1ADAM12
06-05-2006, 09:10 AM
Trip report long :D
Friday June 2 we arrived at the trailhead with sunny skies and temps in the 70’s. WE made it to the Slide Brook Lean-to in about an hour and set up camp. We made a fire and just enjoyed ourselves before the long hike of the Dix Range.
Saturday we awoke around 6am made breakfast and set off by about 6:45am. Seth, Kit, and I found the herd path to Macomb and started away. The blowdown was very minimal and the Macomb Slide was intense. As we started climbing the slide the weather started getting bad. The rain and the wind picked up and started getting cold. MY thermometer said it was 44 and I bet the wind chill was in the low 30’s. We had views of Elk Lake and the mountains that surrounded the lake but that was soon to change.
By the time we reached the top of the slide we were clouded in. We had the best views of inside a cloud that anyone could ask for. :D We took some pictured and pressed on. The longer we stopped the colder we felt. The herd path was easy to pick up to Carson and when we hit the boulder field there were……you guest it snow flakes in the air. We could not believe it. We almost walked past the summit of Carson as the summit marker was high in the tree. When you finally come to a flat spot in the trees you have reached the summit of Carson.
Once again the herd path was easy to pick up on the way to Grace. I cannot believe how fast the hike went. I think we made it to Grace in about 45 minutes. The faster we hiked the warmer we felt. All I can say is if you were not prepared with the proper clothing hypothermia was definitely in the air. A few times we found ourselves shivering. On top of Grace I put another layer of clothing on and felt a lot better. The whole trip we had our raingear on. Never once did we take it off. By the time we summited Grace we had ice pellets hitting us in the face and winds in the 30mph range I am guessing. Needless to say we did not stick around long.
We backtracked to Carson and then picked up the herd path to Hough. This was the kicker. I think this was the most tiring part of the trip and definitely the longest. We finally reached the campsite between Pough and Hough and had to get the compass out. IT made us feel a little more at ease knowing we were on a correct compass bearing.
We finally made it to the summit and saw the disk on a tree and it is not even marked “Hough” Carson and Grace had the names on the disks. Man it seemed like it took us forever to reach the Beckhorn. Plus we were whipped. IT had been a long day and we reached the Beckhorn at 4:30pm. On the herd paths I did not think the blowdown was bad at all. When I think of bad blowdown I think of how Redfield use to be when I climbed that.
If you are going up to the Dixes don’t worry about the blowdown it is minimal. The worse of the blowdown was descending from the Beckhorn. Here is where it starts to get interesting. On Friday while we were eating dinner a party of three came in 2 guys and a girl and they were all 20 years old. It is their first time to the Adirondacks and they plan on spending 10 days in the back country.
When the 3 of us reached the Beckhorn we hear “HELLO” “HELP” We answered back “Where are you” and finally we see a head come appearing from below. It was one of the guys we say on Friday. He had the girls pack with him and he was getting ready to head down and get his pack. We told him to turn around that he would never make it to the Boquet River Lean-to before dark.
We followed him back down to where he left the others. The girl was in bad shape and freezing to death. There was no way she was going to make it to the other side of Dix with the weather and the shape she was in. Seth and Kit took turn carrying her pack down the mountain while I stayed back with her to help her down.
Don’t ask me what happened to the other two guys they disappeared when they figured we would help her. I was kind of pissed off that they ditched her. About an hour later we ran into the guys waiting for us. Once they saw us they took off again, IT was almost like they were making sure she was taken care of. It was like she was a burden to them.
Finally after two hours of taking turns with her pack I caught up with the other two guys and told them to wait up. I told them in order for us to make our lean-to before dark we had to get going. They were off the ridge line the girl was warmed up and feeling better. So we made the decision to press on without the others. I talked with one of the guys and told him not to let her out of his sight and walk with her. He agreed and said that was a stupid thing to do leaving her behind. They only had about another hour to their lean-to. Later on we ran into a few others and said they made it back to the Lean-to so we were happy and relieved.
We finally made it back to our lean-to just after 9pm. The trail from the Beckhorn is a river and no way to keep your feet dry. There were areas of standing water 2 feet deep. I could not believe it. This trail was worse than the Bradley Pond area. If you plan on going to the Dixes in the near future be prepared for very wet trails.
This is the first time in June that I have experienced 3 season hiking. We had the spring rain, the winter snowflakes and the freezing rain ice pellets. UNREAL!!!!!!!! All in all we had a great time….just a little wet.
On the way out Sunday we ran into Wende Grubbs Hokirk and her husband Larry. They adopted the herd path to Macomb. They were going in to do a blowdown sweep. Those of you that don’t know her she is in the book “ Women with Altitude” So it was really cool meeting her. Finally back to the car and home. I am pretty sore hiking all 4 peaks it even hurts to type this long report.
A few questions! Would you have skipped Dix to help the 3 others that were ill prepared for the conditions in the mountains that day or would you have pressed on to the summit? Also are there fired allowed in the Dix Range? Wende told us she thought they were now prohibited. We never saw and signs that said fires prohibited.
One thing I learned from this trip was ALWAYS come prepared! This weekend showed how the Adirondacks are not FORGIVING if you’re ill-prepared!
