Some friends & I rented a cabin off of Lake Cle Elum for the weekend and decided this backyard hike would be a great way to spend the morning — and we were more or less satisfied with it! We walked about a mile down the paved Highway 903 from the cabin to the turnoff for the trailhead.
The ‘technical’ Hex mountain trailhead is inaccessible to cars and other motorized vehicles since it requires driving though private property. The road is gated and there is a sign stating this almost immediately after turning off the 903. Thankfully however, the property owners allow hikers to make their way up Hex and enjoy the views (but please be respectful while you hike on private property!) We didn’t have a car with us and I’m honestly not totally sure on the legality of parking near the gate — but it seemed like there was a decent amount of room for a few cars to park, if needed.
The beginning section of this hike is along a dirt road and is not particularly interesting. Flowers start making an appearance pretty early on and we even spotted a wild turkey and grouse while traversing the road portion! About halfway up, you should see a turnoff for the ‘trail’ section of this hike — marked by a large Forest Service sign and a carin on the side of the road.
The trail section is absolutely brutal. It is almost unbearably steep and is a real mess after the Jolly Mountain fire. There are many downed trees across the path and the tread is in shambles. It could really use some TLC. Once you flatten out towards the top, the trail almost disappears entirely under old snow patches and fire residue.
You’ll be able to see the summit from here, so it’s basically a choose-your-own-adventure at this point. There is one final push to the summit that is once again, unbearably steep and almost entirely made up of loose gravel. It sucks, but it’s worth it.
I was pretty over this hike by this point — but once I got up that last rocky incline I took one look around, it made it alllll better. We lucked out with a totally clear day and could see everything from Stuart to Rainier and beyond. It was stunning! We saw a whopping total of 0 people during our hike and felt very accomplished after making it back down. I don’t think I’d recommend this hike to everyone, but I will say it was better than expected!
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