This TR is for the Kachess ridge trail from NFSR 4818-01 to Thorp Mountain, I did not take the fork off to Kachess Beacon or see the trail from Knox Creek trailhead.
NFSR 4818 is wide and in great shape. 4818-01 is a little narrower and bumpier, but my Honda Civic did just fine.
I did allow the title of "ridge" to scare me into bringing more water than needed: there are multiple places to filter water until the trail separates from Silver Creek on the way up to French Cabin Basin
The trail is largely in good shape, it felt a little more rugged after the northern Kachess Beacon junction, but I expect that when I'm hiking in this far.
After this Junction there's plenty of open meadow and forest that looks like great bear habitat; I did see scat in several places on the trail as well (but no bears). There's a few log crossings in this area and slight encroachment of vegetation on the trail, but nothing that difficult.
Where the trail drops down toward French Cabin Basin there's a small patch (<50') of snowy side hilling where a fall could result in a collision with some trees, so be prepared for that. Several more patches of snow remain on the other side (N) of the basin and beyond, but they're all easy to pass.
After the trail plateaus on the N side of French Cabin Basin there's a couple hundred feet where the understory becomes non existent and the trail becomes very subtle in the duff; it doesn't disappear entirely, but it's prudent to keep your eye on it here. This was the only route finding difficulty on this trip. The trail does deteriorate a little from this point to Knox Creek junction, with some (slightly) crumbly exposed slopes. Again: passable, with a little exercised caution.
The trail from the Knox Creek junction all they way up to Thorp Mountain lookout is again in good shape, with no snow remaining on the final ascent to Thorp Mountain. The lookout is slightly rotted and completely locked up.
The summit yields excellent views of Chikamin, Lemah, Hinman, Daniel, etc. and of the enchantments, more in the distance.
Another great view on the hike looks over Knox creek as one passes by Hard Cheese, etc.
There are also plenty of vibrant wildflowers on the trail right now.
Note that the WTA mileage and elevation listings are for smaller legs of this route. The entire Kachess ridge trail is 9mi one way and 4800 totaled gain (with 1447 loss, making it a little over 6200' round trip). While I do enjoy bragging, this is an important consideration as it is a pretty burly day hike.
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