I started this hike in the late afternoon, passing by several groups coming down on my way up. It was windy and quite cool, but still a beautiful afternoon/evening with the golden hour light and play of the shadows on the land and I had the summit to myself. Perks of starting late. If you do this hike during the day, especially a warm day, be prepared with plenty of water as the trail is bone dry.
I was glad to have read the previous trip reports for the helpful tips about the trailhead (it is the first dirt road on your right, just after passing Timber Cove Dr on your left as you head up along the lake) and also the first right turn that you need to take once you have started the hike up the road. Even though I had it mapped on my GPS, it looked like you should stay to the left. The GPS quickly corrected my mistake. The next right is more obvious and the trail to Hex Mountain is even more so.
I also decided to take the other ridge line down, following mostly the Sasse Mountain trail. It would be easy to get lost here without a GPS, but basically you need to follow the winding dirt tracks (some of those tracks are not on any map) way down until when, in the forest off the upper part of the mountain, you drop out onto a forest road (FR4305 112). You will actually hit that road twice. The first time, the motorbike path continues right across the road, the second time is when you actually want to get on the road, taking a hard right, follow it a short way, and then where it makes a hairpin, you need to head into the bushes to cross the creek where you can then pick up a spur that puts you back on the Hex Mountain trail. If you look really closely, you can see trampled bushes and then what looks like to be a very faint boot track. I followed that "path" and some footprints to find the spur on the other side of the creek. It was a fun little adventure and nice to have a different route on the way back, but definitely the best views are on the main Hex Mountain trail.
2.5 hours roundtrip, GPS said just over 8 miles.
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