Oh, Hex Mountain, you are always such an adventure! This was my third time up and every time is an adventure all its own. Today we returned to our last successful route by going up towards the Sasse Mountain trailhead on #Road 4305 just before the Wishpoo Campground. We didn't make it to the trailhead on wheels but got at least half way there before deciding the snow and deep ruts were a little too much for my Outback. Backed down very carefully over some very dicey snow and got turned around for an easy exit.
Got our gear together and headed up the road. We left snow shoes in the car. We could have used them on the final ridge up and across the saddle but wouldn't have needed them otherwise. One party member opted for micro spikes on some of the snow but they weren't absolutely necessary. Gaiters are a real plus for postholing near the top.
As for the hike.after a bit on the road there is a forest activity sign where we took a left, walked some more and finally about a mile and a half from the car we made it to the trail head and started in. It wasn't long before we were hiking through the remains of fire damage from last summer. No longer are you hiking through trees and brush. It is pretty wide open and allows for amazing views of Lake Cle Elum that previously would have been obscured by trees. There are some big burned snags and charred brush looks like dinosaur ribs laying on the ground. The hike was snow free until after the second crossing of the road. After that long patches of snow obliterated stretches of the trail leading to a bit of a guessing game to access the ridge that leads up to Hex. Between a less than perfect gps app, maps, and visually scouting we found our bearings and made it to the base of the ridge. We headed up while watching Mount Rainier appear to the west. From the tree line it was straight up through some relatively fresh snow. A little ice crust and lots of post holing to the top. The winds were calm and we ate lunch on the snow along the saddle before heading back down. We didn't cross the final saddle to the tippy top, content with the amazing views towards Stuart.
This trail is open to mountain biking and we saw some tracks. This might be a problem in the summer but today we saw no one but a couple of other hikers.
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