DSettahr
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2005
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Well, I did it. At the culmination of 30 trips into the woods, 49 High Peaks summited, 346 miles hiked/snowshoed/skied/cramponed, and 109,600 vertical feet climbed, I finished the Winter 46 this past Sunday at 2:30 in the afternoon when I reached the summit of Dix.
The hike could not have gone more beautifully, despite having gotten a later than expected start. I made good time to the summer trailhead, from there to Slide Brook, and from there reached the base of the Macomb Slide by 10 am. Climbing the slide was a piece of cake- styrofoam snow the whole way up! Midway up the slide, I heard voices behind me, and turned to see a group just starting up the slide- one of whom waved when she saw me looking down on them.
From the top of the slide it was a quick and easy jaunt to the summit of Macomb- the sketchy rock scramble that I remember from a previous summer ascent was snow covered in snow and ice that it was a piece of cake. Reached the summit by 10:45, where I stopped for a few quick pictures before heading on my way.
I'd forgotten how open South Dix is- my camera was clicking away as I climbed the open rocks. The group I'd seen on the slide caught up to me here- and it turned out to be forum member Moosebeware and her friends (it was nice to meet you!). I ended up playing leap frog with them all the way to Hough!
South Dix felt like nothing more than a bump on the ridge, as did Pough. Coming off Pough, I encountered a solo hiker headed south along the ridge. Hough has a little bit more elevation gain to it, but also went quickly and smoothly.
Moosebeware and party turned around on Hough, and so I continued the ascent to Dix alone. Along the entire ridge, I could see my goal ahead of me as I crept closer. Soon, I was on the Beckhorn, and from there it was a hop, skip, and a leap to the true summit.
Conditions on the summit were pretty close to epic- in a good way, in that the view was amazing. What clouds there were didn't obscure the views one bit! Epic too, in that the winds and cold were some of the most intense I've experienced on a winter summer in the Adirondacks. When I removed my glove to take pictures, I found that I could only keep my hands exposed to the elements for a few seconds at a time. Nonetheless, I managed to snap quite a few pictures from the summit before I started down.
I descended via the Beckhorn trail, which I'd never hiked before. The ledge just below the Beckhorn looks a lot sketchier than it actually was- I was easily able to lower myself over it and find purchase with my feet, then hop down to the base. The trail itself sure is steep, and it's easy to see that Dix has justly earned it's reputation for being the steepest of the High Peaks.
I reached Dix Pond just in time to watch an amazing sunset- and even then, it stayed light out long enough for me to hike all the way back to the summer trailhead without the aid of a headlamp. By the time the stars started to come out, there was not a cloud in the sky, and I was treated to amazing views of Orion ahead of me as I hiked south on the road back to Clear Pond.
Conditions were excellent- the Macomb herd path, herd path along the ridge, and the Beckhorn trail were all broken out and in great shape. The Lillian Brook herd path looked like it had been broken out a few weeks before, but had several inches of fresh snow on top of it. The Hunter's Pass trail looked like no one had gone down it in weeks. I wore snowshoes all day, and only encountered 1 or 2 small icy patches- the rest was well packed snow!
It feels great to be done with the Winter 46... 6 years ago, when I climbed my first Winter peak, I didn't really have the intention of becoming a Winter 46er; I was just working on my regular round. It was only at the start of last winter, with 15 winter peaks done, that I had the time and ability to put forth a serious effort into climbing the rest. Most of my trips were solo, and most of those were during the week, which gave me long stretches of time by myself. Not that I'm complaining, I enjoy spending time in the woods, whether it's alone or with company.
So... one more list done, so many more still to work on. I'm hoping to get some of the VT 4,000 footers this winter (at least Camel's Hump), and perhaps a peak or two in the Whites now that I have a friend living there that I can visit. Plus there's the Catskills 3,500 footers (2 left), the NY Fire Tower Challenge (1 left), the Ultra Fire Tower Challenge (many left), ADK Hundred Highest, and of course, the lean-to challenge!
