LRiz
New member
Date of Hike: 4/18/2009
Trail Conditions: Rotten, unstable, poorly-formed monorail - scattered about with large bare muddy patches - up until the final water crossing. After that, the snow cover increases considerably as the trail climbs steeply up to Scaur Ridge. From there, the monorail is more established, and the final ascent up to North Tripyramid is pleasant and well-packed. Between North and Middle peaks, the trail starts to monorail again slightly... but the effect is negligible as long as one stays at the center of the trail.
The numerous water crossings are all easy to navigate. There are a handful of blowdowns along Scaur Ridge, and two between the peaks.
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes (essential on my trip) and/or light traction. A good sense of humor. Patience.
Comments: I started out in microspikes, but after continually punching through the dreadful monorail I switched to snowshoes almost immediately. This proved to be quite irksome, given that I constantly needed to take them on and off in order to travel across the several long stretches of bare ground. Much to my surprise, the steep climb up to Scaur Ridge was entirely comprised of soft, slushy snow. I was anticipating ice.
Unfortunately, even though I started at 11:00 (with the hope of catching some views in the early afternoon), the summits of both North and Middle were in the clouds.
Returned to my truck only to find that one of my snowshoe crampons had snapped. Certainly an interesting day - my first taste of spring hiking at its best.
Email: larisa [dot] dannis [at] gmail [dot] com
Trail Conditions: Rotten, unstable, poorly-formed monorail - scattered about with large bare muddy patches - up until the final water crossing. After that, the snow cover increases considerably as the trail climbs steeply up to Scaur Ridge. From there, the monorail is more established, and the final ascent up to North Tripyramid is pleasant and well-packed. Between North and Middle peaks, the trail starts to monorail again slightly... but the effect is negligible as long as one stays at the center of the trail.
The numerous water crossings are all easy to navigate. There are a handful of blowdowns along Scaur Ridge, and two between the peaks.
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes (essential on my trip) and/or light traction. A good sense of humor. Patience.
Comments: I started out in microspikes, but after continually punching through the dreadful monorail I switched to snowshoes almost immediately. This proved to be quite irksome, given that I constantly needed to take them on and off in order to travel across the several long stretches of bare ground. Much to my surprise, the steep climb up to Scaur Ridge was entirely comprised of soft, slushy snow. I was anticipating ice.
Unfortunately, even though I started at 11:00 (with the hope of catching some views in the early afternoon), the summits of both North and Middle were in the clouds.
Returned to my truck only to find that one of my snowshoe crampons had snapped. Certainly an interesting day - my first taste of spring hiking at its best.
Email: larisa [dot] dannis [at] gmail [dot] com
Last edited:
