Hex Mountain — Monday, Oct. 26, 2020

A beautiful hike!  We started off about 9 am - 29 degrees under sunny skies. The forest road consisted of frozen hoar frosted mud and patches of ice. When we turned onto the trail by the large Hex Mt sign there was a clear boot path through old snow - maybe 2-4 inches deep - very helpful in finding the way around several large fallen trees. No larches here, instead - ice trees! Forests of trees covered in ice, ice encased grasses too - so pretty in the sun. We put on spikes at about the 2 mile mark and used poles, too. Views at the top were great: Stuart, Rainier and the clouds over Lake Cle Elum had finally lifted. On our way down, as the temperature rose the ice on the trees began to melt and we were showered by icy pellets. The forest road thawed and became very muddy. We were back at the car around 2 pm - never saw another soul for the whole hike!