The Road: Conditions were ok, there are a few bumps but I don't see problems for most passenger cars. We started up from the Sasse Mountain Trailhead so other entry points may differ in road conditions. The Trail: The trail is overgrown in places- some dirtbikers were out cutting the obstacles down so it made for easier passage. Unfortunately it seems that they mainly cleared it for themselves, so the brush now covers the trail in places. The Highlights: The wildflowers were amazing out there and it was a good hike that avoided most of the rainy weather that people experiences in the West side of the mountains. The views were quite nice also. The less desirable aspects: Given that this trail is multi-use and includes dirtbikes, there was a bit of noise and we had to hop off the trail a few times to avoid them (they were going fast and were kicking a bit of dust up as they passed). There was also some random gunfire so it might also be good to wear brightly colored clothing. Overall: I enjoyed the hike for its scenery and relative seclusion but the dirt-bikers detracted from the experience.

Did a little evening hike over in Roslyn, with the goal being a summit followed by beer flights at Roslyn Brewing Co. Coming from Seattle we were a little unsure of where the snow line would be, but figured a south facing slope would be a safe bet given the recent stretch of warm (read HOT) weather. FS 4305 off of WA 509 is open and clear, although rough in a few places. FS 118 is considerably rougher and still has a few small patches of snow to clear through. Parts of the road are washed out so bad a sedan would not make it without several hard bottom-outs. Bring your high-clearance and as long as there's snow, the 4x4 too. The first mile of the trail is in great shape, completely snow free except for a few patches on the old logging road. After a mile in there is some underbrush that has overgrown the trail quite a bit but its still very easy to follow and its still snow free. Near the top of the the trail, the last half mile is chalked full of tree blow downs, some of them very difficult to navigate around. Having never done this hike before, we had to break out the topo map and navigate ourselves up the mountain, around the blow downs, short-cutting the trail switchbacks to reach the top. If you're uncomfortable with minor route finding, here is your turnaround point until the forest service gets some chainsaws in there. The top ridge of Hex at 5000' is almost completely melted out, just a few hundred feet of snow remain. We explored a bit of Sasse Ridge and had no issues, I brought the trail crampons but never needed them. That said, on the north facing exposure, the snowpack levels looked like it dropped to at least 3500' if not below still so take note if hiking elsewhere in the Roslyn/Cle Elum area. Great early season April hike. Hopefully this trip report helps anyone looking for a mid-elevation hike with alpine views that's melted out! Bonus points for getting beer flights at Roslyn Brewing Co post-hike!

While it was cloudy and dismal on the west side of the pass, the Teanaway was only partly cloudy and perfect for a day out. The road up to FR 116 is a highway, so it's mostly snow free; there's some slush in areas, but that's about it. You can bring pretty much any car here and not have to worry. Like the previous reports say, park across from the fire station where you can find a spot along the road, and then walk a couple hundred feet to the trailhead. There were about 10 cars when we arrived at 10.45a, so it wasn't hard to find. You start out on FR 116, and continue following it upwards for 1.7 miles until the summer trailhead. The sign can be hard to spot; my friend walked right past it before I pointed it out. You can save yourself some time and effort if you carry your snowshoes until the start of the actual trailhead, instead of strapping them on as soon as you get off the highway. The snow on FR 116 is well-packed. And for what it's worth, I didn't use gaiters on the entire hike. That being said, this would not be a fun hike to attempt without snowshoes. There were some places that, even with snowshoes on, we were sinking 1-2 feet into the snow. Keep heading upwards, and you'll soon see sweeping views to the west of Cle Elum Lake and the mountains behind it, and to the east of Hex Mountain. For about 30 minutes or so, we encountered blizzard-like conditions out of nowhere, right before the summit. It didn't get much colder than 25F (without windchill), but we ended up putting on our extra layers while resting at the top. On the way back down, the wind had completely covered the trail, and we ended up losing it once or twice. A GPS could be helpful, but not necessary if you have some basic trail finding skills. We made it back down about 30 minutes after sunset. I enjoyed snowshoeing here so much, that I wouldn't be surprised if I found myself out there again before the end of the season.

Weather was decent enough in Salmon La Sac area to get a quick hike in. On the drive to trailhead, pretty much all the mountains from North Bend onward were capped with clouds. I had hoped to go up Mount Kent but changed my mind after realizing getting good views at the top wouldn’t have been possibility. This was our third time hiking the mountain and I dreaded the service road walk every time. The walk itself from the gate just off Salmon La Sac Road to the actual trailhead felt longer than the time spent on the trail. Clouds were rolling in and out of the area but stayed to the northwest, and view of the summit was obstructed at times as we meandered in and out of the forest. Wind grew stronger the moment we got on the ridge and never let up. There was just a thin layer of snow from the trail/road junction below to the summit to the summit block. The summit itself barely had snow, but the rocks were covered in ice. Snowshoes and microspikes ended up being my training weight since I didn’t need to use them. View to the north was scarce beyond the first ridge line, so I never got to see The Enchantments peaks. West view to Cle Elum Lake had always been minimal because of the trees, so not much to see there either. Flickr: http://bit.ly/hex-mountain-iii

I took the trail that is up the old logging road a few hundred yards on the right past the Last Resort, which is about 6 miles north of Roslyn on the Salmon la Sac road. Drive the dirt road (go left .5 miles in at only major intersection) until it levels out approx 3 miles in. Then take the left (signed Sasse Mt Trail or Hex Mt Trail) another mile to the end of the road and TH. My book says 6 miles and 1400 feet of gain. I think it's more like 2.5 miles each way and maybe a little more that 1400 ft. This little conditioner is no gimme, and has some very steep sections. It is often "e-road-ed" due to the motorbikes, of which I saw none. It's a very worthwhile outing that offers nice views west to Lk Cle Elum, north into the Alpine Lks, and east to the Teanaway country and the Stuart Range. On the way up you pass through fragrant tunnels of ceanothus, one of my favorite hike aromas. The SW and the NE sides of Hex have very steep and bare huge slide zones. Interesting and peculiar. On top you get to walk the knife edge between these drops. I have been there in winter a few times, and care must be taken, for a slip would be a very long and fast slide with avalanche potential. I saw one other person, a hunter, on the trail. It took 1 hour to top out at my senior citizen pace (67), and was just 2 hours RT, which included a quick snack and viewing break on top.