. We were lucky to have one set of fresh mountain bike and foot prints to follow. Once through the saddle the sporadic snow continues for around a half mile or so then becomes quite muddy. The upper meadows are muddy and very wet with over a foot of standing water in some locations on the trail. The creek crossings are numerous and damn cold. Once you leave the meadow and start descending things improve greatly and a smile will return to your face. The wild flowers are starting to emerge in the meadows and along the trail, should be outstanding by mid July with Glacier lilys, tiger lilys, and many others. We cleared a few smaller blowdowns with the trusty 13"" Corona handsaw but two or three larger (1 to 2') trees for someone with a bigger saw. All of the remaining blowdowns are easily passable however. A stop at Mountain View burgers in Easton before heading home makes for a sumptous ending to an interesting day. I forgot to bring my winter gloves and booties on this ride which left my feet and hands frozen. The hands warmed up about half way down, but my feet were still icy after a burger and fries. All in all it was a nice taste of winter on what may be a blistering hot ride in a few weeks. No bugs at all though!

""The trailhead which is near Easton, is reached from I-90 exit #70. Go north over the freeway and turn left on the feeder road for about a mile. Turn right "" at the sign for the trail (it might say 1308 or it might say 1315) - but it will be the first sign that says trail and that points to a road to the right. follow this road maybe a mile to the trailhead. the road is snow free and in good shape for a road to a trail.

we took the kachess ridge trail to just beyond where it meets silver creek- about 2 miles. by this point the everything was snow covered so there was no trail to see. we then headed of to the left (west) to the top of the ridge. i believe we were near or following the Kachess Beacon Trail #1315.3. we reached the top and climbed the beacon tower. nice view, but better views were coming soon. we followed the ridge hitting the next to high points. the last being point 5194. the view here was the best - rainer to the and (maybe the goat rocks) to the south - meadow,tinkham, silver, catherine margaret to the west - rampart and (maybe chikamin and alta) to the north - daniel,hinman,overcoat,stuart,little anapurna, west and south peak to the north and west.

we took snowshoes along but the snow was so well consolidated we never used them. we used our ice axes, but they were not absolutely necessary. fun trip, got a late start about 10:30, took our time, had a long lunch and stayed on top of 5194 for quite a while, back to the the car about 5 or 6. it was good exercise but not too tiring. no bugs. all in all a good spring trip

A perfect day and perfect road to get the new truck dusty.

There are no trees across the trail, but the Knox Creek Trail is moderately to very brushy and the Kachess Ridge Trail is slightly to moderately brushy in a few spots. Aster, pearly everlasting, cow parsnip, lupine, paintbrush, buckwheat (no spanky or alfalfa though), harebell, butterweed, and Queen Anne's lace were in flower. Fritillary and unidentified white butterflies were out. Mountain quail were seen. Sky was scattered clouds with moderate to warm temperatures. A breeze over most of the route kept the bugs at bay.

The south end of Kachess Ridge is one of our favorite spring flower hikes. This year we were a bit early. I'm guessing the spring bloom will peak in another 2 weeks or so.

Note - there is now a new and improved place to park for the Silver Creek trail (#1315, also called Kachess Ridge trail) and Easton Ridge, Domerie Divide, Thomas Mtn, etc (#1212). Leave I-90 at exit 70 and zero out your car's trip odometer. Cross to the north side of the freeway and drive west on the frontage road. At 0.6 miles turn right onto the Kachess Dam Rd (#4818). At 1.6 miles turn right by the ""trail"" sign onto a smooth gravel road. At 2.2 miles park by the ""trail"" sign.

The Silver Creek trail quickly climbs 1,200' and then enters the hanging valley at about 3,550' where the grade lessens substantially. This is also where the snow starts. Soon we were on a good 2 feet of consolidated snow. Between the blazes and saw cuts, the trail is fairly easy to follow. Just before the trail crosses Silver Creek there is a sign where the Beacon Ridge trail (#1315.3) forks off to the left.

Once upon a time this trail was officially constructed but it has not been maintained for years. We began climbing to the right on snow and following the blazes. Soon the trail curves left a bit, climbs thru an open area and heads straight for the side of the ridge. Where the trail hits the side of the ridge it turns left and begins to climb. Oddly enough, from this point on the Beacon trail is about 80% snow free (and thus fairly easy to find at this point).

The bad news is that there are a number of substantial trees down on the trail. The good news is that years ago some kind soul lugged up an axe and cut boot notches to help one scramble over. (Hey - you wanted to get away from the crowds - right?) Despite infrequent use, the trail tread is still fairly easy to see.

The Beacon trail goes to the site of the former ""Radio Tower"" at 4,615' shown on the Kachess Lake 7.5"" quad. Shortly before this point we left the trail and made our way to the saddle immediately to the north. This is where the meadows start. From here we rambled north (no real trail) through meadows, rock gardens and occasional bands of timber to point 4,884'. Continue out onto this rock outcrop until you come to two small trees and an easy scramble down to the left. The next high point at 5,194' is our usual turnaround. Although there are sizable snow drifts in places along the crest of the ridge on the lee side, they are easily avoided.

