This is part 2.  Read part 1 here.

With the hike I did last weekend not hitting all the peaks I desired, I now have to plan to hit a peak in the middle of the Dix range that really has no great options to get there.  So, I'll go through the various possibilities.

Option 1:  Come in from Round Pond and go over Dix:

This is what I just did this past weekend.  The top line numbers are 15.43 miles and 4900 feet of elevation gain and loss.  When I look at this route though, the slope is of concern.  On the way up Dix we've got 1 mile over 20%, reaching 50% at one point.  Going up Hough, it's 0.2 over 20%.  Going back up Dix it's another 0.4 over 20%.  So, we're talking about 1.5 to 2 miles of very steep terrain.

Option 2: Come in from Bouquet River and go over Grace and South:

The top line numbers for this are 13.6 miles, and 4300 feet of elevation gain and loss.  On the face of this, it is better than doing it from Round pond.  Less elevation, less distance.  We also have less steep to worry about.  1 mile over 20% on the way in maxing out at 42%, and 0.2 to get up Hough.  This is typical of a ridge walk hike.  You go in and have a steep climb to the ridge, and once on the ridge, you're not dealing with big elevation gain/loss.  But, the drawback of this route is you're going over 1 other mountain (South Dix) and nearly over a second (Grace, which is included in the track as she's barely off the trail).  

Option 3: Come in from Elk Lake and go up Lillian Brook:

The top line numbers for this are 14.8 miles and 2700 feet of elevation gain/ and loss.  This is the hike with the least elevation.  We've got only 0.7 miles of steep trail maxing out at 50%.  So this route is the least amount of climbing, even though it's in the middle for distance.  The other thing about this route which is not clear by the numbers is the first/last 2.4 miles is road.  Road walks are rarely interesting, but they can be quick, especially when fresh.

There are other ways I can get to this peak such as coming in from Elk Lake and going up the Macomb slide, going up the Beckhorn trail and over Dix, or going up Hunters Pass trail to the Dix trail and the over to Hough.  These are all going to be longer and have their own extra steep sections.  They're not really that practical though.  So they're not really being considered.

What will be the deciding factor then?  With winter hiking, the biggest factor one has to look out for is snow.  Has the trail been broken out, and if not, how much snow has come since it was broken out?  This winter we're having a winter, and the trails are snowed in just as soon as they're broken out.  The high traffic trails are broken out quickly, and have a well defined trench and solid base.  The more remote herd paths though are not getting that kind of traffic.  Following online trail reports, this range has not been getting a lot of attention.  Down low, a few inches of snow over the trench is not a big deal.  Up high though, that turns into feet, and it's more difficult to deal with.  

So what trails have been used becomes a bigger question than it would in the summer.  At this moment, I know that the trail from Bouquet river up to South has been traveled in the past 2 days.  I know the trail from Dix to Hough has been traveled in the past 2 days.  I know the trail from Elk Lake to slide brook (start of the Macomb herd path) has been traveled in the past week.  I have seen nothing on the Lillian Brook approach.  So, while it's tempting to come in from Elk Lake because of the lesser elevation, it may be easier to come in from the Bouquet River because that has seen more traffic.

This is no longer an easy decision.  In summer, it'd be come in from Elk Lake (and the hike would be 4.8 miles shorter since the road is closed in the winter, but not the summer).  The question I have to ask myself now though is how much trail do I want to break?  It probably will still be from Elk lake as it's only 1 mile of climbing, and the other 6.4 miles in is "flat", but the trade off will be breaking a lot of trail, and that mile of climb will very likely be breaking deep snow.