Jaunt in the Dix Range (7/6/07 - 7/8/07) , TR

“In attendance were, Sherpaman, Mrs. Sherpaman (we need to find her a good trail name), the Goat, Swampthing (ST), Mason, and myself. All participants in this hike made a blood sacrifice, which was collected by the range at different points throughout the hike.

You’ve got to love these quick trips with little planning. I can spend days and weeks planning out a trip, but for me anyways the once with little or know planning seem to go just as well. I knew I was going backpacking this weekend; I just had to, but it wasn’t until Thursday night that we decided on heading up to the Dix Range from Elk Lake. The weather forecast looked good for the weekend, cool temperatures and only a 30% chance of rain. Considering where we were going, I should have known better, than count on the weather. This would be my 8th or 9th trip to the Dixes and it rained there every time I had been there except once. Still this has to be my favorite place to hike and any weekend spent outside beats one spent indoors.

Sherpaman, Mrs. Sherpaman, and the Goat, were heading up early Friday morning and were going to do Macomb, & South Dix while the rest of us had to work that day. I ducked out of work early and was home just before 4. Swampthing was already there and was finishing up packing. We were still waiting on Mason, who at that point hadn’t confirmed if he was going or not because he was unsure if he had to work. We went over to Mason’s anyway to pickup ST’s trekking poles. When we got there Mason informed us that he still hadn’t made a decision because he had to work Sunday and would need to be back in Togatown by 9am Sunday morning. ST went up and got his poles and came back to the car and informed me that Mason had changed his mind and was going, but still hadn’t packed yet. An hour later we were finally on the road, so much for skipping out of work early to get an earlier jump at the trailhead.

After making a few stops along the way up, like dinner and some forgotten supplies, we finally made it to the Elk Lake trailhead, just in time for a nice downpour, so much for 30% chance of showers. At least the rain stopped by the time we unloaded our gear and we hit the trail. We got to the Slide Brook lean-to and met up with Mr. & Mrs. Sherpaman as well as an ADK guided group just before dark. The two of them ended up spending most of the day at camp after getting chased off the Macomb slide by thunderstorms earlier in the day.

I went and stashed my bear canister and helped ST hang a bear bag, which resulted in a tree eating my rock sack, while Mason started a fire with the aid of Captain Morgan. We then went and setup a tent. At that point darkness had finally set in and we sat next to the fire for a short while before going to sleep.

Saturday morning looked promising. Our plan for the day was to take the Lillian Brook path up to the Macomb/S. Dix col and hike up S. Dix, Hough, and Dix and then return to camp via the Beck Horn trail. Things were still wet form the day before and the lower potion of the Lillian Brook herdpath was muddy, but otherwise in good shape. I ended up getting drenched and ate a lot of spider webs while I took the lead up to just below where the path split. That’s definitely the disadvantage to leading, but it’s not too bad to deal with. After the split the path started to get steep, but it wasn’t long before we arrived in the col and were going up the open rocks towards S. Dix. This spot has got to be one of the windiest places in the Adirondacks, I’m sure there are other places that have had higher winds, but you can always count on wind through this open rock section. We took a short break at the top of the rock section for some snacks and then pressed on to the summit, where Mrs. Sherpaman and Mason stepped foot on their fist High Peak. The summit was real nice with the sun’s rays warming us and we were out of the wind. We had the summit to ourselves for close to 15 minutes before the group that we had shared the Slide Brook site arrived after going over Macomb. We chatted for a short while before heading towards Pough and Hough.

The temperatures were starting to cool off a bit and we could see the clouds forming, it was your typical day on the Dix Range. The trip over to Hough was rather uneventful, for the most part your typical herdpath experience of dodging carnivorous spruce and avoiding the occasional eye poker. The path has become very obvious over the past few years, which is kind of sad, I miss the days when you had to think a little more where you were going and weren’t always sure you were following the correct path. I love the view you get towards the Beck Horn of Dix from Hough as it towers over you. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, it never tires. The clouds were still building, but we could still see some patches of blue. We descended Hough towards the Hough/Dix col, which meant we were now committed to climbing Dix.

We descended about 400’ just so we could then climb 850’ more to the Beck Horn. The path would climb and then drop, than climb higher and drop again as we hit the bumps along the ridgeline. Once the path turned steep, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we hit the top of the Beck Horn and take in the 360* view.

From the Beck Horn, it was a relatively easy walk over to the summit. It was good to be on top of this mountain once again and it’s beginning to feel like an old friend. I was glad to see the Colvin bolt still imbedded in the rock there as we all took a seat and ate some lunch.

After we ate we knew it was time to leave as the sky was getting darker and we felt our first raindrops and saw the first flash of lightning just as we got back to the Beck Horn. Lucky for us the rain held off until after we got past the steep open rock sections near the top. The trail was brutal on the knees as it dropped down a ridge towards Dix Pond over 2500’ below. The rain was made things more difficult creating some slick mud. A few of the members in our group took some spills on the descent.

Everyone was happy when we finally reached the junction with the Elk Lake trail, because we knew it was a relatively flat 2 miles back to camp. We, we all got a little surprise with a short rock section as we went around the pond. The rest of the way was as we expected as we made our way back to camp as the rain continued to fall on and off on us.

The return to camp was a great feeling because it meant changing into dry cloths and eating a hot meal. No fire this night, as everything was thoroughly drenched. We sat around and talked for a while, but called it an early night as ST, Mason, and myself needed to get up a 5 the next morning to be sure to get Mason home in time for work.

It rained throughout the night but finally stopped just before we got up in the morning. We packed up our gear and followed a wet trail back to the trailhead. We made pretty good time on the way out covering the 2.3 miles in less than 45 minutes, which enabled us not only to get home on time, but early.
”

“After getting home and eating something and taking showers, ST and myself decided to put the canoe in the water and do some fishing. At least that was the plan. We got up to Stewart’s Pond and launched. We quickly paddled over to a small bay near the boat launch where we had no luck. We then paddled out past a small point and that was pretty much the beginning of the end. As we rounded the point there was a group of three jet skiers that decided that that area was a good place to run circles. We paddled by them but they kept running circles and kept getting closer to use. Not only were they a nescience to us, but they were also getting in the way of people launching boats from the launch. Of the 4 linear miles of lake, they had to pick the one spot to hotdog where they would be in the way of the most people. Needless to say we turned the boat around and paddled back to shore. We probably only were in the water for about 15 minutes.

Other than the short fishing trip we had a great weekend.”

“Sounds like a good time LZ, and congrats to you first time ADK peak-baggers!!!

The trip over to Hough was rather uneventful, for the most part your typical herdpath experience of dodging carnivorous spruce and avoiding the occasional eye poker. The path has become very obvious over the past few years, which is kind of sad
- try it in the winter!!!”

“- try it in the winter!!!”
Capn Bobo
12:24:54 PM
7/09/07

No thanks. I heard there is some crazy guy that hangs around on the summit with no shirt on then.”

“Great report Mr lumbazac. Reading it made me actually feel like hiking again. Sweet pics too, man.

Ahh, yes, the A-Bobo-minable Snow Man, aka the hairless Yeti. Beware!!!”

“You used Captain Morgan as a firestarter? Blasphemy!!

Sweet trip report. I miss that range... sort of.”