Trip Reports

If you are looking for a short hike (5 miles round trip) with an elevation gain of 1500 feet and a snow free trail this is for you. During the week it is usually a quiet hike but on the weekend you might have to share with motorbikes. There are a few downed trees to negotiate but they are easy to get around. Other than that this is a nice trail with many wildflowers out and magnificent views of the surrounding mountains.

Having read several accounts of difficulty finding the trail, i thought for sure that i had the plan down, and that I wouldn't lose the trail... i was wrong. Oh well, we wandered through a lot of logging slash, and took a x-country route until we found the main trail somewhere near the top. I'd give it two or so more weeks and the trail should be completely melted out, there's still a bit of snow up top, but routefinding once on the proper trail is quite easy. Saw some fresh mountain lion tracks up top, along with lots of evidence of deer. Weather was warm and sunny, with the snow soft, making for a fun afternoon in the mountains. Solid views from the top reward those who persevere onward despite the low elevations confusion.

A sunny day and a long slog are rewarded by 360 degree view of snow capped mountains. The snow has melted out a lot. We started on bare road with occasionally snow patches, and were still crossing numerous bare patches up until we entered the forest near to the top.

As you will see from other reports the hardest part of the hike is finding the start. Just past the Newport Creek sign you will see a road sign Newport Creek Dr, also a developers notice board for Newport Creek developments. About 100 ft up the road is a yellow gate. This is the start of the trail. The snow has gone from the roadside now so it is easy to find parking. We could not see any FR116 road sign.

The area around the start of the trail has been prepped for development,with multiple side roads and telephone cable boxes. However nothing has been built in the last 4 years since we last hiked here. The multiple roads, which are not on the map, make following FR 116 highly confusing. As before we got a way off route, but with map and gps we ended up heading cross country until we regained the trail. I strongly recommend a good map and gps.

Based on our return trip I believe the correct trail is as follows, after 1/4 mile the main road bends to the left. Looking straight ahead there is a single pine and to the right of it going straight ahead is a seemingly smaller road. Yesterday that trail was snow covered, unlike the main road. Go straight ahead here and then follow the road to the left at the next junction about another 100 yds on.

The start of the trail off FR 116 is clearly signed. From here the route finding is simple, just follow the ridge. We decided to snow shoe up after entering the forest since we had carried them this far, but they weren't necessary. Finally when you are almost at the top you head right for the final 1/4 mile to the top. Just before the top you break out of the trees and climb to the peak. The views are amazing, looking out to the Enchantments to the NE and Mt Daniels to the NW.

The return trip is fast. We descended in under half the time it took us to climb.

The trail head was difficult to locate. I drove passed it three times. The Newcastle Creek sign was bent in half (onto itself) so it was impossible to read. A word of advice, look for heavy construction equipment on the right side of the road when heading North and you are at the trail head. Ran into a couple of snow campers near the top and viewed numerous animal tracks in the snow. Hex mountain was my first snow shoeing adventure, I am hooked. I highly recommend this hike.

I climbed this peak in the afternoon and came out after dark. The trail was good but starting to melt. There was about 3 feet of snow and the snowmobile trails were pretty numerous. I had to use snow shoes the whole time as I was sinking down about a foot without them. The views were great in all directions. I used my new GPS to tract off the beaten trail and it worked great. At times I needed to trust it better than my instincts and it was right. It brought me right out to the summit ridge. I saw no one around the whole trip, very quiet.

I stopped at the bar at the bottom of the trail head (Sasse) parking lot and had a cold one before going home.

All in all it was a great trip and fun.

Hooray, two peak monkeys off my back! I came close but missed the summit of Hex last year. Back again for another shot and this time we hit the top with spectacular views and weather. Getting stuck in avalanche control work at the pass, parking in the wrong spot, and starting on the wrong road - none of those stopped us. We drove up a short plowed road just beyond Newport Creek and parked by a snowed in bulldozer and pump house. I'd though this was where we started last year but was wrong. There was enough space for our two Outbacks but not much else. Luckily we didn't get tickets.

From there we promptly got lost, myself still sure we were starting at the correct spot. Eventually we figured it out and went up and over the little bump between us and the logging road and were on our way. From there we chugged along the road which was rock hard from snowmobiles. Surprisingly we were able to find the trailhead sign poking out of the snow. Some steep uphill on soft snow and we gained the ridge. Fantastic views everywhere!

Along the way we marveled at the wind sculpted snow and huge cornices. There was also a running crack where the snow was breaking away from the ridge similar to what Bryan saw in his trip. We poked around it a bit and found some quite deep. At one point our adventurous little dog Noey got too close and slipped in. We quickly fished her out before she fell deeper and she was no worse for wear. A bit later Bingram poked his pole deep into a crack and the crack poked back in his next step, sucking in his leg. After our fun we pushed on to the top.

Great views everywhere. Stuart and the whole Enchantment range were out. Even Rainier was visible down to its base. We took a leisurely lunch with the other large group who summited first and then made a quick descent on sun softened snow. This time we followed the road to its end to prove I parked in the wrong spot. The start of the road had several bulldozers deeply snowed in and was not plowed. It was a simple five minute walk up to our parking spot. I don't know if this is an allowable spot to park but we didn't see any signs. Everyone else was parked up the road a ways in a pull out.

