| 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: |
Friday, April 19, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked roadside next to Pine Bend trail head. Shoulder firm, able to park completely off the pavement. Free. There are signs on a tree, but you have to be looking for them to see them from the road. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All water crossings on Pine Bend Brook were accomplished on exposed rocks. Water levels reasonable. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Met Mr Pickles who was having a wonderful time working on his NH48. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Route:
Pine Bend Brook > Mt Tripyramid Trail > back the way we came.
This is a story of spring trail conditions in the Whites. Its at the "all or nothing" stage on these trails.
Pine Bend: well blazed in yellow to the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail. Then few, if any, blazes. The trail opened with stable monorail interspersed with few sections of open trail. We elected to try snowshoes to stay on top of the monorail. This ultimately failed as the open sections increased and the monorail vanished. Then reappeared, then vanished again... At the Sandwich Range Wilderness sign (approx 2100 feet), the snow regains its composure and becomes more consistient. Until it doesn't. We took off our snowshoes and put on spikes only to meet with bare, rocky trail, and running water on trail. After this, when the trail really begins to climb, we were glad to have spikes on as the monorail "derailed" into single width post hole steps up that sketchy side hill section that climbs up a flank of the mountain. After this section, the emerging monorail continues up its steep trajectory to meet the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail. It is in this segment that I thrust my poles into the snow and promptly put on my snowshoes. I hate to posthole. At this time of year I could care less if others posthole but I, personally, cannot stand it when my leg gets sucked knee deep into a vat of cold, wet snow. Thus, I wore snowshoes from this point out to Middle Tripyramid and back. From the point I put on snowshoes I wish I could tell you that a wonderful, stable trench manifested. Alas, no. The trail continues with a mix of stable monorail, soft trench and open trail all the way to North Tripyramid summit. Good news! No ice! Everyone else on trail used spikes and that seemed to serve them fine. The summit rocks are free of snow.
Mt Tripyramid Trail: not blazed. Can be challenging to follow in deep snow. After my fit on Pine Bend, I stubbornly kept on my snowshoes. I would not trust the trail! I did fine traversing the slivers of snow and stable monorail. Many sections were almost still a trench, but one step off the narrow path and... BAM! You're foot is sucked to oblivion! It was on this trail that I had the esteemed pleasure to meet Al and his lovely companion, Joyce. A two time gridder, he was fun to talk to! Nice to have met you both! The trail continued its varying condiditons between trench and stable monorail all the way to Middle's summit. again, I wore snowshoes, everyone else wore spikes. All of us played the "balance on the rail" game. Like I told Al, this time of year, wear what works for you.
On the return I kept my snowshoes on all the way back to the steeps that dump, I mean lead, the hiker back into the valley. I put on spikes through the sketchy descent. My partner and I elected to take our spikes off after this as they were really of no help at all. So it was bareboots from this point back. It also looks like the others before us did the same thing. We were all sliding of the monorail and postholing on the sides of the absurdly narrow walkway.
So... still bring the footwear augmentation as temperatures will affect the attitude of the remaining snow. Note that there still is a lot of snow on this section of the Kanc trails. It will still be several weeks before it melts off.
Best of luck! |
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 | Name: |
Remington34 |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-04-19 |
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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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