Went to the French Cabin Mountain area to climb Kachess Ridge, French Tongue, French Chin, and French Cabin Mountain. The rock on French Tongue was too wet to climb. Initially we took the boot path just at the saddle on the right of the trail, traversed some rock, and opted to descend the rock, and ascent the dirt gully up. Upon reaching the base of the French Tongue summit block, the rock was too mossy and wet for a safe scramble given the footwear we were wearing, and the binding of the wet dirt to my shoe tred. My GTX boots remain non-waterproof again and resulted in a shorter trip.
Upon descending the dirt gully, we make a direct ascent for the saddle between French Tongue and Kachess Ridge, to a rock formation resembling a large throne – I have seen it referred to as the French Pimple in other trip reports. We traversed the ridge to the true summit, encountered some blustery winds, and opted to switch between the left and right of the ridge depending on the terrain – some were forested, some exposed good rock, some loose dirt. On the second to last high spot on the ridge, the right (West) had some good rock, but we opted to initially descend to the dirt on the left, then ascending the final summit through brush and trees.
The traverse ridge was a great scramble – highly recommended for the views of the lake, and mountains to the North – Stuart and the Enchantments Peaks made an appearance in the distance.
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/kachess-ridge-and-french-tongue-5b8e4fd
