Kachess Ridge

Went and did a nice little ride that I had wanted to do for a while with a couple of other guys. It turned out to be close to 19 miles, took us about 5 hours with a good lunch break, and a little exploring.

Kachess Ridge lines the east side of Lake Kachess, just north of the town of Easton, about 40 miles from Ellensburg. We parked along the FS road that goes along the east side, and proceeded to ride about 6 uneventful flat miles along the lake.... then we went up. The next 4.5 miles of FS road head right up the ridge.... for 2500 feet of elevation gain. there is not a whole lot of relief in there, a few small flats, and that is about it. I was riding my old bike as a 1X8 and wishing i had a granny like the other 2 guys, but I toughed it out. We stopped for lunch with another group of riders (I fixed a busted chain link) then tried to find the single track.

The trail passes close to the road, but never intersects it. This route has been done enough though, that people have cut a connector (very steep and loose) to the trail. We got there, rode a little ways, and then started walking for about .25 mi to the pass, since the trail was not ridable there.

From the pass, it was fast fast fast single track, along the Silver Creek drainage. It was bliss, and seemed to go on forever. In the trees it was a bit rooty, but not too bad, and still grippy. I was amazed at all the blow downs in there. The last 1.5 miles of trail drop suddenly in some really steep, loose, rocky switchbacks. Before I knew it we were dumped back out on a FS connector road, and it was over. Definitely a keeper of a ride.