poison ivy
Well-known member
Although we were hoping for weather worthy of ascending Washington and Monroe on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the forecast for 110 mph winds scared us off and we decided to pick another hike. So, HikerBob, Bunchberry and I decided to try for the Tripyramids instead via the Pine Bend Brook Trail. We met at Lenny Woods at 7 a.m. and all hopped into HikerBob’s car to ride down the Kanc together. We were geared up and ready to hit the trail in 10 degree weather by 7:45 a.m.
All I can say is Pine Bend Brook Trail is just a gorgeous trail. We were surprised to find that the trail was covered with just an inch or so of fresh powdery snow… and underneath was a sheet of ice -- the remnants of this week’s bizarre combination of thaw, rain and freeze. The trail starts out relatively flat as it heads for the 10 zillion brook crossings along the way. Normally at this time of year, that wouldn’t present a problem but the recent crazy weather had the brook running a bit high and many of the submerged rocks you’d normally step on were covered with a thick coating of ice. The icy sheets on top of the brooks were too thin to hold our weight… so we often had to scout around to find a spot to make our way across.
It was only a half hour or so into our hike that we came to our most challenging brook crossing. Everyone attempted their own routes to get across while I tried swimming. Actually, I attempted a route that made for short steps but slipped on the ice and managed to land about knee-deep in the brook. Both boots filled with water and that pretty much ended our summit attempt for the day. While I rang out my socks and liner boots (and considered changing my trail name to Walking Disaster…) I found that my feet weren’t feeling very cold, just wet. Since we drove all that way and were itching to hike, we decided to continue along the trail after I promised to turn around if my feet started feeling the least bit chilly. So, on we headed across about three bazillion more brooks -- all successfully of course.
The brook crossings finally ended when the steep ascent began… finally I felt really good on a winter hike and managed to keep a pretty good pace (okay for me.) Even though there was ice beneath the snow, I didn’t find the trail particularly slippery, probably because I managed good footing by following postholes frozen from the week’s earlier slush. As we climbed, we could see the gorgeous day appearing around the mountains surrounding us. We kept hoping to the trail would swing into the sunshine but somehow it managed to avoid anything but a spot or two for the entire hike upwards.
As we reached the junction with the Scaur Ridge trail, HikerBob invented interesting new uses for warm hats and we stopped for a snack break. It was beginning to get quite windy on the ridge and I knew that my feet were probably not going to feel warm for much longer. I tried hiking ahead a bit to see if I could keep them warm and tried using foot warmers but my boots and socks were still too wet for them to work. My plastic boots -- between the shells and the liners-- were icing up big time. We reached the final steep ascent that would take us up North Tripyramid and decided to call it a day. Though I suggested the HikerBob and Bunchberry could carry on to the summit if they wanted, they both were ready to head back down too.
We headed back down Scaur Ridge to our junction, where Buncherry and HikerBob put on crampons and I pulled out my Swiss Bob sled. I got a couple of good slides in but it was extremely bumpy due to all the frozen postholes. I walked down a lot of spots that I normally would have sledded down because of the ice. It was fun, but it was no Tecumseh!
On the way out, those challenging brook crossings seemed so much easier… and I managed to keep my feet mostly dry this time around. Eagle-eyed Bunchberry spotted a big chunk of fungi near one of the crossings, etched with the word “beaver…” and we guessed that it was left by the Beaver Brigade earlier in the week. While hiking out, we crossed paths with a couple and their two dogs -- the only hikers we saw all day. We managed to make it back to the car by 3 p.m.
Even though we weren’t able to summit, it was a great day to be out on the trail and I think we all enjoyed the Pine Bend Brook Trail. I think, however, that I will leave the swimming to summertime from now on.
My pictures from this one aren't particularly stunning, but can be found here.
- Ivy
All I can say is Pine Bend Brook Trail is just a gorgeous trail. We were surprised to find that the trail was covered with just an inch or so of fresh powdery snow… and underneath was a sheet of ice -- the remnants of this week’s bizarre combination of thaw, rain and freeze. The trail starts out relatively flat as it heads for the 10 zillion brook crossings along the way. Normally at this time of year, that wouldn’t present a problem but the recent crazy weather had the brook running a bit high and many of the submerged rocks you’d normally step on were covered with a thick coating of ice. The icy sheets on top of the brooks were too thin to hold our weight… so we often had to scout around to find a spot to make our way across.
It was only a half hour or so into our hike that we came to our most challenging brook crossing. Everyone attempted their own routes to get across while I tried swimming. Actually, I attempted a route that made for short steps but slipped on the ice and managed to land about knee-deep in the brook. Both boots filled with water and that pretty much ended our summit attempt for the day. While I rang out my socks and liner boots (and considered changing my trail name to Walking Disaster…) I found that my feet weren’t feeling very cold, just wet. Since we drove all that way and were itching to hike, we decided to continue along the trail after I promised to turn around if my feet started feeling the least bit chilly. So, on we headed across about three bazillion more brooks -- all successfully of course.
The brook crossings finally ended when the steep ascent began… finally I felt really good on a winter hike and managed to keep a pretty good pace (okay for me.) Even though there was ice beneath the snow, I didn’t find the trail particularly slippery, probably because I managed good footing by following postholes frozen from the week’s earlier slush. As we climbed, we could see the gorgeous day appearing around the mountains surrounding us. We kept hoping to the trail would swing into the sunshine but somehow it managed to avoid anything but a spot or two for the entire hike upwards.
As we reached the junction with the Scaur Ridge trail, HikerBob invented interesting new uses for warm hats and we stopped for a snack break. It was beginning to get quite windy on the ridge and I knew that my feet were probably not going to feel warm for much longer. I tried hiking ahead a bit to see if I could keep them warm and tried using foot warmers but my boots and socks were still too wet for them to work. My plastic boots -- between the shells and the liners-- were icing up big time. We reached the final steep ascent that would take us up North Tripyramid and decided to call it a day. Though I suggested the HikerBob and Bunchberry could carry on to the summit if they wanted, they both were ready to head back down too.
We headed back down Scaur Ridge to our junction, where Buncherry and HikerBob put on crampons and I pulled out my Swiss Bob sled. I got a couple of good slides in but it was extremely bumpy due to all the frozen postholes. I walked down a lot of spots that I normally would have sledded down because of the ice. It was fun, but it was no Tecumseh!
On the way out, those challenging brook crossings seemed so much easier… and I managed to keep my feet mostly dry this time around. Eagle-eyed Bunchberry spotted a big chunk of fungi near one of the crossings, etched with the word “beaver…” and we guessed that it was left by the Beaver Brigade earlier in the week. While hiking out, we crossed paths with a couple and their two dogs -- the only hikers we saw all day. We managed to make it back to the car by 3 p.m.
Even though we weren’t able to summit, it was a great day to be out on the trail and I think we all enjoyed the Pine Bend Brook Trail. I think, however, that I will leave the swimming to summertime from now on.
My pictures from this one aren't particularly stunning, but can be found here.
- Ivy
