Kachess Ridge spans over eight miles north to south above Kachess Lake’s east shore. On the north end rises Thorp Mountain as the second tallest peak on the long ridgeline after Red Mountain. Meanwhile, Kachess Beacon perches over the southern tip by Easton Ridge.
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Kachess Ridge at a Glance
Kachess Ridge = Hard Cheese + Hard Knox + Not Knox + Kachess Ridge + French Tongue + French Chin
卡契斯脊=硬起司+諾克斯峯+非諾克斯峯+卡契斯脊+法國舌+法國頦
Access: French Cabin Creek Trailhead
Round Trip: 8 miles
Elevation Range: 4160′-5841′
Gear: microspikes, helmet
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
The Preface
After yesterday’s trip, the pup and I came back to the area to tackle a few more high points. In the past, we’d explored places along Kachess Ridge. But we have yet to check out the space between Little Kachess Peak and Thorp Mountain.
Because of poor weather, we only went as far as French Cabin Mountain during the last tip. So this time, we connected the dots by visiting the neighboring peaks to the west. But the great weather certainly helped.
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French Cabin Creek Trail to Hard Cheese
Road 4308 was in decent shape. The spur road 134 was a bit rocky and brushy. But luckily, we were able to continue through to the West Fork French Creek crossing and park before the culvert. We hiked up the road and then reached the trailhead shortly.
French Cabin Creek Trail followed the gentle terrain to the first junction. Then we got onto the Thorp Mountain Trail and headed north. The decent trail made a couple of long switchbacks before snow appeared. After a few more turns, then we finally reached the forested summit.
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Onward to Hard Knox
With no views on Hard Cheese, we continued to walk across the snow-filled summit meadow. Just before we started to go down the north side, the summer trail resurfaced. Soon, the path became icy above the saddle. So I put on microspikes by the clearing looking toward Hard Knox.
Despite being in the forest, there were occasional views out to the northeast. At 5600′, the trail bypassed Hard Knox on the east. But we stayed on the ridge crest and scrambled the rest 200′ up to the top. The shrub-covered summit offered excellent views.
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Next Stop, Not Knox
Not Knox was just a stone’s throw away. So after soaking up the views, we proceeded to go down the west ridge and reached the saddle. We moved over to the south slopes after seeing that the ridgeline was becoming rocky. Then directly below the summit, we went up to the top by way of scree and slabs.
Not Knox was only a few feet shorter than Hard Knox. But it was woodsy except on the south side. So we could still see the nearby high points from here. I looked at the clock and saw that there was still plenty of time in the day. So I decided to check out Kachess Ridge also.
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En Route to Kachess Ridge High Point
After making our way down via the west ridge, we scrambled east and went back on the main trail. Then we hiked back through Hard Cheese and went down the south side. Right before reaching the trail junction, we made a right onto Road 115. This way got us right to the bottom of Kachess Ridge.
From the north saddle, I found a faint trail leading up to the forested ridge. The path became more defined higher up, and it stayed on the crest. Along the way, through trees, we were able to see out to the east. Once we got to the ridgetop, the summit was just another 150′ gain to the south.
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Kachess Ridge Summit Ridge Traverse
The GPS track indicated that we were on the real summit. But the southeastern high point had me wonder. So we traversed over the crest to check it out since it wasn’t much farther down the ridgeline. Once there, I then glanced back and saw that the other end of the ridge was a little taller.
Despite the wind, this high point offered a much better view of Kachess Lake. It also had more of a panoramic view compared with the real summit. After staying for a short time, we reversed the traverse back to the other side. We stayed for a while since the wind was much calmer here.
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The Neighboring French Tongue
Earlier, when we were at the bottom of Kachess Ridge, I took notice of the two impressive features. After looking at them again from the summit, I decided to go and check out the terrain. Neither of them looked feasible for the pup. But he could always wait for me below the top if need be.
A buttress west of French Tongue forced us down to 5100′ to bypass it. As we went up in the south gully, we then encountered a class 4 step. But it was feasible for us to get up and down. So we both climbed up to the somewhat exposed summit and enjoyed the views for a short while.
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French Chin Views Plus Outro
Later we dropped onto the south ridge down to the forested east saddle. Kachess Ridge No Name Ridge Trail (#1315) traveled through this pass. We went up the west ridge to the top of French Chin with a bivvy site. Since the views were more or less the same as French Tongue, we didn’t stay long.
Back on the pass, we followed the trail back into French Cabin Basin. The path intersected French Cabin Creek Trail in half a mile. It was the same junction we went through this morning. We then reversed our route and got back to the trailhead in one mile. From there, we bypassed the road by scrambling through light brush and down to the car.
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