Joey

This is a tricky trailhead to find. Take the Easton - Sparky Road exit from I-90. Turn left at the T intersection. Keep in mind that there's a nice cafe and cocktail lounge to the right. Proceed a half mile and turn right onto FR-4818. This road turns to dirt and at 0.4 miles, turn right underneath the power trestle. After 0.6 miles of a bouncy road, turn approximately 90 degrees to the left at a five-way intersection. After a half mile, there is a four-way intersection. One road is off to the left at 90 degrees. Another bears right at about one o'clock. Take the one in the centre which proceeds straight ahead. After 0.1 miles, you will find the parking lot at the southern terminus of Trail 1315. This is a fun drive after a good rain - yeehaw...

Ellensburg is from Mars; Seattle is from Venus. If you don't want to get your car dirty, find another hike. It's a perfect ride for a pickup with a Rebel and/or Texas flag in the back window, however.

There were a few logs across the trail. There were many puddles on the trail. Well-defined detours avoided these. Some of the puddles were frozen above 4800 feet elevation. There were some brushy areas. Pikas were heard in some of the rockfalls. Skies were clear giving way to hazy sunshine in the afternoon. Temperatures were cool to moderate. This is also not a good time to be running through the woods with antlers on your head.

Was coming down with the flu or something like that, so I heeded Coach Eisman's advice and went out for some exercise. Keep in mind he was my wrestling coach 35 years ago, and he couldn't very well suggest the real cure, which is Jack Daniels.

To get to this trail, take the French Cabin Creek Road #4308 from the Salmon La Sac Road shortly after passing the Cle Elum River Campground. The turnoff to the trailhead is at about six and a half miles. After scouting the ""road"", I opted to park on Road 4308 and walk the half-mile to the trailhead. This is a very pleasant trail with a moderate grade. No logs across the trail and a few slightly brushy areas. Late pearly everlasting, lupine and thistle were seen. Skies were scattered clouds with moderate temperatures.

To the brave men and women who are preparing to serve their country, the half-mile hike you take from quarters to graduation parade ground will never be published here, but is far more worthy of respect than any report you will ever read here (even my stellar reports!). From those of us who preceded you, we pray that you will do your duty and will return home safely.

August 25 & 26, 2001

Silver Creek Trail

Nothing wrong with this trail, not even bugs!

Originally when we had heard it was a trail used by mountain bikers we thought we would just check out the trailhead, a lot of cars would mean proceed with plan B (Mirror Lake). But no cars at the trailhead so we parked. The trail did not mess around; it started the uphill climb immediately. We were rewarded with shade covering from the forest on the way up and a nice little breeze moving in the canyon with the sound of the creek somewhere below us. As we progressed up the hill the traffic noise of I90 diminished until almost imperceptibly, it was gone. This was a delightful surprise, we had expected to atleast hear the semi’s, but no!

On the way up we stopped a couple of times to enjoy overlooks of the river canyon’s steep sides. The first people we met were a group of horseback riders and we stepped aside. The friendly guide asked if we knew where a road met the trail. I informed him that judging by the map the place where the trail comes near a road would be up at the top by French Cabin Basin. This was disappointing news for him and his little girl riders, one was already on foot…the guide leading her horse along behind by it’s reins, they continued downhill. Not long after that we found the waterfall at the top, very scenic and a beautiful sound so we stopped for lunch. While stopped there we noticed a mountain bike rider had appeared on the trail above where we sat by the river, he seemed to be looking for a resting spot himself and he moved on silently.

Not long after the waterfall we were walking in a high mountain meadow, lots of flowers, very enjoyable. After passing the first trail junction and going along another gentler uphill stretch the forest abruptly changed to spruce woods. We had no trouble finding a campsite, possibilities seemed numerous here and we ended up on a small hill with views extending down the valley. The peaks around us were rock on top, beautiful and interesting, one looked to have a natural bridge as blue sky was visible through a hole in it but from our distance we couldn’t be certain. As we were setting up camp around 5:30 pm we had to endure the sound of gunfire, sounded like target practice in the French Cabin Basin area but by the time we’d started eating dinner it had stopped. The air was perfectly still, the temperature was perfectly warm and the sun was perfectly setting…shining on the nearby peak, the distant hills, the gibbous moon, the delicate silver clouds in the crystal blue sky. Another couple had set up camp in the area, they had two adorable English Springer Spaniels that did bark a few times but the sound was muffled by the trees…hardly noticeable. The night sky was moonless and full of stars.

We had never heard of this trail until an Audobon Club member told us there were fantastic wild flowers in bloom here. She was right! Access from I-90 at Easton, take FS road 4818, then FS 203, a dirt road, go left at a 5-way junction to trailhead. Trail was almost entirely in shade on this very hot day, some alongside very pretty Silver Creek, then up into the fantastic flower meadows. Trail continues to French Cabin Basin, but we turned back when it turned up. One tricky log crossing over Silver Creek (some of us just waded). We never did find the Silver Creek Tie! Trail in excellent condition.

I am amazed that there has never been a report submitted on this portion of the Kachess Ridge trail. We did the trail from the north (Cooper Pass) end and went about 4 miles south.

