[Wapiti]

I headed out for a solo this morning, up to Hex Mountain. I pulled in around 9. Loaded up my gear and headed up about a half mile. Got to wondering, "hmm, did I lock the truck?? Nothing worse than that feeling. Oh, wait, yes there is. That would be when you finally talk yourself into going all the way back to find that, yes indeedy, you did lock the car. Ok, so I turn around make run #2. The Snowshoe Washington book stated something about parking and walking up to the road, FR116... Well, I got to -a- road, and found a Realtor sign on it - thinking naw, it must be a new road for new properties (oh great...). So I went 100 or so yards up the main road some more and found another road - this one looked more like a forest service road, but still not sign saying so. I went up it a ways and then noticed it taking a turn in the wrong direction, and down hill. Not exactly what I wanted to do, knowing Hex Mtn is UP. Grin. But there was a road heading off to the Right (the correct direction) that had a gate and a No trespassing sign (I really hate those signs). A quick decision not to go back down and take the other road, I decided I would do a cross country attempt. Much more fun that way, and no snowmobile tracks to take from the scenery. It was a challenge finding the route with map and compass in hand -using gps for exact locations. Finally found the main trail/road that I was looking for. The trail, er, snowmobile track, from there was up up up. I continued up a the track to the main ridge line, and then actually found the trail head for Hex Mtn. Surprise... Trail sign, but no true trail in sight with all the snow. I just ended up traversing the ridgeline all the way to the top. I got up toward the top, and the wind was howling, the rain and snow were coming down hard. Blowing ice chunks off the trees - one hitting my pack made me a little nervous. The wind was picking up the ice crystals off the slope too and pounding them into my face. It was pretty cool actually, but tough hiking. I ended up stopping my hike just below the Sasse Ridge Trail. I ducked into the woods on the top of the ridgeline and decided to hole up for a bit. Bivvy'd up, read part of a book, ate some lunch and really wished I didn't have to go. I was rested up and wanted to take on the rest of the hike. Unfortunately, I was thinking that I didn't have enough time to get back down before dark... Too bad, it took nothing to get back down. Anyway, the snow was wet, sticky and heavy. Tough hiking lifting all that snow with every step. Especially with all that up hill. In my opinion, I wouldn't consider it a very pretty hike. Great views of the valley, true. I guess I'm just not big on seeing a big man-made, half filled reservoir. Maybe at the top would have been nice - by the time I left, the clouds disbursed and the blue was shining down - sure wish I would have gone for it... argh. I'm still not sure the best route to take in. Has anyone been up this mountain and know the correct way to get there. It turns out, the first road had No Trespassing signs not very far in too. Still, a great hike today! Just nice to get out. I'm going back up on Sunday, taking some of my SAR team in as a training hike. -Mike

[Trevor]

Very gallant effort today. I am glad to see someone was out taking on the outdoors despite of the cloudy conditions. I have always been deterred by hikes that are on snowy -forest -service roads, seeing as my car wouldn't sustain on ice. During the winter I have resorted to hikes that are just off the main road, but now I am ruminating walking a couple miles down the forest -service roads to attain access to the trail.