Trip photos: http://www.pbase.com/billcat/hex2/

It seems like it has been forever since traveling I90 was a reliable option. As it turns out, it was still not reliable on this day - closures at the snow shed for snow work - again. We eventually made it to the Roslyn area and north to the small road pull out near Newport Creek. Under perfect blue skies we started up the road system (about .2 miles north of the only legal parking). The road system can be quite confusing since there are so many roads and so many of them are new enough to not be on any maps. In general, keep taking the right fork if it goes up hill at all. At about 2 miles, the trailhead sign barely poked through the snow. From that point, the route is climb to the ridge line and stay on the ridge line. At about 5000', there is a local high point and the route to Hex is to the right - flat terrain until the last 200 yards. The reward is a 360 degree view of Rainier, the Stuart Range, all of the Teanaway area, and the Alpine Lakes area. It was really quite nice.

A Mountaineers snowshoe trip to a low avy risk eastside peak. The trip leader's plan was to do a loop starting on the W side of Newport Creek, roughly following the summer trail up the SW ridge and returning on the S ridge to the E of the creek.

We parked at a wide spot on the Salmon La Sac Road, just E of where the road crosses Newport Creek. We were the first there, but the parking area was nearly filled by the time we got back in early afternoon. The road is plowed and in good shape with compact snow. The Suburu’s had no problems.

We crossed the creek and set off up hill to intersect with the forest road leading generally NE toward the summer trailhead. We found the trailhead at about 3450' and started up the ridge in the trees. Snow conditions were mostly pretty good. Except that in many areas we found a hard icy crust 6 to 8 inches under the softer dry surface snow. The crust was difficult to break through. Made the downhill part of the trip interesting as my MSR's did a pretty good impersonation of skis... fun when you're ready for it but otherwise not so much.

We completed the pleasant ridge walk to the summit, retreated back into the trees for a break and some lunch, before heading ESE along the summit ridge for our return along the E side of Newport Creek.

Almost immediately we realized why the well used, nicely packed trail we'd followed up didn't continue along our intended path for the descent. Snowmobiles... if you're not a fan the area below the eastern end of the summit ridge and between Newport and Davis Creeks should be avoided. Lots of folks out having a great time on their machines this Sunday.

Were able to navigate our way back out to the Salmon La Sac road, just a little E of the parking area. A short walk to the cars, an early mexican dinner in Cle Elum and home by 5:00pm. Excellent trip, great group of people.

Hex Mountain was our backup plan when the other access roads we were going to try out were blocked by snow. In an earlier report, I indicated that there is quite a road maze to navigate but we finally found the correct combination to get from SR903 to the trailhead which is 1.7 miles and about 1000' of gain from the car. The road walk was OK with the start of spring flowers (just barely starting though) and the different animal tracks in the soft road bed or snow patches. Speaking of snow, there were patches from about 2900' to 3300' and then there were patches of road or trail to at least the 4300' level. Then it was solid snow to the top. The snow was firm to almost icy (especially in the upper treed section) on the way up but it softened up considerably for the descent. On the trail section of the hike, the views got better and better as we ascended the ridge line but there were great 360 degree views from the top (Rainier, Stuart, Daniel, Hinman, etc.) The real treat of the trip was talking with a family of 4 at the summit. The 2 young boys were really excited to have found Easter eggs in the trees on the way up. Apparently, the Easter bunny could not get there on Easter Sunday due to bad weather and had delayed his trip until this weekend. They were sure that they saw the Easter bunny ""bounding through the trees"". According to the older of the two boys, Hex Mt is ""one of the few peaks in the Cascades that is visited by the Easter bunny"". So, keep that in mind as a trip for next Easter. Also, when they were not talking about the Easter bunny, they were able to rattle off peak names, elevations, and route descriptions of places they had been. After they left, we soaked up the sun for another 20 minutes and then had to leave for pizza in Roslyn.

Other than a few clouds and some strong winds in the clearcut area, it was a good day based on Pacfic Northwest Standards in early April. The access road just beyond Newport Creek is melted out enough to be able to park off the main highway but the snow starts just beyond the locked gate. By staying in the old snowmobile tracks snowshoes were not needed on the road to the official start of the Hex Mountain Trail. From the trailhead to the tree covered upper ridge beyond the last clearcut snowshoes were essential, especially going across the large clearcut area. Snowshoes were used all the way out.

Phenomenal views towards the top. We took the longer route as we forgot to bring the map with us and got confused trying to get to the trail. We parked at Newport Creek, walked south along the road, crossing Davis creek, and then took the road on the leading up to the Sasse mountain trailhead. From there we followed the main logging road up following the most beaten path. At about .6 mi, there was a fork in the road (bear creek loop), and we stayed left. We continue on following the main road for another ~1.5 mi until we hit some parking area/trailhead. From there we followed the signs to Sasse ridge/Mtn through a logging road and then hit the actual trailhead for Sasse Mtn. Then the climbing was steeper and if you follow that you will hit the summit in about 1 hr, with a couple of short downhill sections. The views were rewarding throughout. It was a mostly sunny day, and not windy except at the summit itself. We didn't have to use snowshoes at all, and we only ran into a one group of snowmobilers

However, it sounds like there's a more direct route if after parking at Newport Creek, you walk north along the road for a bit, before getting onto a logging road on the right. This is judging from the map and previous trip reports. Get a better idea of the way from the parking lot to the summit from the other trip reports and a topo map with the loggins roads.

