Snowshoes on the Tripyramids

Summits: North Tripyramid (4,180'), Middle Tripyramid  (4,140')
Trail route: Pine Bend Brook Trail
Trail conditions: Crusty snow at lower elevations, approximately a foot of soft unconsolidated snow at higher elevations
Weather: A cold day with some light wind on Middle Tripyramid and sunny skies
Total miles: 9.6
Total time:  8:10 hours

This was going to be a nice day to hike off that Thanksgiving meal from yesterday. I would be joining Jill, Jim, Amy and Robin for a hike to the Tripyramids. I was not sure what kind of trail conditions we were going to encounter but I had all the winter hiking gear packed.

So there were two things that I did not expect when I stepped out the door this morning, no wind and an overcast sky. I watched the weather report just before walking outside and the forecast was wind and clear skies. That changed when I passed over Pinkham Notch and down the other side as the sky cleared and the sun was rising on a beautiful but cold morning.

I arrived at the trailhead and everyone was there. It didn't take long for us to hit the trail. I started out bare booting on crunchy snow. There were two hikers that left just before we did but I could see one set of frozen boot prints that were there from the day before. So that told me there was not much in the way of trail breaking that had been done. It would be on us to do it which wasn't bad down low but that would change.

As we approached the steep section the snow started to get deep and loose. I put on microspikes and that helped some but there was still a bit of slipping going on. Jim put on his snowshoes and said that was much better but I decided to wait a bit longer.

When we reached the ridgeline I noticed some prints in the snow going out through the woods. On closer inspection it was moose prints. That was nothing out of the ordinary but it was about to get interesting. As we moved up the ridge the tracks were everywhere and I mean everywhere. At one point there was entire section of woods that was completely beaten down with tracks. We also noticed fresh moose rubs on many trees in this area. Jim was the first to arrive at the Scaur Ridge Trail junction. He noticed that the sign post had been completely snapped in two and tossed about twenty feet away. He picked it up and pushed it down into the snow next to the broken half of post in the proper direction. We surmised that the moose had done this as there was no other explanation. I checked to see if the signpost was rotten but it was not. This was an incredible display of the strength of this animal. We were all glad that we had missed this moose encounter!

As we continued up the ridgeline I decided to put my snowshoes on as my microspikes were not giving me enough traction in the soft, loose snow. I found this to be much better traction and I also had the benefit of the televators to take the strain off the calves. We had some tricky ledges to move up and over. I found hands and knees to be of some help on some of them. We reached the summit of North Tripyramid and took a short break.

The hike over to Middle Tripyramid was a little easier than what we had just come up. When we reached the summit we took another short break. This was our turn around point and we would now turn and go back in the direction we just came from. I thought this would be a little easier as the trail was a little more packed down now. This part of the hike would prove to be a little more difficult for me. Between a two week break in hiking, a heavier pack, first time in snowshoes this season and soft snow my legs were beginning to cramp. It caused me to slow down a bit on the uphill sections but fortunately most of the return trip was downhill.

This hike took a little longer than I had anticipated but not a problem. I liked the late start for a change. By the time we got back to the trailhead we had put on our headlamps as it got dark quick after the sun went down. The weather and trail conditions were just about how I imagined they would be, maybe even a little better. It was an enjoyable hike and always fun with this group of hikers!

Enjoy the photos and video!

 Stopped to capture the early morning sun on the Presidentials

 Jim is ready to go and leads the way on noisy crunchy snow

 Beautiful morning in the forest

 We all chose a different way across this water crossing

The steep climb starts here

 A view from the trail

 A moose print from a very active  moose

 Amy ducking under a blowdown

 Jim retrieved the trail sign that had apparently been snapped off by a moose

 Moose rub on one of many trees that we saw rubbed

 Jill on an easy over blowdown

 A steep climb up

North Tripyramid summit up ahead

 Snow-covered branches against a blue sky

Arriving at the North Tripyramid outlook

Clouds were covering distant summits

A view between snow-laden trees

 North Tripyramid summit

A small icy ledge to get down

 At the Sabbaday Brook Trail junction

 A view of Mount Tecumseh

 The Osceolas

 A view from Middle Tripyramid

A snow-covered Mount Chocorua and the Sisters

Zooming in on Mount Chocorua

Amy deciding on the best way down

Amy found the easiest way down

Blue sky above a gnarly tree

We found out where the moose did it in the woods

Jill does the easy under

This piece of woods was all tracked up with moose prints

Robin takes the easy way down

Jim is way down the trail

Jill and Amy coming down a steep section

A view through the trees

Sun is quickly going down toward the end of the hike

We finished the final stretch of the hike in headlamps

Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!