Dix Mountain

Living 7 hours from the Adirondacks adds additional difficulty to hiking all 46 high peaks in a short period of time. We can’t exactly jaunt up for a weekend, since we would spend as much time in the car as waking time hiking trails.

After my solo hike of the entire Dix range, the main trailhead being one exit south and about 45 minutes closer to home, we decided that on both ends of our trip we would hike these 5 to catch Kathy up with my now-32 high peaks. We did the lower 4 (Macomb, Carson, Grace, and Hough) on our first day, and would tackle the 4,857-foot Dix on our last.

I had gone up the Beckhorn trail last year, and quite frankly found it to be a nice trail. It is relatively dry, and the rocky & steep pitches are moderated along the way by soft flat sections. And of course, there is the huge payout at the end with stunning panoramic views from both the Beckhorn and again at the summit, not to mention a fun climb up open rock to get there.

Kathy & I made it from the base of the Beckhorn trail to the top in under two hours, which meant that we were going to have an early day. So we took our time on the summit, and watched the low clouds roar past. It’s always a good idea to pack a jacket if you want to spend any time at the top; on this August day it was likely not more than 50 degrees and windy on the summit.

We re-traced our route back to the register, two-thirds of the way to becoming 46ers. We had hiked about 80 miles and 11 high peaks in 8 days in the Adirondacks – a new high for us – and with only 7 hikes remaining to get to 46 we both considered how far we had come.

Hiking these mountains started on a whim, and I for one had never hiked anything, ever, before my first trip to Lake Placid. Over the course of these several years our hiking has taught us about ourselves, about overcoming obstacles, about completing seemingly impossible tasks. It is a challenge both mental and physical, often more of the former, and I sometimes marvel as we complete a hike. Both Kathy and I now had 32 high peaks, and another great week in the Adirondacks.

2013: 11 high peaks (5 repeats) As of 8/7/13: 32 (out of 46) high peaks completed.

Our 2013 high peaks: Macomb, S. Dix, E. Dix & Hough; Tabletop; Cliff & Redfield; Marshall; Whiteface & Esther; Dix

Edit: See: Our Path to 46.