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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, NH
Trails
Trails: Livermore Road, Scaur Ridge Trail, Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, April 21, 2018
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Only car there just before 7am. Although I don't think there were any other hikers coming up that way, there were maybe a half dozen cars there from skiers and people walking their dogs when I left around 5:30-6:00pm. Also, the parking lot still had some slightly treacherous snow/ice in the morning but by the time I got back it was all mud...kinda cool! I could have sworn I read somewhere that you didn't have to pay the fee to use the ski trails at Livermore now, so I didn't pay at the kiosk, but upon later inspection, I believe you are supposed to pay. Didn't get ticketed though so perhaps they aren't patrolling this area yet.  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: None at all that were a problem. All minor and were covered by snow. Thought I might not have taken a big enough step a few times and would get my foot wet but I didn't. I believe the only ones were on the Scaur Ridge Trail.  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Some blow downs on Scaur Ridge and Pine Bend Brook, but nothing too bad. All duck unders.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: The lost dog has now been found :) I imagine a dog would be fine going the route I did.  
Bugs
Bugs: I think I saw one coming down Scaur Ridge and another coming down Livermore. Not sure what they were.  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: The lost dog from Facebook has now been found :)  
 
Comments
Comments: I essentially broke trail the whole way but over very little snow. Even up on the ridge it couldn't have been more than 4-6 inches at most. That said, snowshoes are DEFINITELY still needed because the snow down low is VERY soft. Furthermore, you need some traction particularly on the sidehills on Scaur Ridge where it was very slick underneath the inch or two of new snow, but spikes would have been constantly balling up and would have been useless. Balling was so bad that even my snowshoes balled up on the ridge (and this was before noon). Snowshoes are definitely the best option and you'll be able to leave them on for most if not all of the hike if you wanted to.

Still snow even down low, but that was beginning to change by the time I got back to my car. Very soon, there will be lots of wet, muddy, snowless, trail at least partway up Livermore. I took my snowshoes off partway down Scaur Ridge Trail because the snow was so slick and slushy that I was sliding significantly in them and barebooted. This worked for awhile as I sank about an inch in and wasn't sliding anymore, but once I got to the Livermore Trail I should have put them back in. The snow was melting and was very soft and I began to posthole. I eventually put my snowshoes back on but I should have done so much, much sooner (my apologies).

**PINE BEND BROOK TRAIL**: Although I didn't come up this way everyone I talked to said that the steeps were awful. I got away last year with just using microspikes on them but that clearly cannot be done at the moment. Two men backpacking who came up that way had to replan their entire route because they said they couldn't go back down that way without an ice axe which neither of them had, so if you're going up Pine Bend Brook it sounds like you'll need snowshoes, full crampons, and an ice axe. It sounds like some people are managing to go around the steeps in just snowshoes though so who knows.  
Name
Name: Liam Cooney 
E-Mail
E-Mail: liamcooney96@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2018-04-22 
Link
Link: https:// 
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