RunningCode

About software and adventures on foot.

Dix Remix

Revisited the Dix range on a perfect sunny weekday in mid-August. My first visit was approached from route 73; this time I started at Elk Lake to see it from the other direction. Had a rough idea of a route in mind, some specific things I wanted to see, but largely improvised the details, deciding in the moment where to turn at each intersection. Mainly was just looking forward to a full day of baking in the sun up at high elevation and doing lots of climbing. The day did not disappoint.

From Elk Lake—well, from any approach to the Dix range—the day starts with a few long quiet miles of pretty flat, quiet trail. Add a couple of miles of dirt road from the overflow parking because the trailhead lot was already full: a pleasant morning jog to loosen up. Once on trail, the grassy flats near the lake gradually, almost imperceptibly give way to steeper grades, and then inevitably, it shifts all at once at the fall line to that moderate long grind of mid-elevation climbing. That pleasant, only mildly painful, quad pump that can last for an hour or more.

Elevation graph of part of the run, with a red circle indicating where the climbing grade suddenly shifts from moderate to steep, and a second red circle where the grade somehow gets incredibly steep.
Red circle on the left: where the pain begins. Red circle on the right: where the pain gets silly.

I still make the mistake of not topping off water at the bottom of a climb. It’s so common to find approach trails that parallel brooks, going a long ways within earshot of water, and I think I’ll have easy access for a while so I may as well wait. But inevitably the trail rises way up above the flume and the only good water access is back at the start of the climb. However, this time I was lucky to find a small flow of decent water crossing the trail immediately before the Macomb slide, so I honored my good fortune by topping off both of my bottles, having a snack, and a long drink of extra water before beginning the slide climb. (Gear note: I carry a Katadyn BeFree filter attached to a soft flask for filtering and backup water storage. It’s one of the best investments you can make for lightweight backcountry hiking/running.)

This was my first time on the Macomb slide, and one of the main attractions I wanted to see this day. Fun and quite a workout! All the loose rock and dirt seemed rather different than the other slides I’ve seen. Why is that? Is that what newer slides look like?

Over to Carson, had a blast on the scramble. That rock is so sticky. And the alpine area near the summit is interesting. Can’t quite explain why, but Carson reminds me of the White Mountains.

Next was Grace. But I switched it up a little, and descended the herd path just before the summit, then turned around and climbed the Great Slide. During my first time on the Dix range, we exited the range by descending this herd path, and was quite intrigued by the slide, and finally after nearly four years I got to climb it. Lots of fun. I found some simple beta on SummitPost that was all I needed to know: start right, move left through the middle, finish right. Found blueberries on the slide, the most scenic fruit I’ve ever seen.

Back to Carson. Decided to check out the side trail that connects the col between Carson and the Lillian Brook path. As a bonus, I got to go back down the cool rock scramble, and add on some extra climb for the day. Was surprised to find a source of clean cool water flowing out of the earth just a couple of minutes down this side trail from the col—totally worth keeping in mind if you’re thirsty on that side of the range, though I don’t know how reliable it would be. This trail was a little wild, a bit of an August jungle, moving in and out of that drainage (presumably the main source of Lillian Brook), steep but not too step, a nice midday steam with the sun on my back.

Reached the main branch of the Lillian Brook trail after dropping about 800–900 ft elevation from Carson, and now I turn right to climb back up to the col beneath Hough. That is a quick but steep and relentless climb, your face in the dirt and roots. And then you’re back on the ridge trail, immediately continuing up Hough with no break. Did some sweating there.

Next over to the Beckhorn. I had never seen that or the Dix summit on a clear day so I was looking forward to this. It did not disappoint. Didn’t realize, or perhaps had forgotten, how narrow that ridgeline gets. Even covered in trees, its shape is pretty clear. Nice views of the Grace slide, though it’s funny how dramatically the apparent grade of a slide can change depending on where you’re viewing it from.

Quick hop over to the Dix summit. And then decided to finish the day by descending the Beckhorn trail, also new to me. The idea being with one more visit using the Hunters Pass and Lillian trails, I can finish redlining all of the (former) Dix wilderness. Stopped on the way back to the Beckhorn to watch what I believe were peregrine falcons soaring around it.

The Beckhorn trail was super fun to descend. The exposed parts at the top were a little hair-raising with a long day’s fatigue, and the middle parts a pretty unique and scenic (only mildly technical) jog. Then you know the rest, a long march back to the trailhead. The cascades at the Lillian Brook crossing made for a great spot to break up the return trip and record some video, have a snack with dirt-soaked hands, and think about the day’s events.

Overall a perfect day in the woods, 10/10. Felt great all day. Not great as in it was easy, but that I was actually putting in real work moving fast on steep rock, performing well, taking care of calories and hydration, good energy levels, and really dialed in my gear configuration. But most importantly, it was a good day of living in the moment and feeling that visceral connection to the land that I only find in mountain running. I hope we all can find something like that in our life, whatever works for each of us, that we can return to often.