Having just recently hiked the southern portion of the Dix Range, I wanted to finish it off and even though it meant a long, tough hike, it had to be done. I have done Dix Mountain before, but it had been a while, and it needed to be done to get to Hough, well more or less. Unfortunately for me, this happened to be the hottest day of the year to date! The temperatures as the day progressed moved into the low 90's and the sun was out in full force. Knowing that it was going to be a long, hot day, I had brought five bottles of fluids, close to a gallon combined.
My hike began with Tracy, whom I had first met, and hiked the lower half of the Dix Range with earlier that month, and another woman whom I had met for the first time at the park and ride that morning. We started out of the Rt 73, Round pond trailhead and within a half an hour of starting the woman who I hadn't hiked with before was gassed and ready to turn back. Tracy started the day feeling a bit sick from a lingering ailment and between the two of them, they decided to fall back and hike at a much slower pace and take trail as it came to them. With the two of them sticking together, I was determined to push on and bag my peaks that I had set out for; unfortunately I had a rather untimely mishap considering the current conditions that day. Two of my water bottle tops weren't secured all the way and I ended up losing almost 2 liters of water that I had started with. Through stubbornness or determination I pushed on to complete my goal for the day. The first 5 or so miles go pretty quick and easy, as I made my way back to the base of the slide on Dix. I have to say, that this hike especially and many more to come this summer were filled with more toads, frogs, grass snakes than I've ever seen before in the woods. Well, the Dix summit climb was just as I remembered it to be, extremely steep and rugged, for close to a mile. A bit whipped, and through rationing of my fluids, a bit thirsty, I reached the summit of Dix and was rewarded with a fantastic view on a clear day! After a quick lunch and some time to enjoy the view, I glanced over to Hough, and thought...do I really wanna trek all the way over there, just to have to turn around and come back the same way, on the two bottles of water/Gatorade that I had left? Well, the answer was no, but the choice was yes. I was determined to get it done! It was an adventure going over the Beckhorn and following the ridgeline over to Hough. Hough offered a great view of Dix from a perspective I hadn't seen before. The herd path was very narrow, but quite easy to follow. Thank goodness for gaiters! Re-climbing the Beckhorn involved a few rock scrambles that had me crawling and scooting/pulling myself up, but I managed, and on the summit of Dix, I drank the last of my water. I remember my mouth was so dry that I had absolutely no saliva and was feeling a bit of a headache. I new I was dehydrated and was seriously concerned about getting heat stroke. As I made my way down the bottom of the slide and the stream that forms off it, I decided to take the small risk of beaver fever and drink from the stream. The odds of me getting a bacteria were much lower than having some serious issues of dehydration or heat stroke. Once, fully re-hydrated I had renued vigor for the long trek back to the car. All said and done, it was one of the most tiring hikes I have done, due to the heat, lack of water, and long, difficult terrain. I am glad to have completed it and in the end, been no worse for the wear.
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