Using the primary hunter's path from Rte 73 that most people take to East Dix, we decided to blaze our own trail a bit north of the "gorge" section of trail. Shortly after crossing the brook by the very nice illegal campsite and hiking for about 1o minutes in between the two brooks, we turned left and headed for the ridge. We turned at the beautiful cascade.
The ascent to Spotted took about an hour through fairly open woods from the herd path. Only the last 10 minutes had thick pine trees. We followed the ridge to Elizabethtown 4 and the "mayan monolith" beyond it as described in the McMartin Guidebook. We could not find a consistent herd path anywhere but the woods were moderately open with many hardwoods.
On the descent, we made a mistake of not following the guidebook route (which suggested descending to the East) and descended West since it was more direct to the hunters path. The woods were very thick, with many cliff bands. My wife also stepped in a hornet's nest, and we emerged in the gorge which was very steep. In hindsight, the longer route described in the guidebook might have been better.
Both of these peaks had very nice views and are certainly off the beaten path!
The ascent to Spotted took about an hour through fairly open woods from the herd path. Only the last 10 minutes had thick pine trees. We followed the ridge to Elizabethtown 4 and the "mayan monolith" beyond it as described in the McMartin Guidebook. We could not find a consistent herd path anywhere but the woods were moderately open with many hardwoods.
On the descent, we made a mistake of not following the guidebook route (which suggested descending to the East) and descended West since it was more direct to the hunters path. The woods were very thick, with many cliff bands. My wife also stepped in a hornet's nest, and we emerged in the gorge which was very steep. In hindsight, the longer route described in the guidebook might have been better.
Both of these peaks had very nice views and are certainly off the beaten path!
