The Dix Range
Macomb, South Dix, Grace Peak, Hough and Dix
The five peaks that make up the Dix Range are so isolated that it only makes sense to do them in one trip, in a loop. While Dix has a few approaches via marked trails, the other 4 in the range can only be done in a loop, so you might as well just do all 5 at once.
Here is how they stack up, from highest to lowest:
Dix is 6th highest in NY, at 4857 ft.
Macomb is 21st highest at 4405 ft.
Hough is 23rd highest at an even 4400 ft.
South Dix (also known as Carson Peak), is 37th highest at 4060 ft.
Grace Peak (formerly known as East Dix), is 42nd highest at 4012 ft.
We hiked in via the Elk Lake trailhead to the south, and made camped on the western shoulder of Macomb Mountain. It is here that we begin our journey...
Topographic map courtesy of Google
July 2010
Dix Mountain, as seen from the summit of Hough Peak.
Campsite
TRAILHEAD
MACOMB
-
S.DIX
GRACE PEAK
HOUGH
DIX
(Part of my Original 46er quest)
Nippletop on the right, in the middle distance, as seen from Macomb.
Friday – the hike in to camp — 2.3 miles
The scraggly, long-dead tree that holds Hough’s marker.
The guys from left to right: Tanner, Chris, Jim, Pete, Jonathan, Mark, me and Andy. Just about to depart the Elk Lake trailhead area.
The trail was pretty cushy; not too many rocks. Smelled like pine. A keen eye will see Jim carrying in some cans of beer, which he shared after we hiked the peaks the next day, (thanks, Jim!)
The trail widens to the width of a logging road, and is flat or slightly downhill. Pretty nice with full packs on. Through the woods to our left is Elk Lake, but it was too far and the woods too dense for us to see it.
Here we go...
Mark and I heading up the slide. The going is slow, due to the sand. It’s fastest to walk from boulder to boulder, provided they don’t dislodge and go tumbling down the slide to hurt your hiking buddies!
A few guys enjoy resting atop the precariously-balanced boulder near the top of the slide.
Elk Lake from the top of Macomb’s summit.
A quick down, then up this rock face of South Dix to the summit. Only 0.7 miles and it took about a 50 minutes.
Grace Peak’s summit is marked by a yellow tag nailed to a boulder.
The sign showing where we’re going. North to the Slide Brook Lean-to/campsite area. 2.3 miles away.
A sign showing the correct way to go, (left/north), versus turning incorrectly to the right heading south...
2.3 miles later, we cross Slide Brook. Just past this bridge is the lean-to and camping area.
The cairn that is just past the bridge, to the right, which marks the trail heading east, leading to both the campsites and the trail up Macomb’s rock slide, (the route we’ll be taking the next day)...
Our campsite. The herd path that goes up Macomb goes right through this campsite.
Saturday – The peak hike — 10.5 miles, total
Ready to depart for a long day of hiking!
The trail heads up right out of camp, through pretty thick woods, until it opens up at the base of the rock slide on Macomb’s western side.
The bottom of the slide is where we entered. This slide is very sandy and loose, in contrast to most of the solid rock slides we’ve hiked in the Adirondacks. That’s Elk Lake in the background. You’ll see more of that soon...
The view up the rock slide. The cairn helps show the way, but honestly, it isn’t necessary; just go right on up the slide!
Time to start climbing up the loose slide.
A quick break before summiting Macomb...
You’ll note that the survey marker has Macomb spelled differently than we all know it these days...
The obligatory boot shot. It took 1.8 miles to get here, and about 2.5 hours.
All of us, (except Tanner our photographer), on South Dix’s summit.
This is the view west from the summit of Grace Peak. On the left is Macomb in the clouds, in the center is South Dix, and on the right is Pough, (pronounced “Puff”), the relatively unknown and unranked brother to Hough, (pronounced “Huff”).
This panorama from Grace Peak shows all of the other 4 mountains in the Dix Range, from left to right:
Macomb’s big hump, South Dix’s small spike, Pough leading into Hough in the center, with Dix on the right.
The summit marker on the side of a boulder.
1.) Macomb Mountain — 1.8 miles, 2.5 hours
2.) South Dix — 0.7 miles, 50 minutes
3.) Grace Peak (formerly East Dix) — 2.2 miles,
2 hours round trip (including break/photos)
Back to South Dix
We take a quick break on the lookout ledge near South Dix. This faces southeast, but the clouds to our east were thick and low.
Jim pondering on the precipice...
4.) Hough Peak — 0.9 miles, 1.25 hours
A great photo from a lookout on Pough, ruined by a foggy lens. Mark, Jim and I, with the valley to the west behind us. Elk Lake is visible behind part of Macomb ot the left of Mark’s shoulder.
The view north from Hough, showing the route we must take to jagged Dix Mountain.
Panoramic view from Hough. From left to right: Macomb, Elk Lake, the valley, many unrecognizable peaks, Nippletop, Dix.
Foreboding Giant Mountain in the distance.
The guys, (minus Tanner, our photographer), atop Hough. Only one more peak to go!
5.) Dix Mountain — 1.3 miles, 1.25 hours
Andy with Dix ever closer.
A zoomed-in view of our route, going from right to left. You can see the vertical rock wall on the far left, known as the Beckhorn. That will be featured more later...
We finally made it to the summit of our last peak, Dix. Whew!
The obligatory boot shot from Dix.
The somewhat plain, if not disappointing summit marker on Dix. You’d think it’d have a larger, more official-looking version, for being the 6th highest of the 46 peaks...
The two Cammarata brothers, Mark and Jim.
Looking north, the top of Dix is really a very narrow ridge line, fraught with peril on either side.
A more zoomed-in view showing part of the Great Range from left to right: Basin, Saddleback, Gothics, Armstrong, Upper Wolfjaw and Lower Wolfjaw.
A proud moment. This photo shows the valley that we must walk back to camp.
Back to camp — 3.6 miles
Standing on the Beckhorn, next to the rock wall. Quite a unique geological formation, with a great view, too!
After leaving the summit, you must descend the bare rocks to the Beckhorn off to the right.
After the Beckhorn, it’s down the dragons’ back! Pete and Jim opt to do the butt-scoot over the first step down.
We’re now following the marked yellow trail, which at this point, appears to drop off a cliff...
Another view of the dragons’ back, as I call it. The trail goes down each of these humps, until we’re finally in the valley below.
This is a very long and steep descent...
After 1.5 hours, we reach the floor of the valley, and turn left, heading south, towards the Slide Brook campsites. This sign illustrates that it is 3.8 miles to the trailhead from here.
Whew, that was quite a descent...
We stop at idyllic Lillian Brook for a icy-cold, but oh-so-wonderful and cleansing dip.
Finally back at camp, we upgrade our accommodations to an empty lean-to, and then have a wonderful campfire!
Sunday — The hike out — 2.3 miles
The lean-to that was our shelter for the night.
I cautiously cross Slide Brook, bidding it a fond adieu.
The guys all in a line, heading back to the trailhead.
One of the widest sections of the trail.
Signing us out of the register back at the trailhead.
The guys are all cleaned up, and getting ready to go get some food!
Ingesting mass quantities at the Long Lake Diner. We sure earned all that bacon, all those eggs, and all those pancakes!