T and I were looking for a moderate day on skis where he could try out new gear, someplace different, and with a minimum of avalanche danger. Hex Mt. fit all of the above criteria. Parking was no problem in the plowed area off Salmon LaSac Rd, near Newport Creek. We walked to the logging road turnoff and skied up the main track to Hex Mt. trailhead, about 1.7 mi from Salmon LaSac road.

From the trailhead, we climbed to the ridge and had a brief lunch at the knob, still quite a ways from the summit. The wind was cold and weather was moving in. The snow would be tricky so we decided to minimize the faceplants by turning around here.

The ski out was mainly breakable crust with pockets of beautiful powder. I broke a few tree branches as the skis refused to turn and slowly picked my way down, while T maintained his usual style of aggresive skiing and wipeouts. Long traverses, kickturns and many wobbly turns got us back to the logging road. Luckily the road, churned up by a combination of snow machine, snowshoes and skis, had softened slightly so the glide out wasn't too bad. A short day (4 hours r.t.), but fun to try someplace different. I'll be back when there's more powder, and hopefully make it to the summit.

Saw three other pairs of snowshoers, one dog, no snowmobiles.

It has been eons since I last went to Hex Mt and the last time the views extended about 10 to 20 yards with a brisk breeze and horizontal snow. Not so this day although I did add some adventure to the trip. The parking situation is a pull out for single vehicles (no trailers) about .2 miles on the Roslyn side of Newport Ck. I was not sure about the permit required so I asked the people in the car behind me. The response was: ""Well, Mr. John Deer, we don't know either."" I seem to run into acquaintances all over the mountains which is probably a good thing. I posted both a Sno Park and Forest Pass and Kelly posted a forest pass. Both of our vehicles were free of citations.

So, on the way up I took the wrong fork, added some extra mileage, some interesting route finding, and a lot a step kicking by myself to get back to the correct ridge. The only redeeming feature of my circuitous route was that I avoided the brutally cold wind on the ridge from the start of trail 1343 up to the treed section of the ridge. I shared the summit with another couple, we took each others pictures, I snapped a few more pictures, and then we retreated from the cold summit. The views were out - Stuart, Rainier, Daniel, and all of the Teanaway - very nice.

The trip down was less eventful and based on reverse engineering here is the correct selection of forks in the road. Hike the gated road for .4 miles; take the right fork; in .1 or so miles take the left fork; in another .2 miles take the lower and more traveled right fork; and in 1.2 miles from the road take the upper left fork. The trail junction sign is visible above the snow line at 1.6 miles from the road. Climb to the ridge and follow it to the summit turning right at about 4900' toward the true summit. So, right, left, right, left, and up.

Still smarting from a game stolen from the Seahawks I turned my attention to some climbing. With the forcast for sunny and fairly mild weather I thought I would give Hex Mt. a try. I parked just before Newport Creek and walked the road until I reached the logging road. I had done this climb before and I remember the route to be a bit muddled. I merely stayed on the well packed snowmobile track until I reached the trailhead that is about an hour in. The trail starts out as a snowshoe track but is rejoined with the snowmobile track higher up on the ridge. I passed a couple on the ridge having lunch much to their surprise. The ridge is mostly open and the views start opening up as you climb higher. I dropped pack around 4200ft and continued on to the saddle around 4900ft from here it is just a bit farther to Hex Mt's summit. The snowmobiles had made it to the summit as well making both route finding and breaking trail quite easy. I only stayed for a short time before retracing my steps back to my pack. I switched up my descent a bit dropping steeply down to the logging road below via a high speed butt glissade. This saved some time and I made it back to the truck is less than 4 hours after starting. Thanks again Mom!

Dan Nelson's ""Snowshoe Routes Washington"" recommends Hex Mountain as ""the epitome of snowshoeing in the Cascades."" I'd have to agree it's definitely a great one, and I'll be heading back when better weather improves the views.

Roundtrip door-to-door time from Bellevue and back was 7 hours; 4 hours of that climbing time to the summit and back. The 1.7 mile route from the road to the trailhead was heavily compacted, and shoers looking to save energy might think about keeping the extra weight off their feet and just packing their snowshoes for that section. The remaining 1.8 miles are steeper and require plenty of energy. Nelson's book does not try to detail the approach on the logging roads, and the latest topo maps are not up-to-date, but this may help: after leaving the road and taking the first hard right, then the first hard left, the logging road levels out and gently curves to the right. At this point, maybe half a mile from the start, there's a fork in the logging road. The fork to the right appears to be the wrong choice, but this is the correct route. There is another fork to the right just twenty yards later, but stick to the left. From this point on, just stay on what appears to be the main road. At about 1.6 miles, the road takes a hard left to the west and as you round the ridge maybe 100 steps later, watch for the Hex Mountain trail sign on your right. It took me an hour to get here with just one 5-minute break.

