Hiking ADK: Macomb, South Dix (3 times), East Dix, Hough, Dix 10/10/2013

This one was at the edge of my limits. OK, it was over. Started out cool (32) and dark. 6:30 start in October which means no light. Found the trail going to Macomb which turns into a big slide. The slide has great views of Elk Lake and surrounding mountains and gets you to the top in a hurry. I was thinking the hike would not be that long after getting to the top of Macomb at 8:30. Next was South Dix which has views toward Dix and Hough and has a number of rocky view points. Just before getting to South Dix there was a cairn and a Y. One way went to South Dix which was clear since you could see the mountain. The other way went North and I assumed toward Hough and Dix. These are "trail-less peaks which means there is a trail or trails where people have walked before but no signs. I made a mental note that the other side of the Y must go to Hough and Dix and went on to South Dix. East Dix is east of South Dix. Good name. You take a trail from South to East and then go back up South Dix. So now I have been up South Dix twice. East Dix was pretty nice. Views of Lake Champlain and Vermont and an interesting angle on Giant and Rocky. You could see Juniper island in Lake Champlain. Then I headed down to the Y and happily went toward Hough. Or so I thought. Hough is higher than South Dix and you could see that I should have been going up. This trail kept going down, and then it started going West. I went down pretty far which means I had to go up again. About an hour diversion and another run up South Dix. I noticed another trail just after the South Dix that I previously thought was a lookout. Turned out that was the right way to Hough. At this point I was getting worried that I may be on the wrong trail again and may have to climb South Dix again but this trail started to go up quickly and was going the right way (North). The hike up Hough and Dix was pretty steep and there is a pretty good drop between Hough and Dix. Dix has great views of Marcy, and some of the great range, Giant, and all the mountains I had climbed today. The Beckhorn has a big table rock with a big wall. I will include a picture below. This was my third time up Dix. I went up from the other side two other times. One time in the winter which was interesting since I went up the slide and missed the turn onto the trail at the bottom of the slide. I will try and find a picture from that hike and include it. At the top of Dix I was tired. Dix is close to 5000 feet so I still had 3000+ of downhill and about 8 miles to go at this point. I looped down from the Beckhorn so didn't have to go over South Dix again! Nice trail down with views of the many slides that are on the Dix range. The day was 6:30 to 4:00. Drove a little further down the road once I got out of the woods. Checked out the Elk Lake Lodge which is very nice. Right on the lake with a sandy beach and all kinds of small boats to play with. Pictures to follow.