MtDews
New member
We were successful on our second scheduled try for the three lower Dixes today! The first scheduled day included an overnight change in the weather forecast and a poor night’s sleep, resulting in a trip to Big Slide instead. Being in our 60’s we have enough working against us without getting our rest! 
Starting from the winter parking at the Elk Lake gate, we traveled 15.6 miles in 12.5 hours to pick up Macomb, Carson and Grace peaks. The temperature was 34 degrees and the snow spine was very solid, so microspikes were all we needed to the Macomb slide. The snow on the slide was frozen too, so we opted for crampons to scale it. This was a wise choice as the footing would have been too slick for snowshoes. At the top, we switched to snowshoes until the rock top of South Dix, then went back to the MSRs for the trek to East Dix. On the return, we kept the MSRs on all the way back to the slide by skirting the rock top of Carson. The sun and warmer temps had rotted the crusty snow now, but we still opted for crampons for the descent of the slide. It worked very well, except for a few postholes. Once down, the snowshoes went back on for the rest of the trip to the summer parking lot, after which we barebooted to the car. We barely needed any heavy clothing all day except on the summit of Carson, completing the trip mostly in long sleeve wicking shirts. Times for the day were: Left car – 6:30, Macomb – 10:50, Carson – 12:00, Grace – 1:00, back to the top of the slide – 3:10, at the cairn – 5:15, back to the car – 7:00. We were completely exhausted, scratched and cramped, but escaped with no injuries! The trick seemed to be concentrating on staying on the snow spine for stable footing, especially when the snow begins to decay. Postholing and falls, even with snowshoes, occurred when even half your foot was off the spine. Note: as the nights get warmer, that strong morning snow won’t be there to help footing.
Starting from the winter parking at the Elk Lake gate, we traveled 15.6 miles in 12.5 hours to pick up Macomb, Carson and Grace peaks. The temperature was 34 degrees and the snow spine was very solid, so microspikes were all we needed to the Macomb slide. The snow on the slide was frozen too, so we opted for crampons to scale it. This was a wise choice as the footing would have been too slick for snowshoes. At the top, we switched to snowshoes until the rock top of South Dix, then went back to the MSRs for the trek to East Dix. On the return, we kept the MSRs on all the way back to the slide by skirting the rock top of Carson. The sun and warmer temps had rotted the crusty snow now, but we still opted for crampons for the descent of the slide. It worked very well, except for a few postholes. Once down, the snowshoes went back on for the rest of the trip to the summer parking lot, after which we barebooted to the car. We barely needed any heavy clothing all day except on the summit of Carson, completing the trip mostly in long sleeve wicking shirts. Times for the day were: Left car – 6:30, Macomb – 10:50, Carson – 12:00, Grace – 1:00, back to the top of the slide – 3:10, at the cairn – 5:15, back to the car – 7:00. We were completely exhausted, scratched and cramped, but escaped with no injuries! The trick seemed to be concentrating on staying on the snow spine for stable footing, especially when the snow begins to decay. Postholing and falls, even with snowshoes, occurred when even half your foot was off the spine. Note: as the nights get warmer, that strong morning snow won’t be there to help footing.
