Total Ascent: 1500ft
Highest Point: 5030ft
Total Distance: 5 miles
Location: N 47° 19.2600, W 121° 3.8760
Difficulty: Moderate
This week, the forecast predicted the type of clear and sunny day that just begs for a summit hike. With so many nearby mountaintops still covered in snow, we decided to head out over Snoqualmie Pass hoping to avoid another snowshoe. Luckily, our hunch panned out – snows have retreated much further on the east side of the mountains, and our hike up Hex Mountain was almost snow-free.
Hex Mountain is one of many prominences along the ridges surrounding Cle Elum Lake. In 1886 the Northern Pacific Railway built a station near a newly platted township, dubbing it “Clealum.” The name was an anglicization of “tie-el-lum,” the name local tribes had given to a nearby river, meaning “swift water.” The town incorporated in 1902 as Clealum, but six years later changed it to the now familiar Cle Elum. Eventually this name was applied to both the river and the lake. In 1933, the Cle Elum Dam was built to better control the water levels in Cle Elum Lake, ensuring a steady irrigation supply in the summer.The trail begins with a hike up a rise overlooking Cle Elum Lake, a decent preview of the panoramas to come. The dusty path continues through grassy clearings born when the area was logged years ago, climbing small ridges and descending down the other side. Occasionally, the trail cuts across one of the many logging roads that pervade the area. Thankfully, the maze of roads and trails is sign-posted at every intersection to minimize confusion.
Continue onward and upward to the nearly treeless summit to take in views in every direction. Directly across the lake a series of peaks runs from the east with Mt. Baldy to Thomas
Mountain, ending with North Peak at the west end of the lake. Beyond North Peak you can pick out Thorpe Mountain, Red Mountain, and eventually Mt. Rainier. To the west are Sasse and Jolly Mountain. As you turn northward, Elbow Peak and Yellow Hill make up the two ends of the closest ridgeline. To the east the Cascade foothills quickly level out into the flat expanses of eastern Washington. Pick your favorite view and settled in for a snack.Hex Mountain is a popular snowshoe destination, beginning from State Route 903 in the winter and winding three-and-a-half steep miles up the mountainside. While the hike is less grueling in the summer, many hikers avoid it later in the season as parts of the trail open up to motorcycle traffic. While this can be a significant deterrent for some, a mid-week hike minimizes your chances of encountering motorcyclists. And even if you are forced to endure the noise, as we were, it’s likely only for a few minutes before the smell of gas dissipates and the sounds of the forest return. Moreover, motorcycles are not allowed all the way up the trail, allowing you some respite near the summit.
Short and rewarding, this is a great hike to take your reluctant hiking friends on. The trail is in great shape and not at all rough, with only one small blowdown along the way. The elevation gain might be little strenuous for some – about 600ft per mile – but should be approachable for most.
And the views will be enough to placate any complaints. As an added bonus, the motorcycles do a decent job of keeping other hikers at bay – don’t expect too much company on this one. Ideally, hit this one during the work week to dodge the motorized traffic.To get there, take I-90 to Exit 80. Head left over the freeway following Bullfrog Road to SR 903. Follow 903 for 10 miles through Roslyn and along Cle Elum Lake to FR 4305. Turn right into FR 4305 and follow for a half-mile to the first intersection. Veer left and continue on FR 4305 for another mile, watching for a sign pointing left to Sasse Mountain. From here it is another mile to the end of the road and the trailhead. –Nathan
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7 Comments:
This is absolutely beautiful! Even though I'm still a somewhat novice hiker, I'm putting this on my list for the Summer. Thanks for sharing!
This thinly veiled diatribe on motorized trail bike use on one of the few remaining trails in Washington's national forests open to such use is a stark reminder of the hate and intolerance shown by those who oppose such use.
Only 15% of the trails in the Wenatchee National Forest are open to motorized use and yet the anti-motorized recreation camp seeks conflict whether real or simply perceived and then has the gall to complain of their contact with those they abhor.
If you had 85% of something I would venture to say that most people would be satisfied with that amount but not if you are hiking with your brother or one of the numerous other Washington Trails Association type selfish, elitist hikers-only advocates who simply can't tolerate the way others choose to enjoy the outdoors.
Washington state prides itself on being tolerant and welcoming to all and the majority of it's citizens decry these unconscionable attacks upon a legal, long established and widely accepted method of recreation and they must not be allowed to continue.
