Summits: North Tripyramid (4,180'), Middle Tripyramid (4,140')
Trail route: Pine Bend Brook Trail
Trail conditions: Spring conditions with bare trail to start, then mud, ice, packed snow, soft snow
Weather: Cool temps with a slight wind on the ridge and summits under a sunny sky
Total miles: 9.4
Total time: 6:40
The plan for today's hike was to grid out another couple of summits, North Tripyramid and Middle Tripyramid. I was glad that Scott and Lisa would be joining me, it would be nice to have some company. Even with good weather in the forecast I was expecting tough Spring trail conditions.
We met at the Sabbaday Brook parking lot and I drove us down to the Pine Bend Brook Trail. We were on the trail about 7:30 AM. The trail was bare to start but soon had sections of remaining ice that was easy to get around. There are numerous water crossings with all of them easy to cross today.
As the trail started to get steep and there was plenty of hard packed snow we decided to put on the crampons. This turned out to be just in time and we kept them on until we got back to about the same spot before taking them off. There was intermittent sections of hard ice up to the summit of North Tripyramid but it really wasn't that bad with the crampons. We stopped momentarily on this first summit then moved on to the next.
There was more of the same trail conditions on the way to Middle Tripyramid. We met the first hiker of the day coming down from this summit. Middle Tripyramid was our turn around point and we were soon on our way back. We met several more hikers along the way. As we were descending North Tripyramid we saw a couple of familiar hikers, it was Suzanne and Ed. We stopped and talked awhile before continuing down. The snow was definitely softening on the trail and as we ran out of monorail we removed the crampons. It was an enjoyable hike back out to the trailhead.
I was expecting a variety of Spring trail conditions and although there was a mix of a little bit of everything it was still better than I expected. I have now done these two summits in every month of the year. It's halfway through the month and I still have several more summits to complete for April. Grid count 533/576!
Enjoy the photos!
The hike starts here from the Kancamagus Highway
There are many water crossings on this hike
Another water crossing
Here we go again
And another one
And another one
And another one
One more
Walking beside a section of solid ice
Entering into the Sandwich Range Wilderness
Another water crossing before we head up steep terrain
The crampons go on here
Getting into the ice
More ice
On the summit of North Tripyramid that makes 12 times for me
More ice going up Middle Tripyramid
Mount Tecumseh
Waterville Valley is now closed for the season
On the summit of Middle Tripyramid
This is #12 for me
Scott and Lisa use zip-ties to hold crampons onto their boots
Mount Passaconaway and Chocorua in the distance
Did not appear that Sabbaday Brook Trail had any recent traffic
Mount Washington
Met a couple of familiar hikers Suzanne and Ed coming up the trail as we were going down
Scott and Lisa descending ice
Scott on an ice bulge
Descending in soft granulated snow
The final steep descent
Flowing brook that is usually dry
Mushrooms hang over a brook
Water crossing again
Small waterfall beside the trail
Stopping at one of my favorite burls
Back at the trailhead
Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!
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