BIGEarl
Well-known member
September 25, 2010: Tecumseh and The Tripyramids
Trails: Two Hikes…
Tecumseh: Mt. Tecumseh Trail from Tripoli Road
Tripyramids: Livermore Trail, Mount Tripyramids Trail (clockwise loop)
Summits: Tecumseh, North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, South Tripyramid
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
The plan for this week was a Hit & Run in Waterville Valley. The first target was Tecumseh from the ski area via Mount Tecumseh Trail. The second hike targets were The Tripyramids. Friday night, Sue sent an email asking about hiking Tecumseh from Tripoli Road for a change. I’ve hiked this route several times but Sue has never been up that section of trail. It’s a little longer and a little more elevation – all good, and a little more time (roughly an hour). We adjusted our meet time a little and made the change in plans. Our new plan was to be on-trail around 5:30am and expected to finish by 8:00 – 8:30pm, leaving a little darkness and headlight time on each end of the hike.
Even though we adjusted our meet time by a half hour we still ended up starting out from the trailhead at our originally planned target start. I can’t figure out where the thirty minutes went. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Except for a couple small mud pits near the trailhead, Mt. Tecumseh Trail from Tripoli Road is completely clear all of the way to the summit. Everything was generally wet and leaf covered which meant we needed to be on guard for a slippery rock or root waiting to cause problems. We started out with headlights but they were soon retired after roughly a half mile. By then, we were well into climbing the long ramp leading to the lower peak that some folks call West Tecumseh (I think). The grade is easy for the full distance except for the final ~.2 to the summit. There we walked to the viewpoint but everything was still obscured by clouds and fog.
We continued on to the actual summit of Tecumseh starting with a pretty good drop in elevation before the ridge leading to the final climb. The final climb to Tecumseh is very steep and rocky. Again, wet rocks and roots required a little extra care. We made it to the summit with no problems, got our usual summit pictures including shots to our afternoon targets, made the u-turn, and started our exit hike.
The return to the trailhead was as expected. We still needed to watch for slippery footing but it was generally a fast cruise back out. With the sun now up we were being treated to some very nice foliage that was developing in the area of the trail. I really like this approach for the fall colors and think it is much better than the approach we had originally planned. Nice suggestion, Sue.
Next, we planned to hike The Tripyramids loop clockwise including ascending the North Tripyramid Slide and descending the South Tripyramid Slide. We made the short drive to the trailhead for Livermore Trail and started to gather our things for the hike. While we were there Sue pointed out a familiar vehicle also parked in the lot – it was the HikerBob-Mobile. Wasn’t he planning to hike Jefferson? Perhaps we’ll see some familiar faces before the day is finished.
The day was actually going great. We completed a longer approach to Techmseh with a later start than we wanted and managed to set off for the Tripyramids Loop as originally planned. Nice! We’re back on our planned schedule.
Livermore Trail is an old road. A road walk is a road walk. You either like them or you don’t. We look at it as a convenient way to access the real entertainment for the hike; the North Tripyramid Slide. We actually made pretty good time to the upper junction with the Mount Tripyramid Trail arriving there roughly 50 minutes ahead of book time; not bad – we’re moving well. Along the way we made a couple short stops, one to remove some boulders from a boot (they felt like boulders), and a couple more for on-the-fly snacks (I had a quart of Gatorade at the trailhead and wanted to take in another before starting up the slide). With all of our nourishment needs taken care of, and Livermore Trail (road) behind us, we set off for the North Slide.
Last time Sue and I climbed the North Slide; Sue opened a couple fingers and an arm when she took a fall on the slide. In an unrelated fall at nearly the same time I managed to dislocate my right shoulder, again. We were hoping for a better visit this time through.
From Livermore Trail we dropped to a small stream and then the climb started. Initially we climbed through a wooded section that was no different than any other trail. Eventually, the surface became rough with large green rocks. On our earlier visit these rocks were also very wet and slippery. On this hike the conditions were dry and the footing was pretty good through this lower section. We easily made the climb through the initial gauntlet. Roughly a third of the way up, the rocks are no longer green, and the footing is great. We had no trouble at all on this section of the climb. Eventually, we passed the area where we had our problems and stopped to remember.