Those who do not wish to encounter motorcycles on the 15% of the trails open and approved for such use have millions and millions of acres of designated wilderness with countless trails, wildlife areas, vast tracts of national forest classified as non-motorized recreation, national parks and many other areas where they will not have to interface with those they loath and detest. Don't you think they could find somewhere in their 85% of the forest to go hiking and leave the trail bike riders alone?
You and your brother should take your hatred and intolerance of those whose activities you find distasteful or disagreeable and go elsewhere. You are not welcome in the state of Washington.
WMTA -
It is unfortunate that you feel our post was some sort of anti-motorcycle manifesto. Quite the contrary, it was our hope that more hikers would choose to tackle this trail during the dry months despite reservations they may have about encountering motorized traffic. It's really a good hike.
If you've followed our blog for any length of time, you'll know that we happily hike on trails used by motorcyclists, snowmobiles and ATVs and have never found our interactions such enthusiasts anything but pleasant. As you are more than aware, our particular stance on the issue isn't shared by every hiker.
Our goal is to provide as much information about a trail as possible, especially facts that will help someone to make an informed choice about whether to hike a certain trail. For this post, we let our readers know that motorcycles use this trail, they can be loud, they can smell of gas, and they do deter a lot of hikers. Because, of course, that's important to some of our readers.
But that doesn't mean they are "bad" or shouldn't be allowed to use the trail, or they are in some way abhorrent. Those are value judgments, and the reader can draw their own conclusions from the information we provide, just as you did.
You'll note that the only actual opinions we express in the post is that this is a great hike to bring some friends on. Further, we never suggest that motorcyclists should be banned from the trail or that we are in any way opposed to their use.
I realize your response has very little to do with us, and much more to do with feeling like your pastime is being attacked at every turn. That said, you've addressed your diatribe to the wrong folks. Fact is, we'd much rather see people out on trails riding motorcycles than sitting around a coffee shops playing yet another round of Angry Birds.
Hope that helps clarify things. Best of luck, and we'll see you on the trail.
N
"While the hike is less grueling in the summer, many hikers avoid it later in the season as parts of the trail open up to motorcycle traffic. While this can be a significant deterrent for some, a mid-week hike minimizes your chances of encountering motorcyclists. And even if you are forced to endure the noise, as we were, it’s likely only for a few minutes before the smell of gas dissipates and the sounds of the forest return. Moreover, motorcycles are not allowed all the way up the trail, allowing you some respite near the summit."
This direct quote from the article in question abounds with anti-motorcycle sentiment. When you say that you were forced to endure the noise, smell of gas, the disruption of the sounds of the forest and respite from the encounter with trail bikes only near the summit I don't see how one can categorize such comments as anything other than anti-motorized recreation commentary.
Is it really necessary for you to steer hikers towards the few remaining trails where they will likely encounter other trail users that they have been conditioned into having a conflict with?
Isn't the 85% of the forest where you and your brother will absolutely have no chance of dealing with trail bikes enough for you to explore and blog about?
Perhaps you wish to take up the banner and methods of Harvey Manning and Ira Spring and their famous hiking guides which always began with a vitriolic manifesto against trail bike use on forest trails.
Perhaps you wish to use the "perceived conflict" issue that the WTA employed with such great success to close the North Fork Entiat area of the Wenatchee N.F. to motorized use and stoke the fires of the anti-access groups to get the entire Teanaway area to yourselves.
I don't believe for one minute that you or your brother are as benevolent towards motorized outdoor recreation as to wish to portray yourselves.
Your blog and many others like it are monitored and followed closely by those who are pledged to fight for the rights of trail bike users to ride on the last few remaining high altitude, alpine type trails left in Washington. Anti trail bike articles will be called out and not left unchallenged to be accepted as the groupthink of the majority of citizens who if truth be told wish for tolerance and fairness to prevail in our shared forests.
Share the trails......Stop The Hate!!!
Hate and Intolerance? Seriously, it's hard to see how you are helping your cause, WMTA when you overreact to some innocuous comments and post spittle-flicked diatribes in response.
Our experience with motos on the trail has mostly been positive, but that does not mean that we do not prefer to avoid them when possible.
Our experience with moto-caused damage to trails, such as Nason Ridge, has not been so positive. Perhaps you should direct more efforts to fixing problem areas like that. That trail is the poster child for banning motos from alpine areas completely.
i enjoy riding my motorcycle and i enjoy hikin g. when i'm hiking i don't want to eat a motorcycle's dust. it's pretty simple, these boys were just trying to advise people of what they may ecounter. get off your high "mechanical" horse!
Wow! the WMTA really needs a new public relations rep.
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