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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks East Sleeper, West Sleeper, South Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, North Tripyramid, NH
Trails
Trails: Downes Brook Trail, Kate Sleeper Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Pine Bend Brook Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, September 27, 2014
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Pine Bend Brook trailhead is just a depression on the side of the Kanc. No parking lot. There is room on both sides of the road to park well off the shoulder. Downes Brook trailhead is massive. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Downes Brook Trail features 10 water crossings. Today the water was very low, and they were easy. With any sort of water volume, they could be potentially difficult. The crossings are somewhat wide, over large water-smoothed stones making for tricky footing. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Downes Brook was in excellent shape with just a few step-over blowdowns. Kate Sleeper in similar condition. Pine Bend had some washout sections in the steep upper part - minor erosion to try to avoid. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs: Very few, but some black flies skittering about on this unseasonably warm day. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Downes Brook Trail, considering the low water levels, might be the easiest way to gain the vertical needed to summit Whiteface (which we didn't do today), or the Tripyramids. A gentle rise through a pleasant, mostly open woods, with some increase in steepness during the last mile. The higher you get on DBT, the more wild it feels. Near the junction of DBT with KST, there is a large area of blowdowns that have been cleaned up such that it's easy to pass. But visuals are really striking. For a good several tenths starting on DBT and continuing on KST heading towards the Tris, there's blowdowns and blowdowns and blowdowns. Sort of awe-inspiring to see the evidence of nature's power. A very different landscape from my memory of KST from before that storm.

The western end of KST joins the South Tripyramid slide, with a steep, gravely, diagonal ascent across the rock. Good views from this spot. KST continues across a ledgey area, then finally joins the Mt. Tripyramid trail further across the South Tripyramid slide. The KST/MTT junction is marked on the ground by a three-headed arrow. That arrow was one of the few markers that had seen recent paint. There is also a faded, unpainted wilderness-class marker sign in a tree marking the entrance to KST, but is a little hard to spot even when you're looking for it.

Many peakbaggers on MTT, especially on Middle Tri. Crowd thinned a bit between Middle and North Tri, then faded back to almost nothing descending Pine Bend. Did not catch their names, but ran into a nice couple who had patches galore from NH48, NEHH, NE67, and more. We talked about some of their winter adventures in the area at the Scaur Ridge trail junction with PBBT.  
Name
Name: Ethan Banks 
E-Mail
E-Mail: 020655@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2014-09-28 
Link
Link: https://nh48.wordpress.com 
Bookmark and Share Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense.

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