From the here the route basically sticks to the ridge crest, and the views just get better and better, even though you are weaving in and out of thin tree cover. Saturday shoers had already blazed the route the day before, so making progress was much easier, but still a great workout. Eventually you'll have a clear look at most of the rest of the route up the ridge. There's a point about halfway up this ridge that gets a lot of wind from Lake Cle Elum when the winds are blowing east, and on this day the winds were ripping over the surface at probably 50 or 60 mph - enough that I had to lean into it to keep my balance. A couple of descending hikers said they'd made it through this section, but then decided to turn around because of the wind. Don't let the wind scare you off, because from this section on you're safely back in the trees all the way to the summit.

Nelson's book says there's no avalanche danger on the route, and that would be true if you stick precisely to the ridgeline. But there's a point along the ridge that descends slightly, and a route had been put in on the right (east) that traversed below the ridge crest so as to avoid unnecessary climbing. Be careful here if avalanche danger is high.

Once back in the trees, continue to stay to the ridge crest even though it's no longer as sharply defined. At 3.3 miles from the hike's start, the ridge abruptly ends and appears to run east-west. Take a right here (it appeared some had gone left, at least for a ways) and take the time to finish the climb. It's only about a quarter mile, and the view at the top is worth it. The final distance gets steeper and steeper until the very summit, when you take the last 20 steps or so out of trees and have a 360-degree view of the Cascades and Cle Elum Lake. It took me 2:45 to get to the summit from the road, and 1:15 for the descent.

Enjoy!

Our group of four opted for the sunnier East side when the West side looked a little damp. There is ample parking along the road near Newport Creek. We hiked up the road a mile or so then put on snowshoes and gained the ridge heading toward the summit. The snow is crusty right now due to the lack of new snow and recent rain.

In 3 hours we were on top with some views, sun and wind.

7 miles, 2900' ele gain, and 5.5 hours round trip. All in all a pretty fine trip. It looks like a new development is in sales progress at the start of the trip so I wonder if these roads to the trailhead will remain accessible to hikers?

Note: found radio at start of trip see lost and found section

It was with some hesitation that we went off to do Hex Mountain after reading the prior trip report. There are now ""No Trespassing"" signs at the gate where we parked. Not much snow there, so we elected to leave our snowshoes at the car (and ignored the signs).

I've done this trip almost every winter for at least the last 5 years, so I'm pretty familiar with the route and we had no problems hiking up the road to the trailhead. We continued up the ridge to the summit where we had great views.

There was so little snow that we never even bothered to stop and put on our gaitors. The last 50 feet to the summit was bare rock. Per the previous trip report, we expected to see new logging but there was no new logging anywhere along the route from the gate to the summit. The logged areas along the route were logged years ago, so anybody who does this trip on a regular basis (at least every 5 years) will not be put off by any new logging.

This trail is very much obliterated by logging and access roads built on private property adjacent to the National Forest in the last few years. We were following Dan Nelson's first edition of Snowshoe Routes: Washington, and found the area to be changed a lot from the route description. There is not even a sign for the forest road off of route 903 where the trail starts. Much of the area is clear-cut, and there are signs of pending development on many small lots parceled out of the private property. Consider this hike and likely others along the east side of route 903 outside of Roslyn to be dead.

If you do want to take a trip there before access is completely gone, start at the road just north of Nelson Creek (signed along the road). Then be sure to take the first right at a fork. As the guidebook says, the many spur roads can be confusing. We were off track right away and had to later go off trail up and over two ridges to get back to the ridge going up to the summit of Hex.

Sorry for the bad news.

The first half of this hike is up annoying logging roads. The trail itself follows a ridge at a moderately steep grade, up to the bald summit of Hex Mountain. At the half way point was a nice flower filled hillside and views down to Cle Elum Lake. The day I did this hike was cloudy and raining, so Ididn't have any of the nice views at the top.

Hex Mountain is melting out quickly. We left the cars about 9:15 and navigated through the confusing collection of logging roads - it helps to have a good memory or good, current directions. 1100' of gain gets you to the signed trailhead. From there we followed the trail along the ridge and then right to the summit where we drank espresso, ate chocolate truffles and enjoyed the view. Our snowshoes never left our packs. People coming up later in the day might have needed snowshoes, but the Hex Mountain snowshoe season is pretty much finished.

We carried our heavy packs for an overnight camp on Sasse Ridge. From where we parked at Newport Creek (El. 2400ft), we trudged up FS road 116. About 1/4 mile up the road you come to a Y. Take the road to the right. At the next branch (about 1/4 mile further) take a left. There are many spur roads that can cause confusion. The road has patches of dirt, and snowshoes are an option. In fact, there are bare patches most of the way up on the Hex Mountain trail. At 4900 ft we found the junction with the Sasse Ridge trail. Here we left our packs, and quickly summited Hex Mountain. Nice views in all directions. Returning to the junction we donned our packs, and proceded only about 1/4 mile to a nice camp spot on the ridge. We were too worn out to go further! The next morning was another beautiful day, so we continues on Sasse Ridge to point 5159. The views from here were great! We had the Stuart Range to the East and Rainier to the south. A great early spring snow camp!

