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| View of Noonmark, Round Mountain and Giant from Dix Mountain Summit |
I always overpack when hiking solo in the Adirondack High Peaks. Even on the heavily-trafficked trails, I still want to have enough gear to spend a night in the woods in the event of some wilderness calamity. Usually, I'll also bring along a summit bag and find a higher-elevation spot to stow the heavy pack before tackling any final, super steep sections. Per usual, I took a full pack with me on a recent hike to Dix Mountain. The trail via Round Pond, however, just didn't really offer a naturally-convenient place to stow my pack so I wound up lugging all of my gear the full distance up to the summit. Oh well, that just meant a slower pace and a bigger-than-expected workout. No worries.
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| Round Pond |
I was fortunate to get the last of the handful of parking spots available at the Round Pond lot. Since I was already getting a later start, I was particularly happy since snagging a spot here meant that I could take the Round Pond route as opposed to my backup plan - hiking in from the AMR, which adds another 400 feet of total elevation gain. I was on the trail with a headlamp at 6:30 a.m. and followed the trail up and around the east shoulder of Round Mountain, arriving at the shore of Round Pond at first light. There, I was treated to a great seasonal view of the vibrant autumn leaves and the moon reflecting in the gleaming waters. From the pond, the trail again gains elevation - consistently but at a gradual, easier grade - until the turn off to the Old Dix Trail that leads up from the AMR. This is also the junction for the trail to Noonmark.
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| Icy Slide on Dix Mountain Trail |
The next 3+ mile section is one of long, easy miles with no elevation gain leading all the way to the crossing of the north fork of the Boquet River. After the crossing, the trail again gains elevation - again fairly gradually - until it emerges from the forest at the base of a huge slide. I took a long break on the slide, admiring the direct view to the craggy peak of Noonmark and across the valley to Giant. It turned out to be a good spot for a break because it is here that the real climbing begins, first up the slide itself and then into the woods and up an unrelenting, very steep section. I was glad that it had not rained recently because this is the kind of ADK trail that turns into a waterfall-filled stream. It was on my slow slog up this section that I got passed by another hiker. I'll chalk that up to the fact that he was carrying nothing more than a tiny daypack and half-full 12 ounce bottle of water.
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| Entering the Alpine Zone on Dix |
The steep climb finally eased up not far from the summit where the trail from Elk Lake connects and the alpine zone begins. From here, the trail to Dix climbs much more gradually until it reaches the rocky summit ridge and its wide, sweeping views in all directions. I found the bolt that signifies the true summit and took a long break there in order to take in the fantastic views. Looking east, one can observe the full distance covered on the day with the Round Mountain starting point appearing far off in the distance between Noonmark and Giant. The clear, full-sun conditions, light winds, colder temperatures, beautiful fall colors and sweeping views made for a great day hike. Even better, I only encountered five people during the entire eight and a half hours of trail time. Gotta love weekday hiking in the Fall.
Peak: Dix Mountain
Elevation: 4,857 feet (Gain: 3,569 feet)
Distance: 15 miles roundtrip
Route: Out and Back: Dix Trail via Round Pond
Conditions: Sunny, 40 degrees F
