E
Elizabeth
Guest
Date: 12/13/09
Trail: Pine Bend Brook Trail had been broken out on Saturday by what appeared to be no more than 2-3 hikers. On Sunday my two dogs and I were followed by two other hikers, breaking out the trail even further and re-breaking through wind-blown snow on the ridge. I turned around after N. Tripyramid, but the tracks from the previous day continued to Middle Tripyramid and the two other hikers on Sunday did both peaks. The return trip down the steep part of the trail was a bit hairy, as the snowcover was not quite deep enough to cover all of the rocks and roots, and the snow was loose and slidey. It was snowing hard when we left the trail, so another 4-6 inches or so will have covered our tracks. On the lower part of the trail, the stream crossings were not yet frozen.
Equipment: Snowshoes with good crampons, poles, and full winter gear. I barebooted the last mile and a half (on the flatter part of the trail) on the way back to the car, saving from having to redo tricky stream crossings in snowshoes (which got balled up with ice a few times on the way in). I carried, but did not use crampons. In retrospect, they might have worked better than snowshoes on the return down the steep part of the trail.
Trail: Pine Bend Brook Trail had been broken out on Saturday by what appeared to be no more than 2-3 hikers. On Sunday my two dogs and I were followed by two other hikers, breaking out the trail even further and re-breaking through wind-blown snow on the ridge. I turned around after N. Tripyramid, but the tracks from the previous day continued to Middle Tripyramid and the two other hikers on Sunday did both peaks. The return trip down the steep part of the trail was a bit hairy, as the snowcover was not quite deep enough to cover all of the rocks and roots, and the snow was loose and slidey. It was snowing hard when we left the trail, so another 4-6 inches or so will have covered our tracks. On the lower part of the trail, the stream crossings were not yet frozen.
Equipment: Snowshoes with good crampons, poles, and full winter gear. I barebooted the last mile and a half (on the flatter part of the trail) on the way back to the car, saving from having to redo tricky stream crossings in snowshoes (which got balled up with ice a few times on the way in). I carried, but did not use crampons. In retrospect, they might have worked better than snowshoes on the return down the steep part of the trail.
