Monsoon Madness: Dix Range TR

“What a Jekyll and Hyde trip. Who jinxed us?

Friday: Hello Dr. Jekyll
I hopped in the car and made my way north. The sun was out and there were only a few dark clouds that threatened rain for the day. As I neared the High Peaks Rest Stop the coffee I drank that morning was calling me to stop. As it turned out I ran into Pennsy at the rest area. Once I was finished doing what I had to do, we made our way to Exit 30 and stopped at the pull off there, so I could by a couple hot dogs and Pennsy got some fresh water from a spring. I quickly ate my food and we were off again; this time to spot a car where we were to come out of the woods on Sunday. After dropping off the car we drove to the trailhead and started our hike. After about .5 miles we came to our first river crossing and we easily rock hopped to the other bank. From there the trail temporarily turned away from the river and cut into the woods. Being a herd path there was no trail maintained and we had to work our way around a few blow downs. Before long we made it to our first stop, a small water fall along the North Fork of the Bouquet River. We made our way down a steep embankment and walked out onto the stone slabs above the falls. We climbed down to the base and looked up between the two large rock masses that masked the falling water. There was a deep pool of water at the base and I was tempted to jump into it as it was getting hot in the sun. After a short while we headed back on the trail, which once again veered away from the river. It wasn’t long before the trail split. Once way heads to the South Fork and the base of the Great Slide on East Dix and the other continued to follow the North Fork. With plenty of daylight left in the day we followed the North Fork. This trail was more brushed in. After another .5 miles we came to a second larger falls. This falls consists of a large rock wall with a crack down the center where the water flows down into a large pool of water. We worked are way down to the base and rock hoped across the river and scaled the rock wall to the top. From there we followed the river for a short ways before once again returning to the trail. We continued to follow the trail and it once again joined the river. At a stretch of river were the water slowly moved across its gravelly bed we cut up a hill off the trail to bushwhack to some ledges. The first ledge is like a miniature slide as it was mostly just an open rock slab. At the top we were able to catch some partially obstructed views of the Dix Range. From the top of the first ledge we entered the forest and made our way to the second ledge. This ledge is much steeper than the first and is a step above a scramble. We looked up the 50’ rock wall and picked out a spot to climb up. We left our packs at the base and climbed about half way up to a small shelf. At this point Pennsy continued up while I climbed down, not feeling comfortable with the 6’ section just above the shelf. Once at the bottom I followed the base of the ledge and went up the back way and met up with Pennsy at the top. The climb was well worth the effort as we were treated with unobstructed views of the Dixes. While we were admiring the view, a pair of hawks appeared and were flying at eye level. We explored the top for a while and found a small outlook on the other side that gave us some views of Giant Mountain and Rocky Peak Ridge. From there we climbed back down to our packs, returned to the trail, and hiked back to the fork in the trail. This time we headed toward the South Fork of the Bouquet where we were to camp for the night. This trail showed the signs of more use than the other trail. We had to cross the North Fork and a small stream before we reached the South Fork. The trail then paralleled the South Fork until it reached a point were it crossed. It was at this spot that we had planned to make camp, but we were greeted with a “No Camping” disk. We took our packs off and searched for a place to camp before we found a large open site about .25 miles up the trail. We went and got our packs, returned to the site and set up camp. Once a fire was built we sat around and made dinner while we talked. A while after dinner we decided to hang our food and head down the trail to great Sherpa Man at the river crossing to show him where we were camped. Just as we got our rope thrown we heard Sherpa call out in his Little John voice, “What!” To which I responded, “OK!” He had arrived just before complete darkness with is dog Tahawus. He unpacked his pack and soon we sat around the fire. After a few hours we all went to sleep.

Saturday: Enter Mr. Hyde
At around 5am I awoke to the sound of rain sprinkles hitting the tent. After about 5 minutes the sprinkles turned to buckets being dumped onto the tent. Sherpa and myself just laid there and by 6am we had a small river running through one side of the tent and a small lake on the other side. Both of us leaned toward the center of the tent with dog between us not wanting to touch the condensation covered walls. By 7 neither one of us could stand lying in the tent so we pulled our selves out. As it turned out it was dryer to stand out in the rain rather than lay inside the tent. Pennsy wasn’t fairing much better under his tarp. We decided that if it didn’t stop raining by 9 we would have to hike out. An 800’ climb on open rock didn’t sound that appealing, and then there was the fact that we would be on the range with no way off until we had summated all 5 mountains. By 8:30 we had enough and started to hike out. The water level of the South Fork had risen about a foot in the short time and all of the crossings had turned to fords. The rain had let up some, but the brush along the trail thoroughly soaked us. Once we made it to the cars we drove up to Keene Valley and had brunch at the Noonmark Diner. After we ate we said our goodbyes as Pennsy went home and Sherpa and myself went up to Lake Placid to drink a few pints and get some growlers (a 64oz bottle of beer) form the Lake Placid Brewery. From there we drove down to Sherpa Man’s place and drank our beer to the late hours of the night. I guess we’ll have to hike the Dix Range some other day.”

“Yuck, well, at least you had one good day. Great trip report!”

“Well I can say one thing about your trip. Glad I missed it!

Still beats working though.”

“Ditto what Zac said. Friday was a great day though and that rock scramble/climb was awesome.

here's my pics from Friday”

“That's the way it goes somtimes, but at least you had a great day Friday.”

“Bummer Z, at least Friday sounded pretty cool. But hey, at least I don't feel as bad about having to go to CT...

So, that being said, when are we doing take 2?”

“Possibly Oct. 1 - 3. I put it up on the trip page. Look for the trip called, "Revenge on the Dix Range!"”

“Oh, that's an open weekend. Wahoo! I'm in.”

“Nice trip report and pictures. That rock scrambing looks wild and steep too. It seems more like climbing.”

“Nice pics!!! thanks for sharing!!!.....that poor little stick like tree!!!...it looked so lonely!!!”

“So you didn't get to mount Dix, eh?

Ever consider moving to Massachusetts?”

“And who forgot to pack in the sunshine?


The Dix Range in the Fall is Ausable!”

“Bummage about the rain, but judging from the pics, it looks like you had at least one day of nice weather. Cool how the clouds are hanging at the peaks.

I hate all of you.”

“Don't be a hater, Fartex.”

“My pictures . The first 11 were taken a few years ago or are maps for the trip.”

“LMAO Buddur! That was pathetic.

Zac - I got stuck doing a messy overtime job so I'll check your pics when I get home in a while.

Rich - that climb was a tad beyond scrambling and probably not the wisest thing in the world to do, but it was darn fun.

I blame the weather on Bobo. When he found out he couldn't make it, he put a curse on us. He is banned from the next trip!”

“Wow, this thread sank faster than Ice Tea's date with Scorchy.

Cool pics Zac. Now I know what a growler looks like. Did Tahawus take that pic?”

“What about the bugs, since it certainly seems like you got the mud and the rain to go with it? I'd be too chicken to climb up something like that rock ledge. I think trying to go down it would be harder, at least for me.”

“Thanks Bruce, I liked your photos too.

RichB - The bug weren't too bad. We went found a different way down off the ledge that wasn't as steep.”

“Oh, we went around it to get back down. I told Zac the only way I would go down that thing is with a rapel.

Bugs were out but not brutal. A few black flies here and there, but they are not out in full force yet. The night got cool and I slept under a tarp without any netting.”

“Bobo put some voodoo on y'all!!!

The Revenge trip sounds good.”

“Did Not!

You gotta talk with Mother Nature and that.”

“Doo-wack-a-doo-doo, Bobo gots de voodoo!!”