The 2nd Adirondack hike story

[wrongway_08]

Went a lot better this time around!

We left at 6:30 Thursday night. The drive up went great, no traffic, no long delays, no wrongways ! Arrived at a hotel, in the middle of no where around 3am - if memory serves correct ( ). The guy gave us a DEEP discount - the hotel door said $130.00 for 3 people (according to Joe) and he did $50.00!!
In the morning we got up, had breakfast a a really cool little cafe. Good food and nice people. We stopped at a little store and picked up 3/4 pound of cracked pepper turkey! Also picked a a extra blanket - just in case.

Day 1 hiking)
After eating we headed to the trail head - no problems! Parked the car and made our way to the trail. We almost went the wrong way, okay we did for about 5 minutes! Once back on the right trail, we crossed the river (with a little fancy foot work .... and had a great semi-snowy hike to the base of the slide of East Dix.
Along the way we decided to fill up on water before heading up the slide - almost went to plan, untill jess's water bladder leaked and soaked her sleeping bag/pants/pack. Jess tossed on dry pants and Joe and I tried to wring it out but there was too much water. So decided to deal with it at camp.
Our plan was to camp at the summit..... after a few hours of tryn to climb up the mountain beside the slide, we had to give up. Joe tried to cross the ice covered slide and almost took a 400 - 0 foot ride in under 3 seconds flat . We headed down the mountain - along the way I lost my damn Smart wool hat (2nd one) and found a camp site at the bottom of the slide.
Joe and I got camp set up, Jess found wood and hooked up the fire ! Back to the soaked equipment - yea, it was not soaked anymore - just frozen! Sooooo, remember the blanket we just happen to buy? That was one of those cool things that just work out.... we used that blanket and were able to keep Jess alive till morning ... .... brave Jess, trusting the Parade Of Fools with her life ... . Was a cold night. Jack Frost was nipn at every chance he got. Then there was the wet spots you had to avoid....... sucks when you forget to wipe away the snow BEFORE setting up your tent!!

Day 2 hiking)
We awoke to wet/frozen - sleeping bags/tents/shoes and clothes. Made for a fun start. We got the fire going - kinda, had some warm food and started hiking around 11am.
After figuring out that the trail to the summit is on the Right side of the Slide - not the Left , we made it up in a matter of around 2 hours .. had to stop along the way to unfreeze Jess's feet. A few times to check the views - man they were great!!!
They summit was windy and cold, we all were glad our attempt to sleep at the top didn't work out last night!
Heading over to South Dix went well, no major problems and the wind was down a little on that side of the mountain ! From South Dix we headed to Macomb Mountain. Awesome rocks to go over and great views - again! Seemed to be some mini false summits there and lots of tight growth towards the end, untill you came to the sign stating the summit.
On the way back towards South Dix we decided to take a trail that lead off to the Left, it was not marked on the map or GPS but we thought it a good idea anyways! Oh yea, there were some rather large Cat paws that followed the trail, mountain lion? They seemed really big for bob cat paws. Who cares, the cat is only going to take one of us for dinner - at least 2 of us would finish the hike !
The path lead all the way down the mountain - following a rocky, tree fallen, wet path. Seemed like it never ended and was going the wrong way on the GPS but - you know us, there is always one in the group that says screw the common sense and GPS, keep following the unknown trail!! That Fool was Joe, this time. ..... turned out to be a great choice! The trail lead us to a path towards Hough Peak and we found a awesome "unofficial" camp site! Had a great night, warm fire, food and dry tents!!!!
I think it was today that Joe managed to break my first set of Leki hiking poles! He snapped it in half ..... 16 plus years it survived my hiking ...... only took one day with Joe!! Its all good, he only broke one pole, so I can beat the crap outta him with the other one!!

