Mount Aix is a "must do" for anyone claiming to be a Cascadian hiker. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, it's all uphill. Yes, you gain 4000 feet in 6 miles. Yes, you don't even see the peak until over 5 miles of climbing. Yes, there is a scary scramble to the summit. Yes, the Green Trails map indicates in bold print "Dangerous Section" near the point of ascent. Yes, these things are all true. However, accomplishing this peak offers, by far, one of the most spectacular rewards I've seen! From the Deep Creek trailhead to the top of Nelson Ridge is nothing but switchback, after switchback... a continual climb uphill and mostly in the trees. Eventually, the trees thin out and views open up. Once atop the ridge, the views from the saddle are remarkable! The ridgelines are dramatic... but STILL you can't see your goal of Mt. Aix, as it hides behind a high point of Nelson Ridge! Another walk around the bend, along a high sloping trail of scree and rock finally takes you into view of this ominous giant. Mt. Aix stands alone in between two huge bowls, a bare and rocky black monster of a mountain at over 7700 feet. From your first glimpse of the mountain at this point, your eye catches sight of the trail going down to a saddle, then winding back up along the ridge towards the base of Aix... then crawling narrowly beneath its black peak along a hillside of scree and loose rock (the "dangerous section" as noted on the maps). The trail disappears around the other side of the mountain, leaving only speculation for the traveler as to its final ascent. If you look closely, you can spy a faint boot path (or goat path, as the case may be), detouring from the "dangerous section" of scree and offering a shorter, but steeper (perhaps quicker & scarier) scramble to the summit. That's the route we took on Saturday. It was all of those things... shorter, steeper, quicker, and scarier... but every bit SPECTACULAR! The extensive views are priceless! On this day, our 360 degree views pointed out the countless active forest fires across the state (Leavenworth and Wenatchee were sadly burning up). Oddly, in spite of all the fires, we enjoyed clean air, blue skies strewn with cool clouds, and 65 degree temps at the top, with only a slight breeze. On our trek we counted 24 mountain goats, two jets, and a helicopter en route to its next fire-fighting assignment.
Mt. Aix is definitely a challenge... definitely worth it... definitely a "must do"... especially when you get to enjoy it with your favorite comrades on the trail, as I did.
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