Sasse Ridge

Up early to beat the heat, I left the house in Cle Elum at 7am. At about 730 I turned off the Salmon la Sac highway to Forest Service Road #128. The road is totally unmarked but is about 1 mile past the Thorp Lake turnoff and almost directly across from a small picnic area on the Cle Elum River. The road itself is a little rough, but not too bad until you get to around 3300', which is about 2.5 miles up from the highway. There is a nice place to park here at the end of a switchback. Vehicles with higher ground clearance can go further, perhaps cutting up to 4 miles off the hike (2 miles each way).

Follow the road roughly 2 miles and observe improving views to the west and south, including Mt Rainier. At 2 miles, the road splits--stay right, following the spur up another half mile to the road end. The somewhat obscure trail starts here, moving rapidly into cool forest. The trail is marked approximately 1/8 mile in as Little Salmon la Sac Trail.

Shortly the trails enters a steep area, bordering a large rock field on the right and forest on the left. In about one-quarter mile, the trail again trends north, back into the forest, leveling out nicely. In another quarter mile, water is found in the form of a small, swampy area. Using a convenient log, cross the swamp, picking up the trail again in the upper left quadrant of a wet, shady field. Here the trail continues up to the ridge line, which is reached in a few minutes.

To the south is Sasse Mountain, barely a quarter mile away as the crow flies. I went to the left, following the ridge north. The trail crosses steep fields of wildflowers and offers peakaboo views of Mt Stuart and more wide open views down the West Fork of the Teanaway River and further east toward Ellensburg and Blewett Pass.

In another quarter mile, a high point of 5650' is reached with glorious views in all directions, particuarly to the west and south. Mt Rainier looms spectacuarly. Hiking distance from the car is about 4.25 miles, hiking time about 2.5 hours, back about 1.5 hours. With more time, the ridge could be followed further in both directions, resulting no doubt in a pleasant romp. Pack plenty of water, sunscreen and shades--it's hot and bright. Once the ridge is crossed, there is decent cell phone coverage.