I couldn't make heads or tails of how to get to this trail head based on other trail reports. We even ran into another couple who had been wandering around the back-roads looking for the trail head for a couple hours. :/

Fortunately I use a hiking app called 'Cairn' which shows dots where other hikers have had cell service--the effect of this is having a trail of dots that can be followed, even though the app didn't even have a trail there. We followed this and made it to the top successfully. This map image is attached (right image is zoom-in on trail). We parked at 47.291552, -121.097893.

The trail was clear/easy for the first 4/5ths. Then there were patches of snow. Many of them were firm enough to walk on, but as we progressed we began to sink a lot, even to our knees (we left snowshoes in car). We did fine nonetheless, but I would recommend gators to keep snow out of boots.

Great 360 view at the top. But a LOT of wind-chill. Pack layers (esp hat and gloves).

Hex Mountain trail 1343

Our group of 5 began hiking around 10:45am on February 17th.  to see a short video I put together on the hike with conditions click this link:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bppp_yM3yaM   There was about 4inches of snow on the ground and still snowing there was a winter storm warning and high wind advisory. Also the yellow gate was closed preventing you from driving all the way to the trailhead so you had about a 1 3/4mile hike to the trailhead. Once we reached the trailhead there was one other hiker ahead of us. In about another mile the winds picked up severely I put on my face mask and gloves. About two miles above the trailhead we met the hiker who had turned around we put on our snowshoes as the snow was very deep but still the wind was the biggest difficultly.  About 300ft from the summit and the whole hogs back ridge was extremely windy and was a sheet of ice. We were having trouble moving and getting tossed around by the wind, we estimate the wind was around 60mph. We reached the top of Hex Mountain around 3pm. Once we got back into the trees the wind died down a bit but was still severe. The rest of the hike was a easy down hill hike and we arrived at the vehicles around 6:15pm. Again if you would like to see footage of what the trail looks like click here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bppp_yM3yaM    But overall the hike was fun. But I would recommend this to experienced hikers that have access to snow shoes or crampons and are very good with map and compass for there is no visible trail for 6 1/4 miles. 

Be safe out there,

NW Adventures

This snow shoe was done on the 14th so I am a little slow.  For starters if you come on the weekend a shovel is handy to have so you dont park IN the road.  One can put there snow shoes on from the start.  I would have to say that this hike has a pretty gradual grade the whole way up.  There are some steeper spots but over all its a pretty simple snow shoe. I am not sure why people complain about missing the trail.  There is an app called All Trails that is FREE.  It shows the trail and where you are at any one time.  I am not sure why people are going out into the cold and snow with no idea where the trails are.

From the main road to the trail intersection where you have to lave the road is about 1.8 miles, about half way.  The ridge is one of the best parts of this hike.  Its sad to see the fire damage but that is all part of nature.  As long as you stay up on the ridge and head upwards you will be fine.  This is also the part where you will need wind protection due to the gusts and exposure.  The final climb is short and steep.  Sadly we had some  partial blue skies at the end but it never did open up to shows its views. This is one of those hikes where you want the day to be clear and wind free.

As for the snowshoes vs hiking, that just depends on the weather.  The hardness of the snow can change.  We had one in our group who didnt have snow shoes and a few opted for spikes on the way down.  Part of the enjoyment of the hike in my opinion is the snow shoe part.

Decided to break out the snowshoes and venture onto a new trail on a rare Monday off.   Hex Mountain looked to be a fairly simple route with no avalanche danger and if the skies cleared up, some stellar views of the Stuart Range and central Cascades.

Not being familiar with the area and knowing most of it would likely be snow covered, I downloaded a track onto Gaia to play it safe.  This definitely came in handy twice on the trip as I tried to take a wrong turn.  Both times it only took me a few minutes to recognize what I had done and confirm with the app.  

We found the "trailhead" easy enough using Google Maps and parked about a quarter mile down the road from the start of the trail (it's a road) across from the fire/search and rescue station where there is a sign saying parking is Ok (and it's plowed clear). The start of the route is covered in snow so we decided to just throw our snowshoes on at the beginning instead of hauling them on our backs.

Weather was completely socked in and the recently burned trees gave everything a very eerie feeling.  There is an easy to follow path along the road as you make your way to the trail proper which you come across about two miles in.  There is a fairly obvious sign marking the trail but a pronounced path as well in the snow.  We turned right and continued up the trail.  Here the burn was very evident and the black trunks stood out in stark contrast to the snow and fog.  

The path continued to be easy to follow as you intersect the road two more times on the way up the mellow ridgeline. At the last road intersection my partner decided to call it a day as her knee was very irritated and she didn't want to risk injury.  Knowing I was fairly close to the summit and had a hunch the weather was going to break, I made a quick push up the remaining mile.  The last as the fog burned off and the sun started to break through the trees was magical.  Sure enough, as I climbed the final hundred feet to the open summit, the sun was shining down on me and I had 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains.  Every view from a summit is special but there is something unique about being above a sea of clouds.

Took a few pictures and then headed quickly back down to catch up with my partner.  We finished in just over four hours.

A note on trail conditions.  We used snowshoes the whole way but the trail was so packed that I would have preferred to have just been in my trail runners.  To confirm this on our way down we encountered the only other person we saw on our trip and he was indeed motoring up the trail in his trail runners with no issues.

Also, something I am going to try and include in TR's now, phone reception.  We had little coverage at the start but by the time we had climbed about a thousand feet, we had full 4G coverage.  Our carrier is Verizon. 

Highly recommended if you are looking for fantastic views on a fairly mellow trail.