Day 3 hiking)

Waking up slowly, as not to disturb our sleep, we got a late start. the climb up to Hough Peak was rough! Steep, rooted and wet...... worth every bit of effort. At the top, we headed the wrong way but figured it out quickly and we were soon back on the right path. Hough peak came up quick, was a nice view with a good view of all the peaks. We did come across some fresh bear tracks, the bear was using the trail and was only a few feet in front of us. We tried to be silent but as we rounded one corner, we heard the bear running down the mountain - the only thing we got are a few photos of the foot prints! .
Off to The Beckhorn/ Dix Mountain! Last of the summits . Pretty easy hiking along hunting trail, again great views and lots to climb on and look at. The way down Dix Mountain was icy and steep! Jess lost both her foot traction thingys (yes, thats the proper term ) along the way. It took us about 1.5 hours longer then we thought it would to get down the mountain. By the time we arrived at the bottom, the sun was just starting to set and we decided to skip the last camp site and just finish up that night. As we passed the last camp site, kinda wished we could have stayed (there was people there already). Had a nice shelter and fire pit!!!
So the dark fell and we trudged on, then the trail decided to go against our GPS and take us for a 30 or 40 minute detour. One of the group members started having some pain issues, so we found another "unofficial" campsite and set up tents. We couldn't build a fire here but who cared - we just wanted to scarf down food and sleep! The camp site was pretty level and made for good sleeping !

Day 4 hiking)

Got up kinda late and the weather was nice! Sun through the trees and slightly warmer the the last few days. Was a great decision to camp - the rest of the walk out (about 4 miles total) was awesome. The pond had a relecftion of the mountains in it and shadows from the trees almost allowed a Gardner Snake to escape Joe's sight ..... but it didnt and we cought it! The rest of the hike was just a walk in the woods, nice flat, semi-downhill walking - even the road walk section to the car was good!

Everyone had their share of slips and falls on this trip. Pretty sure it was just Joe and I who screwed up the trails here and there - Jess was the only one who didnt manage to try and get us lost at some point along the way!
Well looks like thats 6 - 4,000 footers down (East Dix, South Dix, Macomb Mountain, Hough Peak, Beckhorn and Dix Mountain) and 40 more to go!!!



Video will be a little ways out, gotta get all our photos and make it. Will post when its done!

[Darwin again]

Camped at the bottom of the slide.
Good strategery. If you want to get killed by falling ice and/or rock.
Especially in the colder weather, when the rocks are contracting and water is freezing in the cracks.
Try to avoid doing that in the future.

[Toolshed]

....Well looks like thats 6 - 4,000 footers down (East Dix, South Dix, Macomb Mountain, Hough Peak, Beckhorn and Dix Mountain) and 40 more to go!!!



Video will be a little ways out, gotta get all our photos and make it. Will post when its done!

Glad no one froze. can be awful cold and deep up there this time of year. Did you leave a TR at VFTT?
Also, hate to burst your bubble, but you only picked up 5 peaks -the Beckhorn doesn't count. Not enough drop between it and Dix Proper. But 5 peaks in the cold like this is pretty nice bagging trip!!!

[wrongway_08]

Darwin, figured that being this is a hiking site, Everyone here would be able to figure out we didnt camp directly at the bottom of the slide ..... thought that would be common sense knowledge.........

[wrongway_08]

Toolshed, was wondern about that 6th one.... oh well .... only 41 more to go

[Deadeye]

[quote=wrongway_08;918926]
Well looks like thats 6 - 4,000 footers down (East Dix, South Dix, Macomb Mountain, Hough Peak, Beckhorn and Dix Mountain) and 40 more to go!!!

quote]

Man, I hate to tell you this... the Beckhorn is not one of the 46. On the plus side, you still have 41 to go!

[Nicksaari]

man i wish you'd come down south of the mason-dixon line for a parade of fools. i would love to be apart of the adventure- i would bequeath wonderful campfire and cook some great dinner for you all. besides, central VA would be closer for everyone then say, the Adirondacks.

Wrongway, have you ever been out to Dolly Sods and the rest of the Monongahela?
do some research and let me know!

[Toolshed]

Toolshed, was wondern about that 6th one.... oh well .... only 41 more to go

Here is a list of them. Hook up with a couple of area ADK Chapters - there are always peaks trips on the calendar.
BTW, You went over a bump called Pough and that didn't count either.

[Turtlehiker]

That is a great hike! I have done it twice, once in sideways rain and zero visability we started at E. Dix in the morning on both trips and went all the way around to the shelter on the way down from Dix. The second time it was clear blue skies! Wow some of the drop offs are steep, sort of glad i didn't know how close the edge was on the first trip, almost got blown off the Beckhorn.