The road was iced/snowed over on the drive out, but it’s flat so my little Mazda hatchback did just fine, even without chains. The turnoff to the gate is iced over, so parking there isn’t really an option. However, there is a pullout on the side of the road about 0.2 miles from the trailhead that fits about 10-15 cars, depending on how well people park. We parked about 9:30am and this pullout was almost full; it was completely full with vehicles circling by the time we left at 9:45.
We made it the first half mile or so without any traction, but had to put on snowshoes when we started to posthole, even in the more packed parts of the trail. We leap frogged with a couple groups the whole way up the trail, but it didn’t feel particularly crowded. The trail is well traveled at this time, so we had no difficulty finding our way to the top. Just in case, though, stay to the right at the first fork. The left turn looks a more significant artery, but this will take you woefully far from your destination. Stay to the right.
This trail was a bit of a butt kicker. Yes, it’s only 2600 feet, but there are no switchbacks. You head straight up the ridge to the peak. Once you reach the actual Hex Mountain Trail, stay away from the edges; cornices have formed here and they pose a risk. We saw several human and dog tracks that got a little too close to the edge! There were several groups at the top, but there are lots of places to sit, so it didn’t feel too crowded. We soaked up the sun, made some hot chocolate, and crossed our fingers that Rainier would make an appearance (she didn’t). We had views of Stuart, the Enchantments, Daniel, and many other peaks, as well as the wind farm out by Ellensburg!
We work spikes to get down the initial ascent from the peak so that we could kick our heels in. Others did this part with snowshoes, but it looked precarious and hard on the knees. We passed a couple more groups headed up during our descent. The snow had heated up and turned to the consistency of wet sand in some places, but we kept our snowshoes on the whole way. There were a few sections riddled with post holes that made the trail difficult to walk on. Please wear your snowshoes! Postholing ruins the trail for everyone.
When we got back to the car, several cars were parked on the narrow should along the road. I really wouldn’t recommend this. They were hanging halfway out into the road and I would worry about getting hit. Most of the ice on the road had melted at this time, so it was easy getting out. Parking pullout was still quite full at this time.
Overall, a great alternative activity to the Super Bowl #optoutside
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