Tripyramids Loop - 5/13/15

It was another beautiful Wednesday night in the mountains. This week's adventure would take my brother, friend Alton, and I around the classic Tripyramids Loop, up the North Slide, over the Tripyramids, and down the South Slide.  We were treated to great trail conditions and comfortable temperatures for this nice evening jaunt into the Sandwich Range Wilderness.

Beautiful afternoon in the Sandwich Range Wilderness

Only ice left at the beginning of the slide

We just missed the sun going down behind the peaks, but the sunset we did have provided enough of an epic scene for what is always a fun climb up the North Slide. Here's a sampling of photos from the sunset ascent. Be sure to check out the full album to see much more (link below).

Carrigain & Vose Spur in the pink glow above the shadowy horizon on the right.

Looking to the left in the photo above, here is a close up of the summit of Tecumseh.

Bill, super-pup Cole, and I stop for a breather on the North Slide.

Taking it all in....

Sunset behind the Osceola's

North Tripyramid Summit

Middle Tripyramid Summit

Cole looks out and over the South Slide. It was beautiful here, and very silent.

Descending the South Slide

Highlights:

Tripyramids - 10th Round
North Tripyramid - 600th White Mountain 4,000-footer
My brother's first hike in the White Mountain since last summer.
Sunset from North Slide. I have now seen sunset and sunrise from the North Slide

Trail Conditions:
The route is bare all of the way (including the North Slide) to the woods at the top of the slide. Once at the junction near the summit, a thin monorail exists, which was mostly avoidable or had hardened foot-steps. There was almost no ice, and we never needed micro-spikes. Right from the summit of South, and all the South Slide was also bare. Finally happy to put the snowshoes and micro spikes away for good away after this week.

Livermore Road 

A bare North Slide 

Monorail at 4,000 ft.

Hike Stats
Trails: Livermore Road, Mt. Tripyramid Trail

Distance: 10.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,3238 ft.

Actual Book Time: 5:35
Garmin Adventure Link
Photo Album Link

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

The Tripyramids for Sunrise & Tom, Field, Willey - 6/21/14

Way back at the end of June, I did a fun double-hit-and-run of a couple of hikes for my 6th round.  The Tripyramids and Tom, Field, and Willey.  It just so happened that one of the Tripyramids would be the completion of my 3rd solo round of the 4,000-footers, AND it was the day of the summer solstice - an exciting day to hike!  I was shooting for sunrise, but I had not decided which route of ascent until I was at the Livermore Trail head.  I then decided to go North first, but didn't decide whether to take Scaur Trail or the North Slide. As I approached the junction for the North loop, which is right near the Scaur, I took a look at the time, and decided that my best chance to make it up for sunrise is if I take the direct climb up the slide.  It would be slowly getting lighter as sunrise approached, so I went for it.

Mt. Tripyramid Trail, North

Looking down into the night on the slide

On the way in, I past a tent set-up along the road. There are big construction vehicles around from the current work going on.  The campers had placed a very large branch across the road as if a bear would trip over it and alert them something was near.  The slide was almost completely dry except for a few small spots of no concern.  I had only been up here once in winter, during my first round.  It was nice to be back to check it out.  The temperature, I recall, was about perfect, it was a beautiful clear sky, and I smoothly and comfortably ascended the North Slide under some stars.  About 3/4 of the way up, the orange glow of sunrise crept above the easterly mountains to my left.

Start of summer from the North Slide

I made pretty good time up the slide, moved to the left to connect with the trail, and in minutes, I was on North Tripyramid.  I looked at the time, and I still had 30 minutes to sunrise.  Instead of hanging out, I had just enough time to test myself for sunset on Middle.

A cool look from North Tripyramid, half hour before sunrise

Just enough indeed as I busted out the eight-tenths of a mile, reaching the summit of Middle Tripyramid with about 5 minutes until the sun came up.  From a peak I have not given too much attention, sunrise for my 3rd solo round was pretty amazing.  The sun reflected a pink color off the sky, and the moon added some punch to the scene.  It was just awesome, and I took it all in, by myself, with not a sound or soul around. I bundled up a little because it was chilly, but I didn't miss a second of it.

Mt. Passaconaway, pink clouds, and the moon 

Sunrise from Middle Triptramid 

Summit panorama 

Summit selfie for 3rd solo round   

I lingered until the sun was well over the mountaintops before moving on.  I was really impressed and surprised by the sunrise I was afforded, and happy to have made a nice moment to associate with the Tripyramids.  I was feeling pretty motivated, ready to move on.  The glow of the sun lit up the mountainside and trail in a striking way as I head towards South peak.  Entering the south slide, the crisp morning view provided was just about the best I've seen from that spot.  I completed this 11.1 mile hike with a swift pace, especially for early morning, in just 4:45.  I passed the campers with a smile, as they had just started walking up the Livermore. :)  I had other mountains to tend to on this first day of summer.