The drive from Cooper Lake to the trailhead alone justifies making the trip. Stupendous views of the Crest north of Snoqualmie Pass. Directions are signposted in key spots; just drive to end of road.

The trail follows the top of No Name Ridge-literally. In the section we walked there was no traversing; we were always within feet of the ridge crest or on it. It is clear that this portion of the trail is infrequently traveled; the tread is good with few signs of usage. There are no blowdowns,very few rocks, and view after view after view after....... 360 degrees worth. (Included clearcuts) There was one extremely steep section of ca.500ft. Calm ,clear day;would do this again.

Kachess Ridge Trail - Rd 203 to head of French Cabin Basin - 07/16/00

Elevation Gain: apx 2700 feet

Total Distance: 11 Miles

Trail Condition: Clear, loose dirt and rocks for first mile or so on steep section, Popular with Mountain Bikers

After a steep climb through forest, on loose gravel to 3800 feet the trail enters a relatively flat valley floor behind Kachess Ridge. Silver Creek accompanies the trail up to near the head of the valley. Lots of flowers in bloom in the valley at all elevations. We encountered no other hikers but there were 16 or so Mt. Bikers in different groups. Since the stream is near most of the way, the bear bells on two of the Mt. Bikers really helped as we could hear them coming in time to move to the side of the trail.

This is a trail to put on your regular fall trips. There is lots of color, views of peaks and Lake Kachess and Mt Ranier and no people. Also you need to be in shape as it is very strenuous. We only got as far as the first view of Mt Lemah and Hinmon and Danial, about 7 miles, where we had a nice lunch while the horses munched and recooped.

Headed up this trail from the southern end (near Easton) on a cool, cloudy and windy day. The 1st mile is pretty steep - I passed 2 mountain bikers who were having to walk their bikes up. The grade settles down somewhat in the 2nd mile and then flattens out in the basin of Silver Creek. In this area there were numerous streams to be crossed. There's no sign of any ""formal"" bridges in here, but there were lots of downed trees on which you could walk (carefully). Also started running into small patches of snow in this area, but nothing of any real consequence. In the next mile the trail climbs gently again, finally coming out (at the 5-mile mark) into an open meadow where the Silver Creek Tie Trail (#1308.1) comes in from the east. This is as far as I went, as the rain was starting to blow in. Note: The junction with trail 1308.1 is unsigned, but marked with a small cairn. On my way up this 5th mile I met a group of 3 mountain bikers heading down. They'd come in from some logging road near Lake Cle Elum and told me that the upper reaches of the trail were still under snow.

On the way back down, about 2 miles from the trailhead, I attempted to go up the marked Beacon site trail (#1315.3), which the Mountaineers' book recommends. Unfortunately, after about 200 meters the trail (faint at best) was totally obscured by a huge amount of downed trees. I tried to bushwhack around this mess but was never able to pickup the trail again. On a clear day it might be worth a bushwhack up to the top of the ridge.

Saw no other hikers on this trail - a rarity on a summer Saturday. Maybe everybody already knows what I found out - that there's just not many reasons to recommend the southern end of this trail. Lack of views is the main detriment, as the first 5 miles is basically all in the woods. If you could do a one-way trip, starting from the Cooper Pass end (or from some of the feeder trails west of Lake Cle Elum) you'd be getting into the high (view) country more quickly. As for the trail's good points - at the upper end, Silver Creek flows through a ""mini"" gorge and there's a small photogenic waterfall in the area. There were some nice displays of woods flowers scattered around (Yellow Violets, Queens Cup, Trillium, Bleeding Heart, Vanilla Leaf, Foamflower, Star-flower, etc.). On days when the popular areas are teeming with bodies, you'll probably be pretty lonesome on this trail - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Considering all of the water in the basin area there were surprisingly few bugs. I got buzzed by a few mosquitoes here and there, but they were never bad enough to break out the DEET.

Pleasant uncrowded easy
access trail to an abandoned light tower with great views. The trailhead which is near Easton, is reached from I-90 exit #70. Go north over the freeway and turn left on the feeder road for about a mile. Turn right on 4818 then after about 1 more mile a sign marks a right turn that takes you to the trailhead after 1 more mile. The trail takes a moderately steep course up into the Silver creek drainage. The first mile is dry dusty and hot. Suddenly the trail levels out into a cool forest along side Silver creek. About 2 miles from the trailhead is side trail to the left marked ""Kachess Beacon Trail #1315.3"". This well built but unmaintained trail takes a moderately steep course for 3/4 mi up through a lovely forest of Grand Fir, Doug fir and Mountain Hemlock. There are several windfalls which keep this area thankfully free of bicycles and horses. At the top one finds a 25ft galvanized steel tower sitting on a steep knoll overlooking the I-90 corredor to the south and the Cascade crest to the west and northwest. A sturdy ladder takes you up to a viewing platform atop the tower. There is a trap door at the top of the ladder that was not immediately apparent to me. This tower appanently once supported a light beacon which helped guide airplanes through Snoqualonie pass. The round trip distance is 5.5 mi and 2400 ft elev gain. I didn't see anyone else on the trail.