Summit: 5,034ft
Native land of the: Yakama and Wenatchi
7m 2,600ft gain
Hex Mountain is located in the Teanaway on the eastern crest of the Cascades. It is a great winter hike with little avalanche danger offering great views of the Stuart Range, Mount Rainier and more!
1st Trip: 02/10/2020
After work sunset hike with Moose! We don’t often venture this far east on I-90 but the weather is usually nicer on the east side and we love new perspectives! The route is pretty straight forward and starts along forest roads before turning onto a trail heading north up the ridge line.
Moose was going nuts for the snow per usual!
We gained 1,000ft in the last 1 1/2 miles with Moose leading the way!
Once on the saddle we had a short walk to the flat and bare summit. We had excellent views all around but I especially loved the view of the Stuart Range. I hiked up Mount Stuart and Dragontail Peak the year prior so it was cool to admire them from afar.
We shared the mountain with only one other couple and they were very nice. We were all waiting for the sun to set but we certainly enjoyed its warmth. The closer the sun got to the horizon the more orange Moose got.
The alpenglow on the Stuart Range was amazing!
The hills with barren trees contrasted by the snow reminded me of my hair color. Sadly all these trees were burned during the 2017 Jolly Mountain fire. I witnessed the first plumes of smoke from that fire while hiking up Granite Mountain.
After a glorious sunset we made our way back to the trailhead as fast as we could with my headlamp guiding us. This was the perfect snow for moose to run on and he did a lot of that! This is a great, quick and easy winter day hike!