Soon we made our way out to the center of the main upper slide and climbed. This is really a great way to access the summit of North Tripyramid but the exposed nature of the slide probably isn’t for everybody. We slowly worked our way up being careful to select a route with good footing along the way. We also made quite a few stops to enjoy the tremendous views. The 2010 Edition of Fall Colors is coming out and what a sight! The higher we climbed the better the views became. We reached the top of the slide, which is also nearly the summit of North Tripyramid. After checking the time to see how we were doing; we decided to find a rock near the top of the slide on which to relax and enjoy the afternoon sun and terrific view for a while. We were still thirty to forty-five minutes ahead of plan and decided this was a great place to use part of that cushion.
After a while Sue said it was time to go and we headed to North Tripyramid. There we stopped only long enough for the summit pictures and we were on our way to Middle Tripyramid. We already had our North Tripyramid “view time” while on the slide. As we hiked to Middle Tripyramid the first change we came to was new signs at the Mount Tripyramid - Sabbaday Brook trails junction. There are no distances indicated on the signs, which could be nice information to have. Is there a reason for omitting this information? Signs in other areas include distance information.
The short walk to Middle Tripyramid was pleasant and dry. Soon we were stopping at the viewpoint near the summit to enjoy the colors around Waterville Valley. We had broken clouds and much of the area was in full sun really lighting up the area. It was a beautiful sight. Soon we stopped on the summit for the usual pictures and then started our exit hike via South Tripyramid.
We completed the trek to South Tripyramid and only slowed a little on our way through. The descent to the South Slide is a steep one and it starts very soon after leaving the summit. Before long we were through the upper trail to the slide and now descending the slide. Here we found more great views and dry conditions to enjoy. The descent was completely uneventful with several photo stops on the way. We left the bottom of the slide on a steep trail leading through the final descent. Eventually, the grade moderated and the trail turned toward Livermore. From here back to Livermore is a relatively mild walk. On our last time through this section of trail there were lots of mud pits to get past. On this trip everything was generally dry. Toward the end we came upon a cluster of very large blowdowns blocking the trail which will require a huge effort to clear.
We hit Livermore Trail still in daylight (we expected darkness by this point), made the turn, and enjoyed the road walk back to the trailhead without the need of headlights. The day’s hiking went much better than expected and we completed over an hour and a half earlier than estimated. Not bad!
Thanks Sue for another terrific day of hiking. The early foliage season sure is a pleasant time to be wandering the mountains. Let’s hope for similar conditions next time out.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Two Hikes…
Tecumseh: Mt. Tecumseh Trail from Tripoli Road
Tripyramids: Livermore Trail, Mount Tripyramids Trail (clockwise loop)
Summits: Tecumseh, North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, South Tripyramid
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
The plan for this week was a Hit & Run in Waterville Valley. The first target was Tecumseh from the ski area via Mount Tecumseh Trail. The second hike targets were The Tripyramids. Friday night, Sue sent an email asking about hiking Tecumseh from Tripoli Road for a change. I’ve hiked this route several times but Sue has never been up that section of trail. It’s a little longer and a little more elevation – all good, and a little more time (roughly an hour). We adjusted our meet time a little and made the change in plans. Our new plan was to be on-trail around 5:30am and expected to finish by 8:00 – 8:30pm, leaving a little darkness and headlight time on each end of the hike.
Even though we adjusted our meet time by a half hour we still ended up starting out from the trailhead at our originally planned target start. I can’t figure out where the thirty minutes went. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Except for a couple small mud pits near the trailhead, Mt. Tecumseh Trail from Tripoli Road is completely clear all of the way to the summit. Everything was generally wet and leaf covered which meant we needed to be on guard for a slippery rock or root waiting to cause problems. We started out with headlights but they were soon retired after roughly a half mile. By then, we were well into climbing the long ramp leading to the lower peak that some folks call West Tecumseh (I think). The grade is easy for the full distance except for the final ~.2 to the summit. There we walked to the viewpoint but everything was still obscured by clouds and fog.
We continued on to the actual summit of Tecumseh starting with a pretty good drop in elevation before the ridge leading to the final climb. The final climb to Tecumseh is very steep and rocky. Again, wet rocks and roots required a little extra care. We made it to the summit with no problems, got our usual summit pictures including shots to our afternoon targets, made the u-turn, and started our exit hike.
The return to the trailhead was as expected. We still needed to watch for slippery footing but it was generally a fast cruise back out. With the sun now up we were being treated to some very nice foliage that was developing in the area of the trail. I really like this approach for the fall colors and think it is much better than the approach we had originally planned. Nice suggestion, Sue.