Mt. Tripyramid Trail between Middle and South peak

Morning view from South Slide (Snows Mountain, I think)

Next up, I drove directly to Crawford Notch, stopping only at the Irving. I pulled into the depot, and sure enough, I was the last one that wouldn't fit, which meant I had to go down by the Jackson Trail head.  Just as I did, cars were literally pulling in behind me, alongside the road, in almost caravan style.  I was hoping to chillout in the car for a few minutes before starting but it was like there were scores of people about to attack the Avalon Trail, I decided the hell with it, I barely did any re-arrangement of my bag, no rest, nothing, I was off up the trail, and it was 8:45am.

Avalon Trail

A dip in the trail along the way

Mt. Tom Spur

It was a beautiful day as the morning's cues indicated it would be.  Temps were tame, as I remember, and the hike was nice and smooth.  Despite the hoards of people I noticed below making dashes to various trail heads, overall, the hike was pleasant and more peaceful than I thought.  I cruised over the summits taking in exceptional views that rank high among my 6 visits to each. I took a panorama to represent each one.  When I reached Mt. Willey, it was the first complete 3-season solo round.  That means Willey was the only I had not climbed solo in 3-season.  On the way back, I got the typical, "Whoa, you got Willey already?" from a passing hiker, but actually I am slower on this hike when its not covered in snow.  Anyways, I was probably slower at the beginning than the end, from having hiked earlier. It was close to 2:00pm when my hiking for the day was done.  It was pretty fun first day of summer, and I head to my camp where I enjoyed the afternoon with my brother and parents, for it was their anniversary.

      

View from Mt. Tom

View from Mt. Field

View from Mt. Willey

Tripyramids Hike Stats

Trails: Livermore Trail, Tripyramid Trail (Loop)

Distance: 11.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,129 ft.

Actual Book Time: 4:45
GPS Track: Garmin Adventures

Tom, Field, Willey Hike Stats

Trails: Chimney Pond Trail, North Basin Trail, North Basin Cut-off, Hamlin Ridge Trail

Distance: 8.8 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,40 ft.

Actual Book Time: 5:39
GPS Track: Garmin Adventures

The Tripyramids 3/11/12

Since completing the NH48 around Christmas time, my brother Bill took a much deserved break from hiking, but it was such a beautiful day this past Sunday to get back into it with me on the Tripyramids. When I, myself go beyond two weeks without hiking, I really start to dislike that.

We got started around 9:20am, which is late for us, as we like to start early. The road walk was very pleasant along the groomed trail system, and things were going great to start. 

Livermore Trail nearing Tripyramid Loop trails

After hopping onto the loop towards the North Slide, the trail meandered along the valley for a little bit before it opened up and began to steepen significantly. The slide just appears, and early on, it was  looking steep. 

Arriving at the base of the north slide

Up we go - Pemi peaks start to appear

Layer of soft snow over a hard pack

Beautiful view of Presidential's to the left

Getting some GoPro footage of us both climbing by

Looking back with the snow-capped Lafayette in distance

For a hike with very limited views the view from the North Slide was the most unexpectedly beautiful view, and as we reached neared the top of the slide, the effort until this point was worth every ounce. No matter what happened the rest of the trip, it was already amazing.With North peak in the bag, we looked forward to the easy trek across. Middle Tripyramid is shown below from near the North peak summit.

Middle Tripyramid from North Peak

The trail was packed out decently, but snow shoes were necessary for this section. We arrived to Middle peak to see summit flags all around. The views from Middle peak were actually extremely good, being able to see Lake Winnipesaukee and all.

Me on Middle Tripyramid - #39 on round 2

Lake Winnipesaukee from Middle Tripyramid

We continued on, and quickly, we were passing over South Tripyramid. We then took off our snow shoes, and prepared for some glissading. Before that, we took in the view from the South Slide while standing still.

View from top of South Tripyramid slide

After that, we cautiously went onto the open slide where the top had a lot of exposed rock we had to carefully maneuver around until they were sparse enough to get moving. To check out what it looks like going down you're going to have to watch the video below! Check out my rolling action to avoid exposed rocks and trees to keep going. If only the snow wasn't so wet, we would have traveled much faster. It was still awesomely fun!

When we got the the bottom, which was pretty quickly, we thought it was going to be an easy jaunt out, but we were wrong. Look at what we were greeted with. Snow shoes don't necessarily help this.

Tripyramid Loop Trail at bottom of slide

Below, my brother is shown where the trail was in relation to the aimless bushwhack we were following for a while on the way out to Livermore Trail.

This was an awesome hike and experiencing the slides makes this one special. With this Trip to the Trips, I've got 9 more to go for round 2.

Hike Stats

Trails: Livermore Trail, Tripyramid Loop

Distance: 11.1 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,215 ft

Book Time: 7hrs 14min

Below is a montage of footage from the trip, which includes awesome footage of going up the north slide and glissading the south slide!