Tom Rankin
Well-known member
The Catskill weather forecast called for rain Sunday, and the DAX was 'partly cloudy'. So be went with Plan B and drove up to the DAX. Good choice! 
The 'partly cloudy' was mostly clear for the first part of the day. We started up the trail from near the AMR gate around 8:45. We chatted with a group of 3 that were starting at the same time. But first they wanted to go stroll around the AMR grounds, having never been there. This worked out perfectly for us, since we ended up with about 20-30 minutes of having the summit to ourselves.
The walk up was moderately steep. But the temperature was still fairly cool, and the trees have not been munched by the caterpillars here, so we had a fair amount of shade. The trail is in good shape. A lot of the streams were bone dry. As you get close to the top, you can see the summit. But the last few tenths of a mile are very steep, and out on open rock. When you get there though, it's well worth it! The views were spectacular! You can see in every direction from here, and it looks like you can just reach out and touch a lot of high peaks! But be careful though, the drop-offs are steep on the Southern side!
We met one of the 'Tupper Trampers' on the top, he lives and works in the Tupper area. Must be nice!
As we lounged around, more and more people showed up, so we finished our snacks, and headed back down. Quite a few more people were coming up, including a couple that were headed to the AMR Gate! We set them straight, and finished the hike. Round trip was about 4 hours for 5.5 miles, allowing for a nice long visit at the summit.
Bugs were still out, and bug dope and sunblock are highly recommended!
Pics:
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t1.jpg - Giant
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t2.jpg - Dix
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t3.jpg - Great Range up close
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t5.jpg - Great Range wide angle
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t4.jpg - Hurricane
The 'partly cloudy' was mostly clear for the first part of the day. We started up the trail from near the AMR gate around 8:45. We chatted with a group of 3 that were starting at the same time. But first they wanted to go stroll around the AMR grounds, having never been there. This worked out perfectly for us, since we ended up with about 20-30 minutes of having the summit to ourselves.
The walk up was moderately steep. But the temperature was still fairly cool, and the trees have not been munched by the caterpillars here, so we had a fair amount of shade. The trail is in good shape. A lot of the streams were bone dry. As you get close to the top, you can see the summit. But the last few tenths of a mile are very steep, and out on open rock. When you get there though, it's well worth it! The views were spectacular! You can see in every direction from here, and it looks like you can just reach out and touch a lot of high peaks! But be careful though, the drop-offs are steep on the Southern side!
We met one of the 'Tupper Trampers' on the top, he lives and works in the Tupper area. Must be nice!
As we lounged around, more and more people showed up, so we finished our snacks, and headed back down. Quite a few more people were coming up, including a couple that were headed to the AMR Gate!
We set them straight, and finished the hike. Round trip was about 4 hours for 5.5 miles, allowing for a nice long visit at the summit.Bugs were still out, and bug dope and sunblock are highly recommended!
Pics:
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t1.jpg - Giant
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t2.jpg - Dix
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t3.jpg - Great Range up close
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t5.jpg - Great Range wide angle
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/t4.jpg - Hurricane
