The trailhead is small and there was one other car there. It's about three miles off the main road just past the Last Resort. I had planned to take the official Hex Mountain trail, but the gate was closed at the main road. Happily, the road is well marked so the only problem was nearly running down a deer. I was fully packed and heading off at 8am.

From the trailhead the trail climbs in a dusty gully that must be murder when wet. It is fairly steep right off, but levels in about half a mile or so. The only people I saw on the entire hike were a couple coming down. They had packs that made me think they were out for a while, but they looked pretty fresh and she was carrying a six of beer (in bottles) so I wonder if they hadn't decided hiking wasn't really their thing.

Tokul had a great time running about off leash. (She's usually on leash if I think there are people ahead of me or a chance there will be.) She'd been very good the past two days at camp where she had to remain tethered except one brief rumble in the river with the Gray dogs. She practiced her normal behavior of running a ways ahead and then running back. As the morning wore on it got hotter and hotter and she slowed dramatically. We found a small stream where she drank a bit, but otherwise it's bone dry.

This part of the trail was different than the one I had used while snowshoeing up Sasse Ridge, but not surprising since we were doing a lot of cross-country in between switchbacks of the road. The trail is, unfortunately, open to motorcycles so it's pretty beat up. Happily, I neither saw nor heard any. It was probably too early for them to be up and about.

Not too early for the deer, though. At a saddle at the base of a clearcut about a mile in a young buck emerged from the brush. Tokul didn't see it immediately so I called her back to me and she sat happily. I took a few pictures, but then Tokul's eyes finally caught sight of the deer.

I've often wondered how Tokul would react in such a situation. We've passed the elk herd at home frequently without her minding and she never cares about birds that spook near the trail. Would it be flight or fight? Or would she try to play? The answer? FIGHT!

Tokul's hackles stood up as I've never seen and she began growling and barking in the most vicious manner. Absolutely a different dog than I had seen before. She charged at the deer (perhaps 30 meters away) and it took off down the opposite side of the saddle. Tokul finally heeded my calls and gave up the chase, watching the deer disappear into the woods below. A coward? Hell no. Of course, what would have happened had the deer decided to fight? Best we don't find that out.

I leashed Tokul and we headed up the next set of steep switchbacks toward the next saddle. The trail is only 2.6 miles long, but gains about 1,600 feet of elevation. This is mostly done in medium-length climbs of little knobs on the south side of the Newport Creek valley.

Finally we reached the next saddle and I could look up to see the penultimate hill and the narrow ridge connecting to the summit of Hex Mountain. Head down, I pushed on and managed to make it to the top of Hex in almost exactly an hour. Damn good if you ask me. (I know you didn't, but I'll say it anyway.)

Tokul and I split a liter of water on the bare, red rocked summit. Clara enjoyed some of her milk and all three of us had some cheese and goldfish crackers. Yummy.

As we prepared to head down I could see a doe and two fawns at the saddle below the penultimate hill. I prepared to leash Tokul when I saw them spook and take off. They left little dust clouds as they scampered away and down into the valley. A larger buck appeared and headed down the trail toward the car. With Tokul firmly in hand we descended, but saw no more deer.

It took only 45 minutes to get down even with a little crazy cross-country detour along the way. The drive back to the campsite was only 20 minutes or so. Even so, I missed breakfast and wound up with leftovers. Even though the bacon was a bit floppy it was definitely worth it.