MtDews
New member
Conditions were awesome as we hit the trail from the Garden at 9:30am. We had planned to do three of the Dixes, but changed the plan around dawn. The warm air and sparkling sun took accompanied us to the Ranger Outpost where we took the Slide Brook Trail to the summit. Conditons on the trails were a well packed spine with plenty of snow on the sides. We used microspikes all the way to the summit with no problem until just before the junction with the Brothers trail. By then the show had started to rot from the heat. The views were spectacular but we didn't tarry due to our late start. We opted to use snowshoes for the trip down and out to maintain footing and preserve the trail's integrity, but others did not and made many new postholes. While we were in the upper altitudes, the heat had dramatically degraded the valley trails. Slush, ice, and running water were the result. This was number 23W... Half way!
