Up to now, I've done several strenuous hikes, but this hike was a challenge to me as it's one of those hikes that you cannot afford to lose too much time getting lost and finding your way because it is a very long day hike by itself. I also don't have that much experience adventuring in trailless mountains, so I definitely didn’t want to get lost.
The Dix range is a remote range where 4 of the 5 mountains are trailless, it is muddy and requires bushwhacking. There are also numerous blowndown to get over and under, and several hours of this will definitely wear you out. The ridge is very dry so that would require at least 4 L of water to carry on a sunny day. One end of the range is made of a loose rock and gravel slide while the other is made of huge boulders almost all the way down, so going up or down one side or the other is equally painful.
Because of the nature of the terrain, making it an overnight backpacking trip with a fully loaded backpack would be hard, so I absolutely wanted to do it as a day hike. That hike took us about 12-13 hours, I could'nt bend my leg anymore after.
Everytime time I hike, I always pray that everything will go well and that mother nature will be kind. I always feel that little stress in me, and a bit of uncertainty and excitment for the adventure ahead. Like always, the hike was a success and I feel accomplished :)