Dix and Hough

June 22, 2019

Hike-a-palooza VI. I offered a hike of Seymour, but had no takers... the one interested party bailing upon hearing my planned departure time. I decided to join Paul on his hike of Dix instead. The plan was to hike up via Hunters Pass, which was very appealing to me as I had never gone this way, and then descend down to Round Pond to complete a traverse. Five of us (Paul, Eric, Dave, Lillian, me) left Keene Farm at 06:00 in two vehicles. All lots along 73 were pretty much full, including our exit point at Round Pond. Thanks to the parking disaster situation around Keene Valley these days, our traverse was cancelled, even though there was plenty of places to squeeze a car around the full lot on the highway shoulder. We decided to just go to Elk Lake and see what we found there instead.

We arrived at Elk Lake road, and saw a new parking area pretty much at capacity before the gate. We talked to two hikers on the road who told us not to bother going up to the trailhead as it was full. We pulled into this new lot, and creatively parked in the ditch, also noting that the normal gate parking at Clear Pond is now permanently closed. Saddling up we started up the road. Within a few minutes a friendly guy in a pickup truck came along and ushered us into the box, where we were whisked down to the trailhead. That was a stroke of luck! We felt a little bit bad as we sped past the other couple that had given us the advice before.

The trail was mucky, but some new trailwork made some sections quite pleasant. We saw a lot of people hiking in, passing a bunch of them as we seemed to be composed of a fairly fast group of people. We took a break at Slide Brook where those that we had passed earlier, walked by, and then several minutes later came back after realizing that they had missed the trail up Macomb. We continued down the trail, pausing at Lillian Brook, so Lillian could take some pictures of her river, and then up into Hunters Pass. The rock cliffs here were quite impressive. The scrambles up around these cliffs were also a hoot. Our group spread out on the steep trail, with the road runners scampering up ahead, and then waiting for the jack rabbits to catch up. Actually it was a pretty quick ascent by everyone.

Happy hikers along the trail.

Lillian and her brook.

Rock slabs of Hunters Pass.

We topped out to a beautiful day and had a prolonged lunch on the summit. Dave was pushing for the whole Dix range. Myself, though the Dix range in a day is a goal I have yet to still fulfill, was not too keen on it today, as I wanted to be back in time for chilli with the rest of the HAP crew. Paul made the call, we would do Hough, and then descend Lillian brook back to the cars and ultimately the party. Dave considered pushing on solo, but in the end decided to stick with the rest of us. Lillian herself seemed to be pleased with this decision, as she could explore her brook more thoroughly.

Approaching the summit of Dix.

Hmmm... how come the guy in trail runners has no mud on him.

Looking over at Becky.

The trail to Hough is fairly tough... with lots of steep ledges that need to be down climbed, but even though the peak seems very far away when looking at it from the Beckhorn, it really did not take very long to get there. We had a second lunch here while chatting with a father and son who were working on their 46 together, and then finally pushed off to descend down Lillian's brook.

Goofing off along the south ridge of Dix.

Selfie of the whole gang on Hough.

Once we were off the steeps and working on the more gentle descending terrain, I let my mind and guard down. I stepped in some mud and my heel slipped out. I felt myself falling on my ass, but then my other leg caught something and started to fold in an awkward angle. In slow motion I had a sudden fear that I was going to do some serious damage to my leg, and then PoW!, my right elbow struck a rock and excruiciating pain shot up my arm. I lay there a moment, not daring to move, as mud seeped into my butt cheeks, wondering if I had just broken my left leg and shattered my right elbow. My leg did not hurt, but I was worried that the pain in my arm might be masking another injury. Gingerly I touched my elbow and flexed my arm... ok, just a nasty bruise. I rolled onto my side in the muddy hole so I could extricate my leg, which unfolded pain free, and after sitting up, cautiously stood up. Thankfully my leg was fine, and the only thing bruised worse than my elbow was my pride. We continued on a bit, and then I realized that my mud covered elbow was bleeding profusely, so we took a brief pause so I could clean the wound as best as possible with some alcohol wipes, and then bandage myself up with some help from Eric.

The rest of the hike was uneventful. We started meeting people again around the Slide Brook area, and then were hiking along the trail out to the parking lot passing various people, and being passed by others. We arrived at the main trailhead after a nine hour hike. Paul and Dave easily secured a ride with another departing fellow, and they sped off to fetch the cars so the rest of us did not have to walk the road. We chatted with a friendly guy from Pensylvania as we waited for our rides, but then finally decided to start walking the road anyway to remove the easy feeding for the blackflies. We did not get far before Paul and Dave drove up. Dave and Lillian sped off, and Paul, Eric, and I drove back to get Paul's pack which had been left behind in the parking lot. We had a quick round of cold drinks from the cooler in his trunk and then back to the farm for plenty of chilli, beer, and english folk songs around the fire pit with the rest of the HAP crowd.

Another great Hike-a-Palooza weekend!

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