Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Laurie and I met Rejean at 6:45 AM at the gate at the 'end' of Elk Lake road. It was supposed to rain (snow?) after noon. We set out from the gate and walked for about 30 minutes before we got to the summer trailhead. The road was covered with 2-3" of slush that had not quite frozen. We barebooted the road, and the walk down the very wet and at times muddy trail/dirt road/stream that leads to Slide Brook. Just after the brook, the herd path begins, recently improved by the 46Rs. At this point the 4 booted soles that we followed on the road switched to snow shoes. But now that the trail was packed down hard, we continued barebooting until the trail began climbing steeply.
Shortly after this, we came to a sign covered in plastic that told us that this was the new trail to Macomb, and to follow the flagging. The flags were placed by the 46Rs. It seems like the sign was way too late, as the trail was now well away from the brook. Anyway, about here, we switched to snowshoes. I kept them on the rest of the day. Pete: This section of trail has maybe a dozen new blowdowns that cause people to leave the trail and loop around them.
Shortly thereafter, we overtook the other group. They had camped at the lean-to and were preparing to climb the slide, and continue on to Carson and Grace. We said we would probably do the same thing. We ended up leading the way, and started up the slide. This slide is about a 40 degree pitch on the average. It was still 99% covered with snow, with a few rocks sticking out here and there. The temperature was right around freezing. The snow had a crust on it, and was about 12-18" deep. Once in a while, I would break thru and slip a little, but I had my axe in one hand and pole in the other and I made it up to the top of the slide w/o any falls. Rejean switched to crampons and proceeded up, breaking thru at each step. I actually found it easier to follow in his steps. Laurie brought up the rear. At the top, there is a small cliff which can be skirted either right or left. Right leads to an icy patch, so Laurie and I went left. It's longer but safer.
We rejoined Rejean at the top of the cliff, and he switched back to snowshoes. By now, the snow of the trees was melting. We all put on a waterproof layer, and continued up the herd path to the summit. It was not broken but pretty easy to follow. In 20-30 minutes, we were at the top and had spectacular views of the high peaks and Elk Lake! Rejean took a few pics (I hope he sends me some, I didn't bring my camera due to the threat of rain, which held off until well after the hike was over) and we all agreed that since it was still before 11:00, we would set out for Carson and Grace. We all felt good and had adequate supplies.
Laurie took the lead going down towards Carson. We lost the herd path almost immediately, so we just kept going down. There were a lot of spruce traps waiting for us! One was at least 5 feet deep, trust me I know!
We could see Carson below us, so we just bushwhacked until we hit the herd path again. It led us straight to the base of Carson (South Dix). The South side of Carson is an exposed rock face, but not really a slide, just a big pile of rocks. We climbed up and enjoyed the views from Carson in all directions. Soon afterwards, we set out for Grace (East Dix) on a herd path that had been used a few days before. Laurie commented that she had seen a Trail Conditions report from someone that they had done these 2 peaks a while back. Our thanks to 'Trail Blazer' and his group for their hard work! We refreshed the trail and made it easily over to Grace. We stood on top of the rocks for a few moments, and then retreated to the trees for a snack. While descending Grace, we encountered the other group. They had all dropped all their packs and 1 was barebooting the trail. As we went back, we began to see what a problem this was! The trail was now filled with postholes, some as much as 3 feet deep! This made the going back much more difficult!
[I later learned that the postholer forgot his snowshoes, and learned his lesson, via a PM]
When we got back to Carson, we stopped at the summit and debated doing Hough and Dix as well! Yes the thought of doing all 5 Dixes in one Winter day was in our heads, but we thought thru several factors:
Did we have enough water? - Probably not - and stream water is VERY cold!
Did we have enough food? - Probably yes.
Were we tired ? - A little. We figured it was an extra 1000' of elevation gain and 2-3 miles of extra walking.
Was the trail to Hough broken? - No. Was the trail from Hough to Dix broken? Or the trail from Dix to the Slide Brook leanto? Unknown.
Was it indeed going to rain? The sky still showed no rain in the distance.
Did we have the right gear? - Yes, we had headlamps and rain gear.
We all came to the conclusion that 3 Dixes in 1 Winter day was good enough, and headed back to Macomb. The climb up was harder than I expected. In retrospect, I think we made the right choice not to continue on to Dix.
Once back at the slide, Laurie and Rejean donned crampons. I uttered my stock phrase at this point "In MSRs we trust!", and started down. The snow was a little softer now, but the slide was not unmanageable. I was descending rapidly, but I was not out of control. About 1/2 way down I sat down and began a very long butt slide. I slid over 300 vertical feet in one long slide, dropping 270' in 1 minute according to my altimeter! I had descended the entire slide, about 700', in 5 minutes. Five minutes later, Laurie and Rejean joined me. They switched back to snowshoes and we walked down the new herd path, back down the wet stream, I mean trail, and finally down the road to our cars. It was about 5:45 and almost dark. We were a little tried, but we had a great day! Thanks for joining us Rejean!
