hikersinger
Member
Clear but very windy day on the North and Middle peaks of Mt. Tripyramid. Took Pine Bend Brook trail from Route 112 (the Kanc) up to North Peak, continued to Middle Peak, back-tracked a bit and descended Sabbaday Brook trail back to Route 112, plus a short 1.0 mile walk back to the Pine Bend Brook trailhead.
Started out shortly before 9:00am, got back at the same trailhead by 4:30.
Pine Bend Brook Trail up to Tripyramid North Peak summit:
We crossed the ravine and saw a single snowshoe track which led straight up The Fool Killer, as far as we could see. Another set of perhaps 2-3 snowshoe tracks led down along the brook, but turned around and back up. We decided to follow the single snowshoe track up The Fool Killer but soon realized there was no established trail, and based on the AMC map we had, was certainly not the established way down.
We turned around, headed back across the ravine, and immediately saw the trail continue down beyond the fallen tree. We broke branches off that fallen tree and created a natural wall to guide hikers down the right path (this helped create a far better sightline down the trail as well, as many of the branches were sticking up, several feet in length. This will certainly be an action item for the AMC trail adopter (or professional croo) this Spring.
The only other tricky thing about the hike, was traversing the col between North and Middle peaks; very high winds the past couple days all but wiped out any tracks, and without tree blazes -- they're not allowed in WMNF Wilderness areas such as the Sandwich Range Wilderness, though many exist -- we had to pay very special attention to keeping the trail. We could barely, if at all, make out the tracks of a hiker that was ahead of us by perhaps an hour or so.
Otherwise, a very enjoyable day!
Started out shortly before 9:00am, got back at the same trailhead by 4:30.
Pine Bend Brook Trail up to Tripyramid North Peak summit:
- numerous stream/brook crossings were all very easy
- well-packed powder from start up to ridge; microspikes fine up to that point
- snowshoes best on ridge, to summit and beyond to Middle Peak
- heavily windblown powder, lost trail a few times, few tree blazes (against WMNF wilderness regulations)
- snowshoes were most ideal
- fantastic, epic butt-sledding, very few if any obstacles
- pay very special attention where the trail turns sharp right as you approach the center of the ravine where The Fool Killer lies in wait on the other side (see below)
- more sizable stream crossings, but all were easy enough
We crossed the ravine and saw a single snowshoe track which led straight up The Fool Killer, as far as we could see. Another set of perhaps 2-3 snowshoe tracks led down along the brook, but turned around and back up. We decided to follow the single snowshoe track up The Fool Killer but soon realized there was no established trail, and based on the AMC map we had, was certainly not the established way down.
We turned around, headed back across the ravine, and immediately saw the trail continue down beyond the fallen tree. We broke branches off that fallen tree and created a natural wall to guide hikers down the right path (this helped create a far better sightline down the trail as well, as many of the branches were sticking up, several feet in length. This will certainly be an action item for the AMC trail adopter (or professional croo) this Spring.
The only other tricky thing about the hike, was traversing the col between North and Middle peaks; very high winds the past couple days all but wiped out any tracks, and without tree blazes -- they're not allowed in WMNF Wilderness areas such as the Sandwich Range Wilderness, though many exist -- we had to pay very special attention to keeping the trail. We could barely, if at all, make out the tracks of a hiker that was ahead of us by perhaps an hour or so.
Otherwise, a very enjoyable day!
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