With my friends CV and LA we set out from Elk Lake at 7:45 for Hough which would be #45 for CV and #23 for LA. Setting a good pace, we passed the Slide Brook lean-to at 8:30. I estimated another half hour to the cairn for the Lillian Brook herdpath. Hah #1! In what seemed a very short time we were already at Lillian Brook bridge and nearby campsites. "This doesn't seem right", a little voice told me, but the last time I'd been there was last winter and then I was on the way out, so I thought maybe I just misremembered. So I led them on a bit further. Soon we were on a fairly long descent and I could see a bog off to the left. Then I totally knew I'd overshot. But rather than backtrack uphill I talked my cohorts into Plan B; to continue to the junction of the yellow trail and climb Dix via the beckhorn, then come back over Hough. The yellow trail is a steady gradual ascent until the ridge narrows, and tantalizing glimpses of sky appear through the trees ahead. That's where the going gets tough. Over and over, I expected summit ledges only to find more steepness and more woods. Of course we did at last reach open rock but by then, the weather, which had been mostly gray, became mosly wet. Not just wet but penetratingly so, driven by a summit gale which was barely possible to stand against. It was also disagreeably chilly and we all wished we'd packed warmer. I really should know after all these decades that it's not summer any longer on the high peaks in early September. I'd been down the beckhorn trail a couple of times, but never up it. Up is a challenge. There was one move just below the top which on wet rock was as tricky as the ledge on the west side of Saddleback, and way more difficult than anything on Cliff. But we made it. From there we scooted over to Dix, touched Colvin's summit bolt, beat feet back to the beckhorn and scampered out of the wind down into the col for rest and refreshment. The 400' climb to Hough was uneventful as was the descent down the Lillian Brook path, only that every rock, root, and patch of earth was as slick and slippery as teflon. The forecast had been mostly sunny, slight chance of showers, and temps in the upper 60s and low 70s. Hah #2! We did have intermittent views through breaks in the clouds all along the ridge between Dix and Hough, so it's not like we were socked in all day, but we were three cold, wet, and tired hikers when we finally hit the red trail around 5:00 and were happily back at car by 6:30. CV now just needs Allen to finish her first round. LA and I plan to join her on that, hopefully the weekend after next if the weather's nice.
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