This is a good snowshow hike which can be summarized - long climb ending in rewarding views.

The hardest part of the trail is finding it! To find the parking look for the sign Newport Creek, and you will see signed parking just before this. FR116 is not signed, it is the second small road on the right past the creek, currently has lot#3 sign on it. If you look up the hill you'll see a yellow gate. Follow up the road. Around 2700' the road splits with the wider road going to the left, while the narrower FR116 goes straight ahead, between 2 large trees (one currently has a ""no hunting"" sign on it). This split was not marked on our maps. Tracks showed most people went to the left as we did.

Armed with maps, compass and altimeter this is not a big problem. There are many clear cuts and you can navigate up the hillside choosing open slopes or trees.

Once you get onto the ridge, the route is clear. You climb up through clear cuts(snow makes them look much better) which affords views across to your destination, and out to Cle Elum lake. The wind can whistle over the ridge, but climbing keeps you warm. Finally you see a national forest boundary sign and you enter some beautiful forest. You see the Sasse Ridge trail and turn right, until you climb steeply to the open peak.

What views! Don those extra clothes and reap your reward.

Although there were many tracks of snow mobilers on the lower slopes, there were none out this Saturday.

The descent goes much more quickly. We took 4 hours up (with lunch) and 2 hours to return.

WONDERFUL!

Okay, you may want to read more. Drove east and it was cloudy approaching Snoqualmie Pass. Some broken clouds east but Amabilis (ol' faithful) was fog or cloud bound but we were heading east to the Cle Elum area and then up the Roslyn/Ronald couplet to Newport Creek and the road that accesses the Hex Mt trail. Bluer and bluer skies and bright sunlight.

It was mid-30's where we parked a bit west of the Last Resort resort!

Limited parking on the eastbound site just shy of Newport Creek. The road for Hex is just a bit west of the creek. It was snowmobiled and pretty frozen and the snow off to the side, crusty. We hoped that it would warm for the trip back down. The snowmobile tracks did accommodate our desire not to break trail like we did two years ago but were a bit less aesthetic. Up the road about 2 miles or so you can mount the ridge (and if you round the ridge as it hits the road you can see the Hex Mt Trail sign which we saw on the way down). Then we followed fresh snowshoe tracks up and up, into a fringe of forest along the ridge. Views out to Lake Cle Elum and patches of bright sunshine. Then it did start clouding up and the wind picked up. We found a spot along the narrowing ridge to eat a bit and add some more layers. Other skiers caught our leisurely pace and we all went up together, us two, their nine and two Randonee folks.

It was still kind of cloudy at the summit but with snatches of Mt Stewart and other hills and neat lighting out toward Cle Elum and points east. The wind had died down and it was not at all bad up there.

Time for the descent. It did not seem as steep on the way down as it had occasionally up. And the thicket of trees we wove through was also not bad. There was always a line and a turn to avoid most vegetation. It was a fine telie-time for all. There were some wind slabby spots as well as a few frozen areas. But the sun also came out and it was sunny for much of the descent. Also the road crust had softened and you could tool along on the softened edge or above the road. It is a very nice ridge ski.

Again, WONDERFUL.

It will become a more frequently visited place.

Road 116 is gated, so you'll need to park near Salmon la Sac Road. To find your way up to the trailhead, you'll generally want to take a right whenever you encounter a fork in the logging road (except for one right fork about 1/2 mile up that is a fairly narrow side road - keep to the left there.) Probably a better idea (that I employed) is to watch the ""bread crumb trail"" on your GPS if you have one, and make sure it matches up to the logging road that goes to the trailhead as shown on a paper map (I used Green Trails #208, 1986 revision - only road 116 is shown on that map, and it's the correct one that leads to the trailhead). There were a number of deer to be seen on the logging road.

There was no snow to speak of all the way to the top of Hex Mountain and (more importantly) no bugs! A few alpine wild flowers were out. Very pretty. The view from the top of Hex was a nice 360 degree panorama, with Mount Stuart and other nearby mountains visible. More distant views were obscured by broken cloud layers and what appeared to be haze.

All in all, a great hike and an easy trail to follow (as long as you can find the trailhead!)

Today's goal was Hex Mt., I left the Salmon La Sac Rd at the second dirt road past the Newport Creek crossing. I parked just below the gate that was locked. As most logging road approaches knowing which is the right road can be difficult. Instead of taking the very first right turn I went to the left and ended up doing a long traverse overlooking Lake Cle Elum. Nearing the end of this road I climbed to Point 3723 and dropped to the east meeting up with another logging road that climbs steeply to the ridge line that trail #1343 follows. I found the trail and had no further difficulty. I didn't find snow until approx 4600ft, snowshoes were not needed. Nice regional views from the summit Great look at Mt. Stuart Looming over everything else. I followed the trail out all the way to it's beginning and had no problem finding the proper road to find my way back to the car. I saw very many deer that drove the dogs crazy, and worried me that the dogs would not be able to find their way back.

