Dix Range Revenge TR

“Revenge was served, but I’m not sure on whom, on the range or on us.

I arrived at the trailhead campsite around 7:30 Friday night and waited for the others. First LtHiker and his brother arrived. We built a small fire and around 11pm Pennsy drove up and joined us. We stayed up until 2am waiting for PhantomSoul and EarthNsky before deciding to go to bed knowing that we would have to get up early to hit the trail.

5am came way too soon, but we all knew we had to get an early start if we were going to make it to the lean-to at a reasonable time. When we got up we found one more car in the parking area; PhantomSoul and EarthNsky had gotten there at 2:30 (none of use even heard them pull in). We quickly packed up. I walked down to the road and found Hikerick waiting for us. I introduced myself and lead him up to meet the others. We finished packing and spotted two cars at the trailhead where we would be heading out on. Upon return we set out on the trail in the dark. The first few miles along the unmarked trail were fairly flat and progress went well. It was shortly after we passed the campsite from the spring trip bailout that things started to go wrong. We had hiked along the South Fork of the Boquet River for about .8 miles after the campsite before I realize that the scenery didn’t look right. We had followed the wrong tributary at the campsite. We decided to cut a bearing south over a 3000’ ridge to get back to the correct tributary. After about .7 miles of bushwhacking we finally refound the herd path and were back on track. We followed the path to the base of the slide on East Dix (elevation 4012’) and began the steep climb to the top up an open rock slab.

By the time we made it to what we though was the summit, a fog had rolled in and it started to rain. It was already 1pm and we had to make a decision. We could continue and hike the rest of the range or we could descend East Dix the way we came up down a now wet slide. We decided to continue the range minus Macomb Mountain. We followed the herd path to the real summit. Here we were forced to search for the path. The fog hid the rock cairns off the summit. After searching the summit area we were finally able to find the correct path over to South Dix.

The decent and then accent up to South Dix (elevation 4060’) was fairly straightforward after leaving East Dix. We made it to the summit and passed only for a moment to observe the summit sign as the wind was starting to pick up and we were now trying to fight the clock before it got dark. We descended off or the summit and climbed up and over Pough (pronounced Puff) a sub-peak of South Dix. From here we descended into the col were we discovered a campsite and about 3 different herd paths in addition to the one we hiked over from. Here we had a hard time choosing the correct path. We took what we thought was the correct one. We followed this path for close to .2 miles before it just stopped. We had to backtrack and choose again. This time we got the right one and made the steep climb up to the summit of Hough Peak (elevation 4400’) (pronounced Huff). The wind was whipping on the summit and we were happy when we dropped back down into the trees and out of the cold wind. We then dropped over 400’ into the col between Hough and Dix. We then started to make the 800’+ climb up to the Beck Horn on Dix Mountain. We had to use both our feet and hands to make it up to the top. By the time we made it to the top the wind was blowing hard and the rain that was coming down stung as it struck our skin. We hiked across the summit ridge and past the summit (elevation 4857’). It was dark now and we were forced to put on our headlamps. The decent down off of Dix was treacherous. The trail dropped about 1600’ in just under a mile. On top of that a river of water that was rushing down the rocky trail. Progress was slow but we all made it down to the base of the mountain without serious injury. At around 10pm, 16 hours after we started, we were setting up camp, wet, cold and tired.

The next morning the weather was perfect. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We hiked the easy 4.8 miles along marked trail. When we got back to the cars we made the traditional trip to the Noonmark Diner.

Total Distance: About 14.5 miles
Total Elevation: about 5020’ gain / 4795’ loss”

“Great report! Wow, 5020' elevation gain? I didn't realize you guys had 5020' worth of elevation in your entire State. I need photos for proof.”

“thats great,now whos ordering out?”

“Nice report! Glad you guys had fun. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Buck - the mountains out here may be smaller, but our elevations from trailhead to summit our often equal to the routes out west. Plus, switchbacks practically have no meaning in the northeast. I guarantee you our trails would kick your butt. Come on out east for a trip sometime, I guarantee you'd get in a great workout, enjoy the scenery, and have a blast! :-)”

“Nice TR, lets see some pics!”

“Dix Range trip pictures

Sorry but there is a large gap in the pictures between the East Dix slide and the next morning because the camera went into the pack when the rain started.”

“Wow, sounds like y'all had loads of fun.”

“1 page of pictures? booo!!!

where's pennsy's pictures?

z, awesome trip report. glad to hear no serious injuries. and what? no ENS falling?”

“I'll have to see if I can find my pictures from my 2000 trip up Dix and my 2001 trip up East Dix so everyone can see the pictures of the views that we missed.”

“A few pictures from the spirng trip, maps of the area, and some older pictures.”

“Nice trip, Zombie Dude.”

“Great report! Sounds like fun - haven't looked at the pictures yet...

Buck, a hike up Katahdin gains over 4,000'...some Katahdin trails gain over 2,500 in just a little over a mile. You have to keep in mind that eastern trails start at a much lower elevation than the trails out west.”

“Nice TR, Little Buddy!
What have you done with the Phantom ?!?


Buck... Schmuck....
- You know he's just trying to get your goat!

East and West coast mountains really can't be compared (especially if you've never experienced one or the other), but they should all be enjoyed!

Well... you could compare if you really wanted to, but the real loss occurs when an opportunity is missed to go somewhere you've never been before, so are you experienced?

soo many mountains, soo little time...”