When I get the pics downloaded I will put them up. There is not much do to the wet weather.
Friday June 2 we arrived at the trailhead with sunny skies and temps in the 70’s. WE made it to the Slide Brook Lean-to in about an hour and set up camp. We made a fire and just enjoyed ourselves before the long hike of the Dix Range.
Saturday we awoke around 6am made breakfast and set off by about 6:45am. Seth, Kit, and I found the herd path to Macomb and started away. The blowdown was very minimal and the Macomb Slide was intense. As we started climbing the slide the weather started getting bad. The rain and the wind picked up and started getting cold. MY thermometer said it was 44 and I bet the wind chill was in the low 30’s. We had views of Elk Lake and the mountains that surrounded the lake but that was soon to change.
By the time we reached the top of the slide we were clouded in. We had the best views of inside a cloud that anyone could ask for. :D We took some pictured and pressed on. The longer we stopped the colder we felt. The herd path was easy to pick up to Carson and when we hit the boulder field there were……you guest it snow flakes in the air. We could not believe it. We almost walked past the summit of Carson as the summit marker was high in the tree. When you finally come to a flat spot in the trees you have reached the summit of Carson.
Once again the herd path was easy to pick up on the way to Grace. I cannot believe how fast the hike went. I think we made it to Grace in about 45 minutes. The faster we hiked the warmer we felt. All I can say is if you were not prepared with the proper clothing hypothermia was definitely in the air. A few times we found ourselves shivering. On top of Grace I put another layer of clothing on and felt a lot better. The whole trip we had our raingear on. Never once did we take it off. By the time we summited Grace we had ice pellets hitting us in the face and winds in the 30mph range I am guessing. Needless to say we did not stick around long.
We backtracked to Carson and then picked up the herd path to Hough. This was the kicker. I think this was the most tiring part of the trip and definitely the longest. We finally reached the campsite between Pough and Hough and had to get the compass out. IT made us feel a little more at ease knowing we were on a correct compass bearing.
We finally made it to the summit and saw the disk on a tree and it is not even marked “Hough” Carson and Grace had the names on the disks. Man it seemed like it took us forever to reach the Beckhorn. Plus we were whipped. IT had been a long day and we reached the Beckhorn at 4:30pm. On the herd paths I did not think the blowdown was bad at all. When I think of bad blowdown I think of how Redfield use to be when I climbed that.
If you are going up to the Dixes don’t worry about the blowdown it is minimal. The worse of the blowdown was descending from the Beckhorn. Here is where it starts to get interesting. On Friday while we were eating dinner a party of three came in 2 guys and a girl and they were all 20 years old. It is their first time to the Adirondacks and they plan on spending 10 days in the back country.
When the 3 of us reached the Beckhorn we hear “HELLO” “HELP” We answered back “Where are you” and finally we see a head come appearing from below. It was one of the guys we say on Friday. He had the girls pack with him and he was getting ready to head down and get his pack. We told him to turn around that he would never make it to the Boquet River Lean-to before dark.
We followed him back down to where he left the others. The girl was in bad shape and freezing to death. There was no way she was going to make it to the other side of Dix with the weather and the shape she was in. Seth and Kit took turn carrying her pack down the mountain while I stayed back with her to help her down.
Don’t ask me what happened to the other two guys they disappeared when they figured we would help her. I was kind of pissed off that they ditched her. About an hour later we ran into the guys waiting for us. Once they saw us they took off again, IT was almost like they were making sure she was taken care of. It was like she was a burden to them.
Finally after two hours of taking turns with her pack I caught up with the other two guys and told them to wait up. I told them in order for us to make our lean-to before dark we had to get going. They were off the ridge line the girl was warmed up and feeling better. So we made the decision to press on without the others. I talked with one of the guys and told him not to let her out of his sight and walk with her. He agreed and said that was a stupid thing to do leaving her behind. They only had about another hour to their lean-to. Later on we ran into a few others and said they made it back to the Lean-to so we were happy and relieved.
We finally made it back to our lean-to just after 9pm. The trail from the Beckhorn is a river and no way to keep your feet dry. There were areas of standing water 2 feet deep. I could not believe it. This trail was worse than the Bradley Pond area. If you plan on going to the Dixes in the near future be prepared for very wet trails.
This is the first time in June that I have experienced 3 season hiking. We had the spring rain, the winter snowflakes and the freezing rain ice pellets. UNREAL!!!!!!!! All in all we had a great time….just a little wet.
On the way out Sunday we ran into Wende Grubbs Hokirk and her husband Larry. They adopted the herd path to Macomb. They were going in to do a blowdown sweep. Those of you that don’t know her she is in the book “ Women with Altitude” So it was really cool meeting her. Finally back to the car and home. I am pretty sore hiking all 4 peaks it even hurts to type this long report.
A few questions! Would you have skipped Dix to help the 3 others that were ill prepared for the conditions in the mountains that day or would you have pressed on to the summit? Also are there fired allowed in the Dix Range? Wende told us she thought they were now prohibited. We never saw and signs that said fires prohibited.
One thing I learned from this trip was ALWAYS come prepared! This weekend showed how the Adirondacks are not FORGIVING if you’re ill-prepared!
When I get the pics downloaded I will put them up. There is not much do to the wet weather.