Well... We left Bellevue in search of sunny skies and a little-known trail. After deciding on the hike up Thorp Mountain near Salmon La Sac and driving up the rough and always brushy road to the trailhead, it was instantly discovered that we would not see too much from the summit's lookout cabin. The Knox Creek trail shot straight up a half-meadow-half-logged mountainside in a STEEP section of path that manages to cram something close to 20 switchbacks into the space of maybe a half-mile. It was very brushy in this section, and our pants ended up sopping wet from absorbing all the water from the mostly-dead meadow plants that need serious trimming! When the trail decided to quit switchbacking, the trail angled up so steeply, under a crumbling rock point of Kachess Ridge, it required a little class-2-ish scrambling. It topped out on the ridge and came to a junction with a trail to French Cabin Mtn. (the sign needs replacing...) By this point, it began to rain and cloud up and only several distant summits and Thorp Lake were in view. It soon got very cold, and the trail rolled up and down a wooded stretch of ridge before making the final spiraling pitch to the summit. When the clouds briefly broke, a dizzy view down to Kachess and Little Kachess Reservoirs, as well as the bases of Chimney Rock and Lemah Mountain appeared for maybe 15 minutes before becoming whited-out again. After an easy but exposed section, some hiking through a tiny copse of stunted trees brought us to Thorp Mountain's windswept top, seeming much higher than it's 5,800 feet. The boarded-up old lookut cabin, though a bit tattered, looked cosy inside after the freezing, steep hike, but it was tightly locked. Every now and then the clouds broke a little, giving sweeping looks straight down to roadless-area valleys whose remaining forests are almost certainly doomed under the possibly longer reign of Bush II and his faithful sidekick Chainsaw Cheney. On the drive back home via Roslyn, we stopped at the Cruise-In there for what are quite possibly the Western World's best milkshakes!

Hike #60 in ""100 hikes in Washington's Alpine Lakes"". Page 152 of the thrid edition (Mountaineers). We chose to spend the night on top of Thorp Mountain to view the Perseid meteors. Although it invovled a bit of a drive and some effort, the location was superb for our purpose. There is a 360 degree view of the sky with almost no light pollution. There are currently quite a few forest fires near Lake Chelan, so there was a lot of haze near the horizon, but no actual forest fires were visible from the lookout. Bullfrog Road from I-90 exit #80 to Rosyln is open. The drive from Seattle to the trailhead is almost eaxctly 100 miles. The last seven miles are on dirt roads. The last two miles are on a rather poorly maintained dirt road. My Subaru Legacy did fine on these two miles, but I did bump the bottom of my pan on a couple of deep ruts. You may consider taking a car with more ground clearance. I did not feel 4wd was necessary; but a good ground clearance might be. The ground is very dry; the situation might change with mud or snow. The distance along road 4308(120) from its departure from road 4308 measured 1.9 miles on my odometer. The trailhead is easy to miss in the dark (but you probably won't be arriving in the dark). The parking area looks more like a passing area. There is a small sign. The road quality drops a bit after the trailhead, so we figured out that we needed to trun around after driving a half mile past the trailhead. There is no trail register (but there is a pole near the trailhead sign that might once have held such a register). No outhouse at the trailhead. We had little problem following the trail with headlamps even though at times grass mostly obscured the ground or in steep regions it became a very narrow tread due to erosion. We summited in about 140 minutes with overnight packs. My altimeter had the trailhead at 4100 feet, and the first ridge crest at 5100 ft (which differ slightly from the altitudes given in 100 hikes). There are some flat areas suitable for camping near the ancient helipad for the lookout. The lookout was unmanned. The descent took about 100 minutes. No water is available anywhere on the trail. Bugs were only a problem near dawn and were relatively minimal. Probably at dusk, too, but since we started our hike at 10pm, we didn't encounter these. We had a delicous brunch at the Roslyn Cafe on the way back. $9 apiece. Hours 9-11am.

Started rather late on a Sunday and decided on doing this trail based on the suggestions of a Washington Hiking book. The road leading to the trailhead is unpaved for the final 6 miles or so, so a 4 wheel drive is highly recommended (though we only found that out in hindsight). It was nice and sunny throughout (early summer) and practically snowfree right to the top. Lots of wild flowers and vegetation, though the only form of fauna was a couple of pet dogs that other hikers had brought along. Note that there were only three or four people we met along the way, so this might be a good bet if you are looking for something secluded. The drive from Seattle is nearly 100 miles. Also, the road to Rosalyn is currently closed so you have to go via Cle Elum.

I found myself with a day off from work, so what better to do with a free Wednesday than head to the hills? I got a late start and wanted a fairly easy, snow-free hike. I was tired of lugging my heavy mountaineering boots up mountains and wanted to work the approach shoes back into the picture. Thorp Mtn had been on my list for awhile and I figured to avoid snow, the farther East, the better. I chose to depart from the Knox Creek TH, as you get to park a good 700’ higher (4200’) than the traditional Thorp Creek TH @ 3500’. It also shaves off nearly a mile each way. The road is in good condition and snow-free to the TH. The trail tread is in decent condition and the bugs were out, but not interested in me. The trail stayed snow-free until reaching the saddle @ 5300’, where trail 1315 goes S and 1315.2 heads N to Thorp’s summit. The snow is still about 1’-2’ deep in the trees, but very well consolidated. I never post-holed and my low-cut approach shoes stayed dry. You’ll find the trail to be hit-and-miss, but just stay on the ridge heading N, avoiding rocky outcroppings on the W side, and you can’t go wrong. The lookout is locked and boarded up, but looks to be in good condition and stoked with supplies inside. Thorp Lake is melted out, but it’s surrounding basin is still snow-filled. Lots of deer in the area. One of which, a mature buck Mule Deer, allowed me to follow it through the woods at a distance of about 15 feet. Stats: 1hr up, 50 min down, 5mi RT, 1600’ 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.