Going into this hike, I knew it was going to be a challenge.  Dix is the 6th highest peak at 4857 feet.  The last mile you climb 1600 feet and hit a slope of at least 50%.  It is steep.  We also went in with no idea what condition the trail was going to be in .  There had been snow a couple times in the previous week, and we only saw 1 person sign in for Dix after the last big snowfall.  We were prepared to break trail as needed.  Thankfully there was one brave soul ahead of us that left only a bit before us.  

We started out from Round Pond on a good pace.  We got up the trail to the junction with the old Dix trail that goes off towards Noonmark, Round, and AMR.  To this point, the trail was in pretty good condition.  Noonmark is a popular "low" peak, so this part of the trail is well traveled.  What we didn't expect to see is 4 people camping at the junction.  They dug up the snow to build walls and slept without anything over them.  They also had put together and used a fire pit.  Now, it's legal to do at large camping and use open fires in this part of the wilderness, but it's not allowed within 150 feet of a trail.  They also didn't dismantle it when they left.  When we got there they were just waking up.  We didn't say anything, and all I could think is "at least they had snowshoes".

From that point you've got about 3 miles of flat before you reach the slide, which you only climb for a couple hundred feet before going into the woods again.  That is where the up begins.  Up to that point we were seeing 6 to 8 inches of new snow on the trail.  We all worked to pack it down on our way up.  That concern switched when we started climbing.  As we got to the steeper and steeper sections, it became more and more difficult to climb.  The joke of 1 step forward and 3 steps back.... well yeah, that's what it felt like.  Kick the toes in a few times, step on it with all your weight, start to kick the other toe and the first foot starts to slide.  It almost would have been easier to switch over to crampons, but the snow was soft and deep, so post holes would easily have been hip high.  This was problematic for me in about 5 or 6 spots, and just trying for 5 minutes to climb 10 feet really wore me out.

We finally reach the trail junction for Hunters pass, and we know we're nearly home free.  0.4 miles to go, and the worst of the steepness is over.  We also are starting to get the spectacular views.  We got lucky.  Blue skies, very mild winds, and the -30 degree windchill was not there.  We get to the top and have to navigate between wind blown snow and bare rock.  Finally, we reach the middle bump of the peak and find the Colvin spike.  We did it.  We then went over to the Beckhorn and looked at the trail down to Hough.  We looked at the time.  We're about 130 at this point, and the trail was not broken out.  My body was out of up, and my hips were bothering me from slipping on ice earlier in the week.  I decide that I have to turn around.  The rest of the group decided to continue on.  Their hope was that when they got to the top of Hough, there would be tracks continuing on.  We say our goodbyes and I head back down.

I got word when I got to my car and had cell service that they got to Hough and decided to turn back.  I got another text saying they were back on marked trails around 8, and a final text saying they got out around 1.  I honestly don't know if they would have fared any better going to South Dix though.  It doesn't seem like that mile was broken out, but it was broken out from South to the road.  The river crossings though were not stable and a couple hikers stepped through in a couple places.  Navigating that in the dark may have been worse.

So, I have once again orphaned one of the more remote peaks in the park.  The easiest way is to come in from Elk Lake and go up Lillian Brook.  This is a 15 mile day with 2700 feet of elevation gain, 1200 of which is in the last 0.7 miles... about as bad as going up Dix.... but at least the majority of the trail is flat or road.  I'm kicking myself for not pushing to get it with this hike, but I am also glad to not have been exiting at 1 AM.

In the end, this is 20/46 for my winter round.  15.9 miles and 4000 feet of elevation gain, 4300 feet of loss (parked different place than where I started) over a beautiful 11.5 hours.