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Day Hike - Kachess–Domerie Loop

Long loop trip with great views and flowers. Lots of up and down, some of it quite steep.

Brian Carpenter Brian Carpenter
July 19, 2020
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • We did the loop counter clockwise.  From the Easton Ridge TH, we headed up towards Easton Ridge. At the flat we turned left on  the Domerie Divide trail and followed it up to Para Point, then up and down along the ridge to the north. At the head of the Silver Creek Basin we took the Silver Creek tie west to connect with the Kachess Ridge trail, which we then followed down to the TH.  

    There are sections of this trail, especially along the ridge between Para Point and Silver Creek tie, that are quite eroded and one downhill section requires careful footing.  Ridge walk is a mix of trees and meadows, with trees predominating most of the time.  The only water on the trip is from Silver Creek.

    The turn off to the TH from the Kachess Dam road has an orange flag but no sign. Do NOT follow the road that goes along the powerline corridor.

    The trail between the Easton Ridge "flat" and Para Point to the north, where the trail to Baldy goes east, is extremely steep and goes straight up in some places.  It's much easier going up than coming down.

Hot, sunny day so our plan was to do the loop counterclockwise so we could get up Easton Ridge and to Para Point, the biggest, steepest sections, before the sun and heat set in. We were in the shade about 90% of the time up to Para Point.  I had forgotten how steep this section is! It dispenses with switchbacks in many places, going straight up. Also chose the counter clockwise route so we did not have to go down this section of trail.

Views started from just below Para Point, out towards Kachess and Mt. Rainier. Rainier followed us most of the day. Views to the east of the Teanaway and Stuart range were great on the ridge but views to the north were obscured by trees.

From Para Point we rolled up and down along the ridge to the north on the Domerie Divide trail. There are multiple stopping points in meadows with great views down to Lake Cle Elum and east towards the Teanaway.  There is one downhill section on the ridge that is quite steep and badly eroded, requiring careful footing.

From the north end of the ridge we headed west on the Silver Creek Tie trail. While short, this trail has more steep ups and downs as it traverses the ridgeline.  Again, you are in forest part of the time and in open meadows part of the time.   Flowers were spectacular today!  Paintbrush, lupines, buckwheats, gilia, penstemon, arnica, etc.  The Silver Creek tie trail eventually drops steeply on more loose rock/dirt before climbing straight up to the shoulder of West Peak of French Cabin Mountain. From the shoulder the trail drops down to Silver Creek and the first water source.  Once down from the shoulder the trail actually acts like a trail, switchbacking nicely.

After filling up with water we headed down the "boring" part of the trip:  5 miles of mostly forest trail downhill to the trailhead. There are several creek crossings that we just walked right through because we didn't care about wet boots by this time.  More steep, eroded trail sections closer to the trailhead on this section.

Back to the cars at 4pm, 9 hours total, about 13 miles and 4000' gain.