Share Your Hike

The plan was to hike the Dix Range on Wednesday, 7/23. I arrived at the parking lot at 4:30 am, early enough to ensure I got a spot. The weather forecast for the day was perfect - sunshine, slight breeze, and not too hot. The plan was to hike the Dix Range clockwise. The hike up the Hunter's Pass trail was pleasant. I decided to stop at the Lillian Brook to get some water and eat a snack before heading up the Beckhorn Trail. The hike became a lot harder, nothing unexpected, until I reached the final rock slide before the Beckhorn. I couldn't figure out how to get up it. A taller person would not have difficulty. The exposure and the need to climb in a way I felt was sketchy put me in a position I was not comfortable with. After about 15 minutes of working out different angles, I made it up, only to see a bigger, more challenging scramble in front of me —the scramble up the Beckhorn. After many attempts, I could not get up that final scramble, and I had no desire to go back down the Beckhorn trail. I ended up bushwhacking around it until I reached the Dix Trail, and after several attempts, I finally made it to the summit. At this point, I was tired, fatigued, cut, and scratched.

As I headed down the Dix trail, I began to realize that today was not my day, and completing the Dix Range was not going to happen. After a long rest at Hough, I decided to head back to the trailhead using the Lillian Brook trail. It was a tough decision with East Dix and Grace looking oh so close. The Lillian Brook trail had A LOT of blowdown, and at times that was a challenge to navigate. Up to this point, the flies and mosquitoes had not been a problem, but that changed quickly as I approached the trailhead. I eventually made it back to the trailhead and then drove the long distance back to Rochester.