Foumile Ridge by Devils Backbone perches over Entiat River Road. It sits across from the long Tyee Ridge rising above the valley. Moreover, Lake Chelan, the third deepest lake in North America, winds below the north shore.
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Fourmile Ridge at a Glance
Access: NF-5501
Round Trip: TBD
Elevation Range: 5440′-7128′
Gear: none
GPS Track: available
Route Info: David Carmody
Dog-Friendly: yes
Road 5501
Happy first day of summer! I planned to go to Fourmile Ridge three years ago. But the rocky farther west, the ridge looked sketchy under the late spring snow. So here we were three years later.
I found nothing on the starting point except one seven-year-old report on peakbagger.com. David drove up to 5000′, and another hiker was here less than a month ago, which was a good sign.
The Forest Service site still had outdated road conditions. But my main concern on the 12-mile drive was the possible down trees. The worst was to turn around, but luckily, the roadway was clear of large debris.
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Fourmile Ridge Southeast Ridge
We drove to the road’s end at 5400′ and didn’t expect to see anyone. But to my surprise, a family was camping there. The father asked if I needed space for the night so he could move his RV to make room for us. Wow, no, but thank you!
Above the road was a trail, which looked great for being in the middle of nowhere. So we followed it up the southwest ridge until it ended by an old radio tower. Soon, we continued and joined the Fourmile Ridge Trail at 6600′.
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Fourmile Ridge Summit
We walked the next 200′ uphill with the view of Tyee Ridge behind us. Then it was only another 200′ of light scrambling to Fourmile Ridge’s high point from the saddle. Grass patches and granite rocks made up the flat summit.
Clouds had moved in earlier when we were down on the trail. So it was cloudy when we reached the top. Our only views were of the nearby basins, so we left right after taking our photos.
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Outro
Instead of returning the way we came, we took the west ridge. The map showed Fourmile Ridge Trail going over the western saddle, so I thought we would go on the path there. We traversed by hugging the crest despite being rocky.
Then clouds had lifted some when we reached the trail, but the views were just ok. From the saddle, we took the path back to the southwest ridge. Then it was a quick drop on the ridgeline and back to the car.
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That is such a good name for it.