If you saw my post about Phelps and Tabletop, you know that Chelsea and I have begun our quest on completing all 46 peaks in the Adirondacks within 10 years, this being year 1. Phelps and Tabletop showed us some of our strengths and weaknesses, one being that we need to hike with more water.
We decided to go up on Tuesday July 31st, and check into the ADK Trail Inn. They had 2 options for rooms, one more luxurious than the other so we took the vintage room since all we really needed was 2 beds, a toilet and a shower. We packed our lunches for the next day and started looking up the distance to our intended hikes and what other people have said about them. The Dix Range was our first mission, and unfortunately it was still 1 hour from our hotel. We both decided our hotel was really cute and worth the 1 hour drive. At the Dix Range you can do 5 peaks at once or less. After doing some research, it seemed if we got there early enough we could do all 5 at once since if you go up one side, you can go peak to peak and back down the other side, sounded easier right?
We got to the trail head around 6 am after driving down a rocky road. There were two other hikers with their backpacking stuff just starting their hike in. We could have camped, but we both wanted a real bed to sleep on. We started the 2.3 miles to where people camp and the loop of hiking the mountains begins. Once we got there, we could not find the trail to Macomb. Online, it seemed that going up Macomb was easier than going down it...after doing it, no matter what it's hard. Eventually we asked some campers who told us it's right after the big bridge and just before the lean-to. Finally we found it.
Hiking up Macomb wasn't bad, but eventually we started to notice the elevation gain. I knew there was a part coming up known as the "Macomb Slide". I began to see it through the trees and my jaw dropped. Chelsea wondered what I was looking at and I said, "If you look here, that's what we have to hike up". She goes, "I'll just see it when we get there". Before we knew it, there we were. At the bottom of a dirt and slippery rock covered area larger than a football field that we had to climb up. Of course, this area is extremely steep and I gave up on trying to stand because gravity was pushing me backwards. If you look back in my blog posts, my posts about Mt. Garfield said how many people don't do it because it is a mental hike. Well, this was 10x worse than that.
The only thing pushing me was knowing that Chelsea was behind me, and if I was by myself I might have turned around. Getting up to the top and seeing the Macomb Mountain sign helped to relieve our anxiety and realize we don't have to do it again.
From there we hiked over to South Dix, also known as Carson. The terrain there was not bad. Of course we had to hike down a little and then back up some rock slabs, but after the Macomb Slide it felt like nothing. At South Dix, we had some difficulty finding the marker, but it was high up on a tree and Chelsea saw it! We took our pictures and enjoyed the views we could see just around the corner.
Little did we know, that would be one of our last opportunities to enjoy a view. On our way to East Dix, also known as Grace, the weather started to change. It became cloudy with some rain. The hike to Grace was easy, besides getting stabbed by the trees since these first 4 peaks were not maintained or marked. At Grace, there are many places to sit and enjoy a view. Unfortunately, not for us. We started to eat our sandwiches and then decided to hide behind some rocks to keep us warm from the wind.
From there we hiked back to South Dix/Carson. There's a little intersection near the South Dix marker where we had to stay right to head over to Hough, where as if we went to the left we would go back up to Macomb. Going to Hough felt like a long time and as we went along the weather progressively worsened. When we got to Hough, a father and his 2 sons were at the summit. They said it was cold and raining. Chelsea and I decided we could wait under shelter from the rocks to stay dry until hopefully the weather cleared up. Ten minutes go by and the weather didn't change. We went up to the summit, took our picture and headed to Dix.
As the 6th highest peak in the ADK, we knew it was going to be cold since the weather was still windy and occasionally raining. On the way to Dix, you have to climb a little mountain in between and then keep going, a tease I'd say. Once arriving to Dix, we encountered a large slippery rock we had to climb up. Chelsea and I could not believe it. We stood there for awhile and the father and 2 sons we passed while hiking there after Hough, caught up to us. They went up first and we followed. Of course then we had to climb up a rock taller than Chelsea and I that had no where to grab onto. Thankfully, they helped us up to the summit were it was ice cold and windy. I looked at Chelsea and said, "I'm so cold. I can't eat the rest of our food here. Lets head down and eat where it's hopefully warmer". She agreed and the other hikers showed us where to go. Finally we were on a trail that was marked!
On the way down the rock slabs of Dix, we ran into a group of 12 year old girls, one of which has done 26 High Peaks! We chatted with them and they thought it was pretty awesome we did all 5 in one day, something that kept us going the rest of the way down. They asked us what it was like the rest of the way up and we said, "Be ready to rock climb". As we departed we heard one of the girls say, "Woah! They weren't kidding".
Going down Dix was all rock slabs, which I am sure on a sunny day are not so difficult to maneuver. Well, it was raining and they were so slippery we both fell and slid down the rocks on our butts, leaving some interesting marks. It felt like forever to get down and every time we got down one rock slab, there was another right around the corner. Finally when it started to level off. We ate the rest of our food and drank our extra water bottle we packed, since our 2.5 liter water bladders were almost empty. We still had over 4 miles to go.
Once we got to the Lillian Brook, we knew we were getting closer and then seeing the campsites put a smile on our faces knowing it was an easy 2.3 miles back to the parking lot. Blood, sweat, and almost tears, we finished the Dix Range, a 14-16 mile hike and somewhere leaving my REI hat behind since it fell off my pack.
Our clothes were soaked with sweat and rain, but we were so hungry we went straight to a little place we saw on the way called the Keene Valley Ausable Inn. We ordered beer, soup, burgers, fries, and dessert. Once we stood up, both of us felt the damage the hike did to us.
We headed back to our hotel, showered, stretched, got our things ready for hiking the next day, and fell into a deep sleep.
Comments