Sandwich Range Traverse - 4/26/15

Had a really nice hike on the Sandwich Range this weekend, joined by Rich aka "Greenleaf" for the occasion.  It has been one of the most challenging months (in terms of my goals) in the last few years of hiking for me, having reached 34 4,000-footers in the month of April.  I was pleased to have such a pleasant day on the range.  It was pretty quiet and peaceful, and the trail stories from the AT, PCT, and others from Greenleaf were intriguing all along the way.

Pine Bend Brook

Making the way up the steep section on Pine Bend Brook

Temperatures were overall pretty comfortable. We would switch from t-shirts to light jackets several times.  The clouds were just above the summits of the Tripyramids so it was cool when we hit the ridge in the morning.  The clouds dissipated somewhat from there, despite a forecast of possible rain in the afternoon, and from the point of reaching the South Tripyramid Slide until the end we had mostly good views when you see them and just a few random sprinkles along the way.

View from North Tripyramid 

View from Middle Tripyramid 

View from the South Slide 

View from Passaconaway

It's always nice to meet those who follow my blog on the trail. Pleasure to meet Greg and Erica. Thank you for following and sharing your compliments. Happy Trails!

Highlights:
Tripyramids - 9th Round
Whiteface & Passaconaway - 8th Round
"Gridded" out April on Passaconaway.

Trail Conditions:
The entire length of the hike had a very stable monorail, slowly deteriorating. There were lots of post holes to avoid, but the hard surface made it mostly pleasant. We bare-booted to the steepness on Pine Bend Brook, then used microspikes all of the way until we reached bare ground on the Dicey's Mill Trail near the Tom Wiggin Junction. There were a few other miscellaneous bare spots along the way. Snowshoes got a ride on the back all day.

Hike Stats

Trails: Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Kate Sleeper Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail

Distance: 15 miles

Elevation Gain: 5,443 ft.

Actual Book Time: 7:56
Garmin Adventure
Photo Album Link