adktyler
Active member
So my best friend and I wanted to do some High Peaks over Thanksgiving weekend. My car ended up getting in an accident, so I wasn't sure if the trip would work out. My Dad and I ended up fixing it in time, so it was a go. Origionally I was hoping to hike all 5 of the Dix Range with another forum member, but because of my car, and stupid college projects, I ended up only hiking on Saturday and doing school stuff for most of the rest of my "break."
But we were able to go out on Saturday! Our "plan" was to climb the 4 trail-less peaks in the Dix range, and then hike back out and go home. My father and I are working on our winter 46, and my friend is working on his regular 46 (we both have 23 of each done). One of the purposes was to get a GPS bead on Hough and Macomb (my dad already had one on Carson and Grace).
So we left Schenectady at 4:00am, and made it to the Route 73 parking lot around 5:45am. By 6:15am we were off. The trail in was beautiful. The snow was packed down making travel easy, the temperatures with in the low 30's, and the Bouquet River partly frozen over. We made excellent time (an aver of 2.5 mph by the gps) for the first 2 hours or so. Then, right after the last campsite, the snow began to get much deeper.
Within a few hours we were trudging though 2 feet of sand-like powder (it was kind of crunchy-ish). Our pace slowed down significantly, and it became exhausting work. Additionally, because of the variance of the GPS in its exact path (we were following my dad's trail, which was the correct one), we kept wandering off the trail and ending up loosing it temporarily. A running joke became "oh, look what I found, a trail." It seemed like an eternity before we actually began climbing the mountain itself.
After frequent rests and inward cursing of deep, unbroken powder, we made it to the slide on Grace. This is where it became fun. My bestest friend ever made the suggestion of climbing up the slide, instead of the flagged trail to the right of it. This seemed like a good idea, as the snow was more packed down on it and I was sick and tired of taking a step forward and sliding back half of one. So we began up the slide.
At first it was excellent. Thin, hard-packed snow, with incredible views of Hough and Dix. But after the initial part, it became a lot more exciting. The slide became significantly more steep, and lots of ice developed under the deepening snow. Soon we were presented with two re-occurring conditions: a steep ice wall or super-deep powder-crust that was near impossible to gain traction in. After reading the trail conditions and guide book descriptions, we had decided that our crampons were not necessary, so we left them in the car. Bad decision. It ended up taking us 1 1/2 hours to hike the entire slide. Our MSR's Evo Ascent's really helped, but ropes, ice axes, and crampons would have been excellent. It ended up being okay, though. A real adventure, which is what be BOTH love! I don't think we've ever hiked mountain traditionally, we always end up spicing it up in one way or another.
So we finally made it up the slide, with our heart pounding from the hard work and the steepness. The sky was clear blue, with only a few clouds. We were afforded wonderful views of the entire Dix range, as well as Giant and RPR and the entire valley into Vermont! It made the entire deep snow and crazy slide worth it. By this time it was already 12:15, which means it took us 6 hours to reach the summit...not good time at all. We had lunch, adjusted gear, and headed onto Carson (South Dix) and Hough.
We never made it. The trail was too ambiguous, and the snow too deep (pure powder on the West side of Grace). We wouldn't have made it to the summit of Hough until probably around 4ish, which would've left us with a bushwhack back to our car mostly in the dark. Not a wise move. So we decided just to ditch the other 3 (sadly!) and head back.
I swear the trail doubled in length on the way back. It took us seemingly forever and ever to return. Finally, however, we made it back to Route 73 at 5:45, 11 1/2 hours after we began. A very, very long day. Hopefully when we attempt it in a month or so it will be a little more easy (haha, wishful thinking). All told it was an excellent day spent with an excellent friend in the lovely Adirondacks. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
But we were able to go out on Saturday! Our "plan" was to climb the 4 trail-less peaks in the Dix range, and then hike back out and go home. My father and I are working on our winter 46, and my friend is working on his regular 46 (we both have 23 of each done). One of the purposes was to get a GPS bead on Hough and Macomb (my dad already had one on Carson and Grace).
So we left Schenectady at 4:00am, and made it to the Route 73 parking lot around 5:45am. By 6:15am we were off. The trail in was beautiful. The snow was packed down making travel easy, the temperatures with in the low 30's, and the Bouquet River partly frozen over. We made excellent time (an aver of 2.5 mph by the gps) for the first 2 hours or so. Then, right after the last campsite, the snow began to get much deeper.
Within a few hours we were trudging though 2 feet of sand-like powder (it was kind of crunchy-ish). Our pace slowed down significantly, and it became exhausting work. Additionally, because of the variance of the GPS in its exact path (we were following my dad's trail, which was the correct one), we kept wandering off the trail and ending up loosing it temporarily. A running joke became "oh, look what I found, a trail." It seemed like an eternity before we actually began climbing the mountain itself.
After frequent rests and inward cursing of deep, unbroken powder, we made it to the slide on Grace. This is where it became fun. My bestest friend ever made the suggestion of climbing up the slide, instead of the flagged trail to the right of it. This seemed like a good idea, as the snow was more packed down on it and I was sick and tired of taking a step forward and sliding back half of one. So we began up the slide.
At first it was excellent. Thin, hard-packed snow, with incredible views of Hough and Dix. But after the initial part, it became a lot more exciting. The slide became significantly more steep, and lots of ice developed under the deepening snow. Soon we were presented with two re-occurring conditions: a steep ice wall or super-deep powder-crust that was near impossible to gain traction in. After reading the trail conditions and guide book descriptions, we had decided that our crampons were not necessary, so we left them in the car. Bad decision. It ended up taking us 1 1/2 hours to hike the entire slide. Our MSR's Evo Ascent's really helped, but ropes, ice axes, and crampons would have been excellent. It ended up being okay, though. A real adventure, which is what be BOTH love! I don't think we've ever hiked mountain traditionally, we always end up spicing it up in one way or another.
So we finally made it up the slide, with our heart pounding from the hard work and the steepness. The sky was clear blue, with only a few clouds. We were afforded wonderful views of the entire Dix range, as well as Giant and RPR and the entire valley into Vermont! It made the entire deep snow and crazy slide worth it. By this time it was already 12:15, which means it took us 6 hours to reach the summit...not good time at all. We had lunch, adjusted gear, and headed onto Carson (South Dix) and Hough.
We never made it. The trail was too ambiguous, and the snow too deep (pure powder on the West side of Grace). We wouldn't have made it to the summit of Hough until probably around 4ish, which would've left us with a bushwhack back to our car mostly in the dark. Not a wise move. So we decided just to ditch the other 3 (sadly!) and head back.
I swear the trail doubled in length on the way back. It took us seemingly forever and ever to return. Finally, however, we made it back to Route 73 at 5:45, 11 1/2 hours after we began. A very, very long day. Hopefully when we attempt it in a month or so it will be a little more easy (haha, wishful thinking). All told it was an excellent day spent with an excellent friend in the lovely Adirondacks. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
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