“good report, lumby!! and i love the purty leaf pictures. nice fall colors.”

“Nice pic of the fall colors over the very still beaver pond.”

“"Buck... Schmuck....
- You know he's just trying to get your goat!"

That boy sure knows how to make a goat holler!”

“Nice pictures zac! Fall is such a nice time of year.

Dicky - most people don't realize Katahdin gains that much elevation - just sharing the info with Buck, no goats gotten, LOL...”

“great TR LZ. That was a serious buttkicker. The Black Mountain trip will be a breeze after that hike. I got some pics and I'll post them soon.”

“Here are my pics. I uploaded them over at Phantom Soul's since I am not online with my computer yet. They are not edited yet, still came out pretty good. I stopped taking pics at East Dix until yesterday.
The fall colors were unreal. If we would have had views on the tops of those peaks this trip would have been perfect. Even with out the views it was still awesome. I am still incredibly sore. Climbing up that slide and some of those scrambles took every muscle in my body. I can't wait to get back to the Adks.”

“very nice TR!!! ( I still think east mountains SUCK!)”

“Great pictures ENS. We'll have to do another hike in the ADKs when the weather is nicer.”

“Thanks for the TR, zac, I'll copy it and add it to my "46ers" scrap book. The dry, warm bed Sunday nite was sure a delight after Sat. nite up there. But, hey, i got another 4 mountains to add to my list. Thanks, everyone for a good time...next time...it will be sunny.”

“great pics and report, i definitely plan to get to the ADKs for the first time in 2005.”

“Great report. I can't wait to hike with you guys again.”

“great pics, ENS, and once again, those fall colors are great!”

“"very nice TR!!! ( I still think east mountains SUCK!)"
FreakyBloodsucker
11:02:20 AM

Suck the life right outta ya!”

“The mud will try and suck your boots off your feet.”

“The eastern mountains would keeeeeelllllll some of those westerners.

They wouldn't be able to take the jungle weather...........or the buggered-up trails.”

“anyone that thinks the eastern mountains suck needs to go on one of the eastern mountain buttkickers. I'd like to see how much they suck then. That is the most moronic mountain comment I have ever heard.”

“Has Free actually been on any eastern mountains?”

“great pics zac! Party up on the slide.. lol That slide was perty steep, hard to tell in the pics. You pretty much had to use all fours to get up it and in some places army crawl up it. It was a climb. The rock was pretty slick in a lot of places and getting traction wasn't easy. Glad my first 46er was East Dix. That will be memorable.”

“East side, west side.........let's have a rumble!!”

“Ah, on further review, I say let the west coast non-believers keep their opinions of our mountains. It'll keep the trails and routes less crowded.

Back on topic.. I'll check out the pics at home later tonight. I look forward to seeing them!”

“Wow, LZ just keeps outdoing himself everytime. This had to be one of the most extreme hikes I've done, but worth every bit of it. Great TR LZ. I'm now 4 peaks closer to the 46 (total 6 -- go me). It's now Monday night, and I'm still hobbling around, sort of...

I only took like 4 pictures because of the lousy weather on Saturday, but I'll see if I can get them posted later tonight.”

“Great pics ENS and Zac! It's too bad we didn't get Sunday's weather on Saturday. It would have been spectacular up there.

Nice trip report Zac. Saturday was a day I won't forget for a while. 16 hours on the trail is my longest day on the trail. Taking the point down the steep descent of Dix in the dark, with an led headlamp, pouring down rain, gusting wind, heavy fog with 5' of visibility, was one of the wildest things I've ever done. Hiking up the slide to East Dix (before the rain) was one of the funnest things I've ever done.

Soooooo, when is the revenge on the revenge trip?”

“Oh, and btw Buck...

Mt Marcy in NY is 5344' -- one of only 2 peaks in NY above 5000'...”

“Very cool pictures, LZ and Earth!”

“climbing up the slide to East Dix was a ton of fun. I'd love to do this trip again and bag Macomb. REVENGE! Next time the weather better be nice. Next summer will be the summer of the Adks for me.”

“Maybe in June. Warmer weather, long daylight hours, and generally drier than the fall. The only bad things are the black flies, and there is normally a haze in the air limiting the views of the other mountains.”

“Has anyone heard from LtHiker? We need a report on that pie he bought at the Noonmark.”

“Sorry for the delay, I haven't been on the computer since last week.

Zac great trip! Lousy weather. That 16 hour trail day kicked my butt! My legs felt like lead weights on Monday.

The good news is that m little brother said that he will go backpacking again, just not to the ADK. lol

I can't believe that I actually took my 12yo little brother-in-law on this trip and he survived. He said that the part he was most worried about was getting blown off the top of the mountains.

Ok the pie from the noonmark was good but not awesome, it must just be the only place for miles to get a pie.”

“I've had time to heal up after this trip and thought it might be a good time to start and think about another revenge trip on this loop. Three times has got to be the charm. I was thinking maybe doing this trip some time in June. The weather should be warmer, daylight will be longer, but the black flies will be thick. What does everyone think? Three times is the charm.”

“That might be just the time for me to jump in and change your luck.

What do black flies taste like?”

“They taste like chicken, but they do far more tasting of the hikes than the hikers do of tasting them.”

“note to self:

Bring dental floss for black flies”

“Or a sonic care toothbrush. Naw, to heavy.”

“New trip is up.

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trips/trip/523.php”