After seeing deep snow to the bottom last week, we thought we could sneak in one more ski tour yesterday. The sight of lots of snow up high from the road lured us upward despite only seeing patches of snow as we started. The snow appeared at frequent enough intervals to lure us further upwards, as we mentally did the math of how much time we'd have for a tour if we bailed to Snoqualmie Pass where snow was still deep at the highway. We finally got on our skis for good just a bit below where the logging road hits the ridge trail, and at that point life became much better (despite a few little stretches of dirt skiing). There's a walkable snowshoe track all the way to the summit. The views were great - the clouds allowed us views of Stuart and the Enchantments as well as some of the Snoqualmie peaks. We stuck to the ridge on the way down in part to allow the dogs easy travel on the uptrack, and in part because the snow was actually quite turnable corn on the ridge. Love that old growth (which starts right at the National Forest boundary, next to some large trees with blue stripes painted around their trunks - looks like more mayhem coming soon up there).

Net is - kinda late for a ski, and we saw lots of snowshoe tracks in dirt too, but still a fun outing for the day.

Mt Hex The ROC is back. Took a year off to go through the Mountaineers basic climbing course and haven’t had any time to write reports. Eco Willy, Linda and I meet up at The Last Resort with a group of Mountaineers to snowshoe Mt Hex. The first challenge was when Eco Willy asked me if he had handed me a brown bag (his boots were in it). Well without boots we thought the trip was over before it started. But thanks for some quick thinking on Linda’s part, she solved the problem. She had a couple of gallon plastic bags and we strapped those over Willy’s socks and put his feet in his tennis shoes and his gators on and away we went (with Willy grumbling that these were brand new running shoes). The other challenge to snowshoeing this season is finding snow. You walk the road (the first one past Newport Creek) for half a mile with out snow, and when you do reach snow it is hard enough to walk on without snowshoes. When we finally reached the trailhead most people put on snowshoes (it was still pretty hard snow, but for traction they were helpful). We had everything for weather, dry, sideways blowing snow, and high winds on the ridge, calm sunny weather. The trip ended with dry sunny weather. This is a good trip for the winter in that there is no danger from avalanche. The trail follows the ridge all the way to the top, in and out of trees. When we broke out of the trees on the summit it was warm and sunny and we stopped and had some lunch. The views were few with all the clouds massing around the summit, but the snow blasted trees near the summit were beautiful. After lunch we headed down in wonderful weather. ROC tip: If the weather looks good and the snow is pretty consolidated you can snowshoe in tennis shoes (plastic bags and gators keep your feet dry).

The trailhead for the Sasse Mountain Trail 1340 is accessed from Spur 118 off the Corral Creek Road, which is on the right just after passing Last Resort on the Salmon La Sac Road. The trail is in good condition with no obstructions to the summit of Hex Mountain. Thistle and pearly everlasting are in flower. Sky was clear with moderate temperatures. Of course, a stop at the Brick is a mandatory formation - great burgers, good Jack, and no hip-hop trash to listen to, like you have to put up with west of the Cascades.

Heavy rain was in the forecast for Western Washington so Carla, Tim, Karen and I headed east in search of sun. Hex mountain was the goal. FS Road 116 is gated 20 feet from Salmon La Sac road so we parked in a turn out just away from the gate. Sun greated us in Cle Elum and at the trail head but not two minutes after we left the car clouds blew in and it started raining. Heavy rain and high winds were the recipe for the rest of the trip.

Snow on the road was soft (postholing) but patchy. Nevertheless we donned snowshoes about 1 mile into the trek and wore them for most of the remainder of the trip. Snow alternated deep to thin until about 4200 feet; snowshoes certainly required from that point on.

Even with the recent logging activity NNW of the trail the forest was beautiful with some trees quite large. The short, steep finish to the summit was great! No views today, unfortunately though as high winds and rain still pelted us as we tagged the summit and headed back into the trees for lunch. On the way down, the weather lightened up and some blue skies appeared (of course...). Great trip despite the weather. Approx 7 miles RT, just under 3 hours to summit and 1 hour 45 minutes back down to the car. Dinner at El Corporal in Cle Elum capped the day off right.

Three of us headed east as a friend had recommended Hex Mt a few weeks back.

It was snowing at Snoqualmie as we passed. There were some breaks in the clouds in the Easton area. But it was soon enough socked in again.

Parked by Newport Creek pull out - someone plows a parking area just east of the creek. The road is on the west side of the creek. You climb the road about 1,200 feet and then head off and up the ridge.

Due to deep and stiff snow conditions the road ski was pretty hard work. It was dense and deep. We had some sun breaks briefly as we started and one or two other brief shots of sun but it was snowing and blowing most of the way up.

We only made it to about 4,000 feet due to the conditions. We found a sheltered place out of the wind and snow and had lunch. As lunch ended, the sun came out and remained out. We only headed up about another 100 feet knowing that we really did not have time.

