Kachess Ridge Highpoint 5.19.06

The High point of Kachess Ridge is Pt 5525 which ranks in at #61 on the Home Court 100. I scouted the road last week that runs the length of the eastern shore of Lake Kachess so I knew I could drive at least a short ways up road 4824. I was able to drive to 3200ft where I was stopped by snow. I arrived at the ripe hour of 4pm so I was treated with soft snow and beating afternoon sun. The road walk went quite quickly, I was glad I had a map to consult because of the maze of logging roads that criss-cross the area. I dropped pack on the broad saddle just north of my objective. I stayed mostly on the ridge that starts obviously to the south. Most of the ridge is quite benign but there were a few areas that required caution because of the soft snow. I found it easier to scramble some of the rock areas instead of doing a steep traverse through the soft snow. The final push to the summit was easy and open and provides some great views of the area peaks. It was quite stunning to see Lake Kachess over 3000ft below me. I picked my was carefully back to my pack. This area suprised me with some of the sheer rock faces in the area. I was quite impressed with the rock group just to the east of the high point. I think one of the spires has been aptly dubbed ""Little Pecker"". I was impressed with the volume of water in any creek that I passed. I hope this does not translate into landslides and lowland flooding that is plagueing other areas of the state.