Gorgeous ridge hike with an incredible variety of wildflowers in bloom.  Trail is steep and a challenge, but views from the top are spectacular! 

Returned with another friend to hike Hex Mountain without the snowshoes .  There *is* a trail after all :-)

Someone has recently been up here and chainsawed the few blowdowns.

Lots of wildflowers.

On the way back we stopped at Roslyn Brewery so you don't have to  :-/

Biked up the fire road for 2+ miles before the trail peeled off.  The bike climb was tough, but made for a very easy descent down, saving our knees of about 1000 ft of elevation drop (and a boatload of time).  The trail to the top was easy to navigate through the recent burn.  Really cool to see the evolution of nature though last years fire.  Surprisingly, saw some Motorcylers from an adjacent peak, but we thought it was really cool.  They didnt bother us in the least.  Overall, a great day.

I did this hike on Black Friday a couple years ago and didn't make it to the top due to the conditions and struggling to find the correct route amongst the myriad logging roads. This time the weather was perfect and I had charted a route on Gaia GPS to make sure we didn't get lost.

We parked at the turnout just up the road from the trail. We didn't see any signs requiring a Forest Pass. About a half mile up the trail, a truck passed us going up the hill. We ran into it again a bit later once it had parked - there were three men that looked like they were going hunting, said something about finding turkeys for them. We didn't see them again but the truck was still there once we were headed down and we heard some gun shots.

Going up the road is fairly unremarkable, rocky and steep in places, but easy to navigate. The first part of the actual trail is also fairly easy to navigate as there are only a few spots with trees down; this section can be steep at times as well.

As you near the top, the trail gets harder to follow due to many trees down across the trail and we started getting into some snow. Generally, if you just keep going up you'll get there, and once you get to the top of that hill, go to your right. However, I found Gaia to be very useful in this section so I would recommend using that or some other GPS app/device.

We enjoyed the view (quite the view!) from the top for a bit and had our lunch. It was pleasant except for the swarm of gnats that were all over me and my pack - not sure if they were after my food or what because they seemed to leave my hiking companion alone. I came away with a few bites but I wasn't wearing repellant. 

The trek down tested my knees/quads but it was a nice change from the cardiovascular workout we got on the way up. Make sure to take lots of water since there is nowhere you can refill and it is somewhat exposed at times. 

Specs from Gaia: 7.5mi, 4hr, 2488ft

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!