The ski down was fun but as we got lower the snow had gotten even heavier. The last half mile or so, some snowmobiles had ""damaged"" out hard set tracks.

We concluded with a beer or two and early dinner at the Brick in Roslyn (aka Northern Exposure).

A good day even without the summit.

We decided to try skiing Hex for MLK day since the snow was a bit too deep and unstable further west for fun turns. Yanna, Skip, Jack (the bipeds), Sasha, Max (the quadrupeds) headed up on a few inches of fresh snow over wet snow that was starting to freeze up. Barely enough cover at the road to make us feel OK about the tour. After a shortcut that turned into a longcut, we were back on route and made our way up the road, to another shortcut that actually WAS short (there are a few switchbacks in the road that are well worth cutting off), and we were on the ridge trail. Turns out they've been logging a bit up there since I was last on Hex about 4 years ago, which removed some of the most amazing large trees, and thus changed the character of the tour a bit. But the lower and upper parts of the ridge are still full of wonderful big old trees, and so we endured the newest clearcuts with moderately good humor - still a good tour to be sure.

The ski down was fantastic - plenty of powder on the upper portion where we made many fine turns, and just enough powder on the lower road to make for a smooth but quick return to the car. We saw fresh snowshoe tracks at the bottom, but we saw no people all day long.

Hex is a great ski tour when the snow is a little on the deep side to the west.

Decided to head out a little east to take advantage of rumored sun for the day...turned out to be great choice as there was fog in the snoqualmie pass all day, but bright sun on Hex.

Parked at the turnout across Newport Creek from the beginning of road 116 - the start of the snow shoe. First mile was on hard snow with 1-2"" of new stuff on ground, some people simply walked up in shoes. At trail head for Hex Mt off of the road the snow got much deeper - 6-8"" or so of new stuff with great sunshine.

The trail isn't hard to follow - basically up the ridge line to the top - not a big deal even without tracks to follow. There were areas of drifting snow and areas scoured to ice from wind, but it was a calm day. Ran into a set of snowmobilers at one point on the ridge where their trail turns around with a great view.

After about 2.5 miles got into trees which were wonderful - blue sky above, flocked trees around a lots of new snow, quiet. There were a set of snowshoers ahead of me, and a set of skiers.

At top of Hex could see Rainier, Stuart and surrounding areas. Skiers at top went down some bowls back to trail head - I had lunch and enjoyed the view. Thought about heading down via Bear Creek - but didn't think I had enough time.

The way back was fun, stepping down in all that new snow was a treat, soft - only took half the time it took to go up! With a mile to go on the road I took my snowshoes off and walked on the packed snow.

Wonderful day - great snow shoe - about 2500 elevation, 7 miles roundtrip - and so different from areas further west. Much more open.

I must know a lot of masochists, since five of my friends joined me for this trip. We started at the Hex Mountain trailhead - or more precisely, at the gate on the logging road about 20 yards from Salmon La Sac road. Accidently took the left fork of the logging road (not on map) about a mile in - should have gone right. Bonus mileage and altitude gain...

We continued up to the junction with the Sasse Mtn trail and dropped our packs for the short trip to Hex Mtn. Then we headed north on the Sasse Mtn trail - lots of up and down getting to Sasse. The weather was perfect and see didn't see any snow. I was disappointed that there were no larches along this ridge crest.

We crossed two logging roads and started running into hunters on motorcycles as we neared the Jolly Mtn trail. We continued on to Jolly Mtn - great views and snow for the last 1/4 miles. Then we returned back to the junction of the Jolly Mtn trail to descend down to the Horse Camp close to Salmon La Sac.

I told my friends that this trip would be about 15 miles and 3500' of gain. I lied - but not purpose! Guess I'm just an optimist - cumulative gain was 7180' (including bonus 700' due to early screw-up on logging road) and 19+ miles.

This was a great trip on a rolling ridge, and some part of it might make a nice snowshoe trip. The views were very good and the trails pretty good. Be sure you have the latest copy of green trails - my six year old map was missing some logging roads near Jolly that have significance.

The pizza in Rosalyn was great - we'd earned it!

To find the trailhead, turn right on Road 4305 shortly after passing Last Resort. Spur 181 is located at two and one-quarter miles on the left. Take this spur to its end. The trail is signed as Sasse Mountain #1302, but all other documentation refers to this trail as #1340. The trail is very dry and is steep in places. This trail appears to be shared with ATVs and trailbikes during the weekends, which should provide encouragement to utilise this trail during the workweek. Autumn colours were seen and wildflower sightings were typical of late autumn; late pearly everlasting and thistle spreading thistledown on the breeze. Chipmunks were acting protective of their caches. Skies were clear and temperatures moderate to warm.

God bless America. On behalf of those who have served, God bless those who are now serving.

plenty of new snow but no avalanche danger on this trail. road to the parking area in very good shape and trail excellent for snowshoeing. now if only there weren't those snowmobiles.

After a summer of hiking many trails in the Cle Elum Lake region (Yellow Hill, Sasse Mountain, Thorp Mountain) I have been eager to return in winter for snowshoe treks in this fine area. The open mixed coniferous forests are so great for free roaming the ridges and views. After winter finally got started a week ago, it was time to get on over there to try out Hex Mountain.