Next, we planned to hike The Tripyramids loop clockwise including ascending the North Tripyramid Slide and descending the South Tripyramid Slide. We made the short drive to the trailhead for Livermore Trail and started to gather our things for the hike. While we were there Sue pointed out a familiar vehicle also parked in the lot – it was the HikerBob-Mobile. Wasn’t he planning to hike Jefferson? Perhaps we’ll see some familiar faces before the day is finished.
The day was actually going great. We completed a longer approach to Techmseh with a later start than we wanted and managed to set off for the Tripyramids Loop as originally planned. Nice! We’re back on our planned schedule.
Livermore Trail is an old road. A road walk is a road walk. You either like them or you don’t. We look at it as a convenient way to access the real entertainment for the hike; the North Tripyramid Slide. We actually made pretty good time to the upper junction with the Mount Tripyramid Trail arriving there roughly 50 minutes ahead of book time; not bad – we’re moving well. Along the way we made a couple short stops, one to remove some boulders from a boot (they felt like boulders), and a couple more for on-the-fly snacks (I had a quart of Gatorade at the trailhead and wanted to take in another before starting up the slide). With all of our nourishment needs taken care of, and Livermore Trail (road) behind us, we set off for the North Slide.
Last time Sue and I climbed the North Slide; Sue opened a couple fingers and an arm when she took a fall on the slide. In an unrelated fall at nearly the same time I managed to dislocate my right shoulder, again. We were hoping for a better visit this time through.
From Livermore Trail we dropped to a small stream and then the climb started. Initially we climbed through a wooded section that was no different than any other trail. Eventually, the surface became rough with large green rocks. On our earlier visit these rocks were also very wet and slippery. On this hike the conditions were dry and the footing was pretty good through this lower section. We easily made the climb through the initial gauntlet. Roughly a third of the way up, the rocks are no longer green, and the footing is great. We had no trouble at all on this section of the climb. Eventually, we passed the area where we had our problems and stopped to remember.
Soon we made our way out to the center of the main upper slide and climbed. This is really a great way to access the summit of North Tripyramid but the exposed nature of the slide probably isn’t for everybody. We slowly worked our way up being careful to select a route with good footing along the way. We also made quite a few stops to enjoy the tremendous views. The 2010 Edition of Fall Colors is coming out and what a sight! The higher we climbed the better the views became. We reached the top of the slide, which is also nearly the summit of North Tripyramid. After checking the time to see how we were doing; we decided to find a rock near the top of the slide on which to relax and enjoy the afternoon sun and terrific view for a while. We were still thirty to forty-five minutes ahead of plan and decided this was a great place to use part of that cushion.
After a while Sue said it was time to go and we headed to North Tripyramid. There we stopped only long enough for the summit pictures and we were on our way to Middle Tripyramid. We already had our North Tripyramid “view time” while on the slide. As we hiked to Middle Tripyramid the first change we came to was new signs at the Mount Tripyramid - Sabbaday Brook trails junction. There are no distances indicated on the signs, which could be nice information to have. Is there a reason for omitting this information? Signs in other areas include distance information.
The short walk to Middle Tripyramid was pleasant and dry. Soon we were stopping at the viewpoint near the summit to enjoy the colors around Waterville Valley. We had broken clouds and much of the area was in full sun really lighting up the area. It was a beautiful sight. Soon we stopped on the summit for the usual pictures and then started our exit hike via South Tripyramid.
We completed the trek to South Tripyramid and only slowed a little on our way through. The descent to the South Slide is a steep one and it starts very soon after leaving the summit. Before long we were through the upper trail to the slide and now descending the slide. Here we found more great views and dry conditions to enjoy. The descent was completely uneventful with several photo stops on the way. We left the bottom of the slide on a steep trail leading through the final descent. Eventually, the grade moderated and the trail turned toward Livermore. From here back to Livermore is a relatively mild walk. On our last time through this section of trail there were lots of mud pits to get past. On this trip everything was generally dry. Toward the end we came upon a cluster of very large blowdowns blocking the trail which will require a huge effort to clear.
We hit Livermore Trail still in daylight (we expected darkness by this point), made the turn, and enjoyed the road walk back to the trailhead without the need of headlights. The day’s hiking went much better than expected and we completed over an hour and a half earlier than estimated. Not bad!
Thanks Sue for another terrific day of hiking. The early foliage season sure is a pleasant time to be wandering the mountains. Let’s hope for similar conditions next time out.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
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