Dix loop from Elk Lake

Last Friday I did a loop hike over Dix mountain from Elk Lake. I went up via Hunter's Pass and descended the Beckhorn trail. I think I chose to do this hike in the correct direction (for me). The Hunter's Pass trail is plenty steep and scrambly before it joins the trail from route 73 but there were no show-stoppers. There were a few short sections at the top of the Beckhorn trail that I would have had trouble ascending without some help. Of course, with an assist from gravity there was no problem descending!!

The summit view is great although there were low clouds that filled inbuilding while I was stopped for lunch. There was also a cool effect of clouds (like fog) blowing up from the east side of the ridge. I had thought of adding Hough to the hike but made a wrong (right) turn on the Beckhorn. Oh well, I guess I will have to visit the rest of the range at a later date!

Dix from rte 73

Yesterday I hiked Dix from the Round Pond trailhead with Ken and Pete. The day started out badly as I had a nasty headache and a quick stop at the LOJ road showed that Algonquin, Colden and Marcy were each wearing a covering of snow on their summit cones. Regardless, this was to be Ken's 46th high peak so we were not gonna let a little snow stop us Canadians.

This is a really nice hike on a trail that is maintained by the 46ers, some of whom were out cleaning waterbars and chopping up some blowdown (Thanks!). The first stop along the way is Round Pond which looked great in the early morning with fall colors reflecting in water. The trail is mostly soft underfoot and at a gentle grade until you reach the slide that is past the Boquet river leanto. The slide provides a great spot for a break with views of a couple of slides, of Noonmark, Giant and RPR and plenty of autumn colors.

Beyond the slide the real ascent begins and it does live up to the guide books that describe the trail at this point as "murderously steep". It was steep but as Ken pointed out, you don't get as tired because the pitch means that you move more slowly. At this point the temperatures were dropping but at the same point we started to get views of Nippletop and the Great Range. We also started to see snow on the sides of the trail and in the trees. As we topped out on the ridgeline there was a spectacular sight of Elk Lake surrounded by fall colors.

Onto the summit itself, where Ken was presented with a 46er...ale and congratulations were offered. Lunch was eaten, photos were taken, snowmen were assembled and photographed. This is a great peak with spectacular views but the cloud cover was at approx 5000 feet so the light was not perfect for photography. It was too cold to stay up there for long. The murderously steep section was slow but in general I found the grade of the trail and the colors in the trees to make for a pleasant walk out.

A great day to be out and celebrating Ken's accomplishment!

A new 46er

Yesterday I hiked Dix from rte 73 with Ken and his friend Pete. This hike completed the 46 for Ken and it was great to be with him on this hike. We have hiked to 14 of the high peaks over the last few seasons.
Ken is a great hiking buddy:

• happy to slow down his pace to the slow poke in the group (me),


• pretends to be tired too when you need to stop for a break,


• full of insightful commentary on the surrounding peaks


• and generally quick to dig a cold beer out the back of his truck after a hike

We enjoyed a cool 46er ale on the summit to toast the occasion. Congrats Ken!