There were pleasantly surprising amounts of snow everywhere - more than I was expecting! Even Roslyn had 12+"" on the ground after 6"" new the day before. Due to the fresh snowfall, the road wasn't yet plowed out past the Last Resort, and parking for a trek up road 116 was impossible. But the small pullout for parking back across the bridge over Newport Creek allowed me to basically back into a snowbank and I was set! I walked the road the 1/8 mile to FS 116, and immediately put on the snowshoes since there was 2' of snow here. Heading up the road it's almost 2 miles to the actual Hex Mountain trailhead, and there were a couple of previous tracks in the snow from well before the latest real dumping of snow. But these helped make the trip up the road fast until those that preceded me retreated well before hitting even the ""trailhead"" at 3440'. Thus, the last 1/4 mile at 3200' was the beginning of my solo plow adventure.

The trailhead sign for Hex Mountain was reached, and so was my lunchbag for a snack. This area where one leaves the road offers stunning views west over Cle Elum Lake to Baldy and Dolmerie Peaks, and northward to Thorp Mtn, Davis Peak, etc... I was particularly intrigued with a very very cool looking tree snag covered with bright green mossy lichen, and a bird hole drilled in near the top for a nest site - way cool foreground subject matter! I began plowing up the ridge, picking any 'ol fun way I desired in the deepening snow: looking for beautiful objects to snowshoe past, side-trips to the ridge edge for views toward Hex Mountain and the other ridges, and just having the time of my life. Oh, the clouds lifted and the sun filtered through for the remainder of the trip too! This first 1/2 mile from the 3440' level quickly put me to 4100', and the steep climb in what was now 5' of snow had my body wondering what I was doing to it! The steep slog with me sinking in 20+"" with each steep step in 2-3' of fresh snow was exhausting! I continued on to the more level ridge crossing area, and ascended a bit more after crossing that until I reached where the ridge entered thicker forest. Why kill myself pushing on without views to reach the summit when my views all along here were just as good"", I asked myself. So I quickly stomped out a 3' deep pit out of the wind and lazily endured a splendid lunch filled with views and a grackling raven who desired me to loft it a PB&J sandwich...sorry buddy, it's mine.

The trek back down from 4550' was like I was floating on water - long strides down the steep ridge, floating through the deep snow. It ended up taking less than two hours to head out of there. A lazy drive home capped one of the nicest snowshoe treks I've had. I also scoped out access for coming future treks up in the region - fun potential for Howsen Creek drainage, Little Salmon la Sac Creek, Cooper Lake, and the list goes on.

With so little snow this winter, I can hardly find an excuse to travel to the Snoqualmie Pass area. On the Hex Mountain trail, snowshoes aren't needed since the snowpack is old and hard. And, as with most winter travel in this area, snowmobile traffic is a constant subtractor from the winter serenity.

If you're thinking about a snowshoe outing this winter, skip the Snoqualmie Pass area all together.

The Hex Mountain TH is currently closed due to logging in the area. Use the Sasse Mountain TH, trail 1340 instead.

Using the Sasse Mountain TH... The trail is well used by ATVs and mountain bikes. Fortunately, I did not encounter any of either and had the trail to myself.

The trail itself skirts, or cuts through several clearcuts. However the steepest part of the trail is still through virgin forest which is cool and a pleasant trip. The views from the top of the mountain are nice.

If you hike on a warm day, bring plenty of water. The trail is very dry and covered with a fine powder of dust and dirt. The final elevation is 4900 feet on an exposed, bald, summit.

No bugs today.

Great snowshoe trip. Trailhead was 1.5 hours from Seattle. Hike the snowed over logging road to the almost-buried ""Hex Mtn"" sign, then follow the ridge. Easy route finding. Firm snow. Didn't see any snowmobile tracks. 6 - 7 miles round trip.

We went on this trip anticipating the use of our snowshoes. To our avail, the snow was so hard we never put on our snowshoes. Oh well. We followed the directions for this trail as it is explained in the Snowshoe Trails book of Washington state. We started hiking up road 116 from the Salmon La Sac road and guess what' They had plowed the logging road free of snow! We couldn't understand why until we came across something higher on the trail--they have recently logged an area and we believe they plowed the road so there would be less snow on it during spring so they could access the logging area earlier. Road 116 is extended now up to the border of the Wenatche Forest--and logged. Anyway, take road 116 until you see the large sign on the right showing the way to the Hex Mountain Trail. Make sure you stay on the main road as much as possible as you could get lost on a side logging road. The trail is at a sharp bend in the road about 1.8 miles from Salmon La Sac road. The trail follows a ridge all the way up to a saddle and then goes right a quarter of the mile to the summit of Hex. Since the road for 116 has been extended, it cuts across the trail halfway up where the old growth starts. The book said there would be beautiful views. We had clouds and dry snow blowing all the time. This still made for an awesome outing! I am sure the views would have been great! I would recommend it for a snowshoe outing as it has great accessibility.