Went to Hex Mtn for the first time! Got there about noon, parked across from the fire station - we were the only car upon arrival and also when we left. We did not encounter anyone during the entire hike! The road to the trailhead was not particularly scenic, but pleasant just the same. Was using All Trails which was a helpful reference a few times when the road branched off and it wasn't entirely clear which was the main road vs. branch. The cut off for the trail had a small sign set back a bit and we went a short distance before realizing we had passed it. But it was worth it - there was a lovely view just a few feet further on the left where we sat on some big boulders for a brief break and then headed back to find the trailhead. 

The trail was snow free for about the first half-mile. The next 1 1/2 miles was all snow, mostly packed, although we post holed a few times. I could see why it was important to follow the WTA advice to stay away from the cornices! We both used our spikes, and I also had poles. Glad I left my snowshoes in the car - didn't need them at all. It was a beautiful clear day, and the view from the top was stunning, although the wind picked up. My son is a photographer... check out the link to his video on Instagram for a full 360 aerial view from the summit!

I hiked up Hex Mountain on a Thursday, starting at 9am. I parked across from the fire station at the designated spot, and walked the quarter mile or so to the start of the trail. The parking strip was fairly clear of snow and there’s room for a few cars. The first part of the hike along the forest road is dirt with patchy snow. It was easy to walk through with boots. Once you turn up the marked Hex Mountain trail sign, the trail gets more snowy and more rugged, there are a lot of downed trees and it’s a little sloppy. I put microspikes on about a half mile after the Hex Mountain sign, as it was still cold and the snow was compact and a bit slippery when it got steeper. A bit of navigation was needed today as there isn’t always an obvious trail. I’ve hiked here before and knew that you basically just follow the ridge up up up, but I did appreciate having a GPS map for reassurance. As others have mentioned, don’t hike too close to the edge on the ridge as there are cornices. It took me 2 hours, 15 min to reach the summit (and 1hr 50min descent). The views were gorgeous today! I didn’t use my snowshoes, but it was warming up as I finished the hike around 115pm and it was getting more slushy towards the afternoon. I only had some mini post-holing toward the end of the hike. If I had started later in the day I may have found snowshoes helpful. I did wish I had poles for that last big hill to the summit. It is steep! 

My GPS watch tracked 7.7 miles roundtrip (from car to summit to car). And 3,326’ elevation.

We parked across the street from the fire station about 1/4 mi down the road. We did not bring snowshoes from some previous trip reports I'd read. They were not needed until about 500' below the summit when the main tracks ended. We plowed through the unbroken snow and made it to the summit, burning quite a few calories. The last 20' to the summit were icy and steep and traction was required. We did not end up using axes, just our poles. Cold and windy but we managed to get the last views for the day of the surrounding hillsides. Total time C2C was around 6 hours.

Beautiful sunny Sunday snow hike. But there are 3 things you need to know:

1) snowshoes not needed. Snow is hard packed and nearly no one was wearing them. Spikes are fine.

2) There is only one plowed area for parking. The additional areas WTA suggests are not plowed. It was full by 9am today. Please park kindly/snugly in the one area because…

3) if you park on the highway you will get a $200 ticket. A huge line of us got those today. Big bummer. Note there is not a No Parking sign on the side of the highway but it is still a rule.

Still a beautiful day!

Arrived at around 9:30 am and snagged the last parking space in the designated parking area. We parked behind a couple whose front right tire on their Subaru had gotten stuck in the snowbank. They were initially unable to get traction because the shoulder of the road was icy, but were able to free their car using chains and our shovel.

We started off with snowshoes but noticed that the snow was quite packed down and others going faster on foot, so we took off the snowshoes and kept our poles. Once we got off the road and onto the ridge the snow was a bit more slippery so I added microspikes for traction. We postholed occasionally but it wasn't enough to want to go through the effort of putting the snowshoes back on. The last ~100 vertical feet up to the peak are very steep, and we kicked steps for this section, though other people wore snowshoes.

Views from the summit are impressive, including Rainier and some of the Enchantments peaks. It was cold and windy at the top while we had our lunch, and I was grateful for my extra puffy. We thought about doing the loop down the other ridge, but the sound of snowmobiles from the other ridge were enough to dissuade us, so we ended up heading back down the way we came.

We were back at the car by 4 pm after 6 hours including breaks. Shoutout to the Mountaineers reading this - enjoy!