| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Park on the North shoulder of the Kanc (Rte 112) close to the trailhead sign. There is no official parking area for this trailhead. The trailhead sign is barely visible, mostly covered by the plowed snow bank. Park beyond the painted line at the edge of the Kanc with the vehicle tilted up on the snow bank- not much of any bare shoulder so you must park with tires of passenger side of vehicle on the plowed snow bank. The snow was firm, temp was 5dF early in the morning. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
There are MANY water crossings. All are snow-bridged or open. Snow bridges were holding for bare boots. The open water was easy to cross by steeping on rocks or submerged rocks. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Trail needs brushing in places for winter travel or even summer travel. Had to push branches out of the way. Watch out for a few eye-pokers ! Trail is blazed yellow. Some old blazes still visible within the Sandwich Wilderness area. A couple duck unders, no crawl unders. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw a couple- mostly easy trail for them. |
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 | Bugs: |
Nada |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Lost a brand new white wide mouth Nalgene bottle with blue cap- you can keep it.
There is a single black Stabilicer hanging overhead from a branch in the middle of the trail in about the upper 20% of the Pine Bend Brook trail on the way up to North Tripyramid. |
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 | Comments: |
1) WEATHER- temp started about 5dF early in morning, mostly sunny. Later temps reached about freezing.
2) ROUTE- Did Out and Back to Middle Tripryramid from Pine Bend Brook Trailhead taking Pine Bend Brook Trail to North Tripyramid and Mt. Tripyramid Trail to Middle Tripyramid. We think some people today did a loop also using Sabbaday Brook Trail.
3) EQUIPMENT- We started with Kahtoola MICROspikes and crossed all of the water crossings with them and kept them on until the trail started to steepen at which point we switched to MSR Ascents using Televators. Snowshoes would not be good for many of the water crossings.
4) TRAIL CONDITIONS- mostly firm snow, almost no ice on a fully tracked route. At higher elevations, there was up to about an inch of powder on top of the base. Route condition varied over its length- in sections many deep postholes, in other places, almost no postholes. A couple snowshoe-size postholes. Most of the route packed, but some higher elevation sections with loose snow needed more snowshoe traffic. A lot of "yellow snow".
In the vicinity of 2500 to 3000 feet elevation, the trail splits into TWO tracks- a turn sharply to the left, and one more ahead but to to the right. The track to the left is easy to miss, as we did not see it even though we were looking for it. The track to the left follows the standard "marked trail", the route to the right is a current temporary winter route bypassing a steep section of the "marked" trail. This bypass route is longer, contains switchbacks, and some side hilling and is narrow in places, but it is easier and safer than the section it bypasses. We took the bypass on the way up, and the "marked" trail on the way down, and we regretted not also taking the bypass down. The "marked" trail section is not nearly as well broken out as the bypass, is steeper, and more slippery.
Trail between North and Middle was in very good condition and an easy hike.
5) HAZARDS- In our opinion, on the way up, when the track splits in two, the track to the left which follows the standard summer route is hazardous near the lower portion and a sliding fall is possible with some ice visible. We advise to NOT take this route, and rather to take the right hand track on the way up, and to also take the same track on the way down. If you take the more hazardous route, we suggest considering crampons and ice axe as a precaution.
6) WILDLIFE- Didn't see or hear any, and didn't see any Moose droppings or prints.
7) VIEWS- From the view points on North and/or Middle: Franconia ridge, Mt. Washington, Mt. Moosiluakee, Mt. Tecumseh/Waterville Valley, Ice-covered Lake Winnepesaukee
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 | Name: |
SOTA |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-03-22 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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