Scotzman
New member
Trails: Elk Lake Trailhead, Beckhorn, Herd path to Hough, Lillian Brook Herd path
Hikers: Scotzman, Tracy, Bruce
Special Equipment needed: None
We arrived at the trailhead close to 8:30am and departed soon after. At the time of departure no one else had checked in yet but just as we left there was a party pulling in that was planning on doing Macomb. As we hit the trail I was curious to see the condition of the trails and the woods and streams themselves. I had heard that the Range had been cleaned up and was ready for action but this was my first chance to get out since Irene.
We passed a few very big blowdowns just out from the trailhead but the rest of the trail back to the Beckhorn trail was pretty much the same way I had remembered it from last summer. This was a great day to be out in the woods, morning temps in the high 40's and rose into the low 60's as the day progressed, and a nice blue sky for the most of the day! This would be my first time up the Beckhorn trail and it was in very good shape. There was no blowdown and the morning sun was lighting up the trail as we climbed. I particularly enjoyed the several rock scrambles as we approached the summit ridge.
We were keeping a fairly easy pace so we hit the summit early afternoon and enjoyed lunch on the summit of Dix. This was Bruce's first time for either Dix or Hough so it was nice to help him add a few more to his 'dacks list. After some time on the summit for lunch, we geared up and headed down over the Beckhorn and began our trek across the ridge-line toward Hough. It was at this time we ran into our first contact with other hikers, father and son Dave and Dave who had started out of Elk Lake shortly after us and were just below the summit of Dix, their fifth Dix of the day and both of their 46th 'dack high peak!!!
Congrats guys are your finish! What a great day to do it on.
As we made our way across the ridge we ran into the only time we experienced any issue with blowdown. The ridge-line has a fair amount of it, although all of it was easily passed or sidestepped. We took another quick break on the top of Hough and watched as the clouds were increasingly starting to thicken. Our hike down the Lillian Brook herd path was another first for me and I am very impressed how well it was maintained! Kudos to the adopter or trail work teams on their great work in the Dixes! While the trail was free of all trees and debris there was significant signs of erosion along the trail once at the bottom when the trail followed the brook you could see the remnants of the high water and debris piles throughout.
After what seemed like forever the herd path dumped us out onto the main trail and we began my least favorite part of every hike, the death march back to the car. haha
All in all a fantastic day in the woods!
Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/110641657393510920540/DixAndHough92111?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3SgIbL8qPw2wE#
Hikers: Scotzman, Tracy, Bruce
Special Equipment needed: None
We arrived at the trailhead close to 8:30am and departed soon after. At the time of departure no one else had checked in yet but just as we left there was a party pulling in that was planning on doing Macomb. As we hit the trail I was curious to see the condition of the trails and the woods and streams themselves. I had heard that the Range had been cleaned up and was ready for action but this was my first chance to get out since Irene.
We passed a few very big blowdowns just out from the trailhead but the rest of the trail back to the Beckhorn trail was pretty much the same way I had remembered it from last summer. This was a great day to be out in the woods, morning temps in the high 40's and rose into the low 60's as the day progressed, and a nice blue sky for the most of the day! This would be my first time up the Beckhorn trail and it was in very good shape. There was no blowdown and the morning sun was lighting up the trail as we climbed. I particularly enjoyed the several rock scrambles as we approached the summit ridge.
We were keeping a fairly easy pace so we hit the summit early afternoon and enjoyed lunch on the summit of Dix. This was Bruce's first time for either Dix or Hough so it was nice to help him add a few more to his 'dacks list. After some time on the summit for lunch, we geared up and headed down over the Beckhorn and began our trek across the ridge-line toward Hough. It was at this time we ran into our first contact with other hikers, father and son Dave and Dave who had started out of Elk Lake shortly after us and were just below the summit of Dix, their fifth Dix of the day and both of their 46th 'dack high peak!!!
Congrats guys are your finish! What a great day to do it on. As we made our way across the ridge we ran into the only time we experienced any issue with blowdown. The ridge-line has a fair amount of it, although all of it was easily passed or sidestepped. We took another quick break on the top of Hough and watched as the clouds were increasingly starting to thicken. Our hike down the Lillian Brook herd path was another first for me and I am very impressed how well it was maintained! Kudos to the adopter or trail work teams on their great work in the Dixes!
While the trail was free of all trees and debris there was significant signs of erosion along the trail once at the bottom when the trail followed the brook you could see the remnants of the high water and debris piles throughout.After what seemed like forever the herd path dumped us out onto the main trail and we began my least favorite part of every hike, the death march back to the car. haha
All in all a fantastic day in the woods!
Pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/110641657393510920540/DixAndHough92111?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3SgIbL8qPw2wE#
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