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:

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.  

This is part 1.  A practical example is in part 2.

I've had a few people ask me how I go about planning hikes, and while I may think what I do is simple, I have been doing it for so long that I don't even think about all the steps that go into it, and there are a lot of small things that I probably will miss when writing this out.  But, I'll try.

Suday I took another 3500 winter hike in the Catskills.  Bearpen and Vly.  Started off late for me, and started up the road with my hiking companion.  This hike is mostly snowmobile trails, and there had been deep enough with snow that they've been well used, so were almost as if they were groomed trails.  We decided to start in snowshoes so we didn't have to put them on later, and we got to the hunters cabin without any issue and made our choice to do Vly first.

Today I went up Kaaterskill High Peak in the Catskills.  There are a few ways in, but I decided I'd take the shortest from Platte Clove and go up the north side of the mountains.  The south side is how I did it for my regular 3500, and that was a climb up Hurricane Ledges.  I wanted to avoid that this time.

We started the day with a little miscommunication.  I said I was at Loj, and my hiking companions took it literally and went over to the actual ADK Loj, while I was sitting there waiting at the High Peaks Information Center (HPIC).  We found each other though and started the hike on the VanHovenberg trail.  There was a sign at the trailhead that said there was enough snow, that snowshoes were legally required starting here.  So, the shoes went on.

One thing that comes up in most hiking conversations is "how long did it take"?  This is often pared with the much easier answer of how many miles and how much elevation which can be determined by using a map and counting contour lines, or more easily read up in the guide book or use a mapping software.  But that how much time question is not an easy one to answer.  It all comes down to what your body can do as far as pace goes along with the trail itself.

Yesterday, I went and tackled Dial and Nippletop for winter credit.  The last time I attempted this, I got about 3 miles in and couldn't get my heart rate down, even when relaxing on Noonmark's shoulder, so turned around.  This time I was solo and got was feeling much better.  Started the day with the 1.6 mile road walk to the trailhead in bare boots.  At that point, I put my spikes on and started up the HG Leach trail.  This was thinly covered with snow and spikes were just fine for the first half mile or so.

We started off the day at the AMR lot and I had jokingly said to someone going to sawteeth that we're doing the disappointing peaks today.  It's not totally true or false, but Blake is not 4000 feet (3960) and Colvin is not much higher at 4057 feet.  So we're planning to do a long hike (planned route was about 14 miles) with a lot of elevation gain (over 4000 feet) for one peak that's just barely 4000 feet that does have some nice views, and a peak that is under 4000 and has zero views.

This year has been another year of hiking.  It was a year where I was able to introduce a friend to the beauty of the high peaks and share with her one of my favorite places in the park, Avalanche Lake.  I also had the pleasure to hike in to Indian Head to watch the eclipse with about 50 others, and made a friend on that hike that I've thoroughly enjoyed hiking with since.