This area sees more snowmobiles than hikers in the winter. We were on our way out to the east. But then I decided to shorten the day by revisiting Kachess Beacon.
See more trip photos here.
Kachess Beacon at a Glance
Access: Kachess Ridge Trailhead
Round Trip: 7 miles
Elevation Range: 2200′-4615′
Gear: microspikes, snowshoes
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Road 4818
From Sparks Road, I turned right onto Road 4818. Aka Kachess Dam Road. But we could only go another 500′ before coming to the end of the plowed roadway.
So I parked the car next to several other vehicles by the turnaround. Then the pups and I started hiking. But it would be another 1.5 miles to reach the trailhead.
See more trip photos here.
Walking to the Trailhead
There have been lots of recent snowmobile tracks on the road. So we were able to use them and avoid postholing. But I wore microspikes for traction. Later we turned right onto Road 4818-101 and went east.
Soon, it was apparent that there hadn’t been recent foot tracks here. So the snow soon deepened on this road. But I was still able to stay afloat by walking smack in the middle.
See more trip photos here.
Kachess Ridge Trail
Once we reached the trailhead, I put on snowshoes. Then we continued on the Kachess Ridge Trail up toward the ridge. For the most part, we could stay on track by following the indentation in the snow.
Later at 3600′, the trail parallelled Silver Creek to the west. If I recall, the path switchbacks at 1.8 miles from the trailhead. Then it would move southwest up through the eastern slopes.
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Kachess Beacon Summit
But I decided not to continue up to the switchback. Instead, at mile 1.5, we began scrambling up the eastern slopes while going west. So we could shave off some distance. Not sure if we saved any time, though.
Before the tower, we saw ski tracks going down the steeper west side. But we stopped at the radio facility like the time before. The clouds never left during our stay. So our only views were of the tower and one another.
See more trip photos here.
Outro
On the way down, we made use of the excellent snow. Then we quickly shortcut southeast down to 3600’. Then we joined our up tracks to hike back to the trailhead.