Shortly after this, we came to a sign covered in plastic that told us that this was the new trail to Macomb, and to follow the flagging. The flags were placed by the 46Rs. It seems like the sign was way too late, as the trail was now well away from the brook. Anyway, about here, we switched to snowshoes. I kept them on the rest of the day. Pete: This section of trail has maybe a dozen new blowdowns that cause people to leave the trail and loop around them.
Shortly thereafter, we overtook the other group. They had camped at the lean-to and were preparing to climb the slide, and continue on to Carson and Grace. We said we would probably do the same thing. We ended up leading the way, and started up the slide. This slide is about a 40 degree pitch on the average. It was still 99% covered with snow, with a few rocks sticking out here and there. The temperature was right around freezing. The snow had a crust on it, and was about 12-18" deep. Once in a while, I would break thru and slip a little, but I had my axe in one hand and pole in the other and I made it up to the top of the slide w/o any falls. Rejean switched to crampons and proceeded up, breaking thru at each step. I actually found it easier to follow in his steps. Laurie brought up the rear. At the top, there is a small cliff which can be skirted either right or left. Right leads to an icy patch, so Laurie and I went left. It's longer but safer.
We rejoined Rejean at the top of the cliff, and he switched back to snowshoes. By now, the snow of the trees was melting. We all put on a waterproof layer, and continued up the herd path to the summit. It was not broken but pretty easy to follow. In 20-30 minutes, we were at the top and had spectacular views of the high peaks and Elk Lake! Rejean took a few pics (I hope he sends me some, I didn't bring my camera due to the threat of rain, which held off until well after the hike was over) and we all agreed that since it was still before 11:00, we would set out for Carson and Grace. We all felt good and had adequate supplies.
Laurie took the lead going down towards Carson. We lost the herd path almost immediately, so we just kept going down. There were a lot of spruce traps waiting for us! One was at least 5 feet deep, trust me I know!
We could see Carson below us, so we just bushwhacked until we hit the herd path again. It led us straight to the base of Carson (South Dix). The South side of Carson is an exposed rock face, but not really a slide, just a big pile of rocks. We climbed up and enjoyed the views from Carson in all directions. Soon afterwards, we set out for Grace (East Dix) on a herd path that had been used a few days before. Laurie commented that she had seen a Trail Conditions report from someone that they had done these 2 peaks a while back. Our thanks to 'Trail Blazer' and his group for their hard work! We refreshed the trail and made it easily over to Grace. We stood on top of the rocks for a few moments, and then retreated to the trees for a snack. While descending Grace, we encountered the other group. They had all dropped all their packs and 1 was barebooting the trail. As we went back, we began to see what a problem this was! The trail was now filled with postholes, some as much as 3 feet deep! This made the going back much more difficult! [I later learned that the postholer forgot his snowshoes, and learned his lesson, via a PM]
When we got back to Carson, we stopped at the summit and debated doing Hough and Dix as well! Yes the thought of doing all 5 Dixes in one Winter day was in our heads, but we thought thru several factors:
Did we have enough water? - Probably not - and stream water is VERY cold!
Did we have enough food? - Probably yes.
Were we tired ? - A little. We figured it was an extra 1000' of elevation gain and 2-3 miles of extra walking.
Was the trail to Hough broken? - No. Was the trail from Hough to Dix broken? Or the trail from Dix to the Slide Brook leanto? Unknown.
Was it indeed going to rain? The sky still showed no rain in the distance.
Did we have the right gear? - Yes, we had headlamps and rain gear.
We all came to the conclusion that 3 Dixes in 1 Winter day was good enough, and headed back to Macomb. The climb up was harder than I expected. In retrospect, I think we made the right choice not to continue on to Dix.
Once back at the slide, Laurie and Rejean donned crampons. I uttered my stock phrase at this point "In MSRs we trust!", and started down. The snow was a little softer now, but the slide was not unmanageable. I was descending rapidly, but I was not out of control. About 1/2 way down I sat down and began a very long butt slide. I slid over 300 vertical feet in one long slide, dropping 270' in 1 minute according to my altimeter! I had descended the entire slide, about 700', in 5 minutes. Five minutes later, Laurie and Rejean joined me. They switched back to snowshoes and we walked down the new herd path, back down the wet stream, I mean trail, and finally down the road to our cars. It was about 5:45 and almost dark. We were a little tried, but we had a great day! Thanks for joining us Rejean!
Last edited:
