peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
Date of Hike:10/9/11
Trail Conditions: Great, no significant issues
Special Equipment Required: Summer hiking gear!
I have lived in the Whites for close to twenty years and have never done the Tripyramids via the slides. For someone from the north country, the difference between parking at the Kanc and doing an out and back vs a Waterville Valley run is 45 minutes to an hour so all of visits have been from the north. I had it on my list of hikes to do this summer but trying to get a good weekend lined up with folks was difficult to begin with and Irene didnt help.
Given this past weekends forecast, I threw caution to wind and posted the hike on trips and events (awfully quiet for upcoming hikes in that forum these days!) and found one brave VFTTer to join me. Doug Paul met me at the trailhead along with a couple of folks from Meetup. I had advertised it as a slow hike as Doug is still working out the kinks from his accident. When I had left my house in Gorham it was 65 degrees at 6:30 AM, when I got out of the car at the trailhead it was quite a bit cooler to the point where the fleece came out.
The weather was perfect, sunny with a breeze. There is some trace of Irene on the Livermore Road but nothing that would impact a hiker, although the Greely Ponds trail is still very well marked as closed. After walking by the south slide junction we noticed several mountain bikes chained to the trees awaiting folks who were out to do the loop, we arrived at the turn off and headed through the woods to the slide. Upon arrival at the slide the going was reasonable although the rocks were damp probably from overnight condensation. The going was good but it stayed a tad bit cool until we were 3/4 of the way up and in the loose stuff. There were a lot of folks on the slide and the biggest challenge was to avoid loosening rocks or getting pelted from ones set loose by other hikers.
The views just got better and better although a trace of summertime haze limited the long range views. I must say there are a couple of trails in the whites with occasional stretches of slightly more challenge but for sustained exposure the north slide definitely takes the cake.
When we arrived at the north summit there were quite a few folks hangin out and we stopped for lunch. After lunch we zipped over to South Tripyramid and soon we were at the south slide. Having never done the south slide, I decided that I would take the north slide over the south slide as I am not a fan of loose sand slides with rocks mixed in when there are lots of folks uphill. About half way down the slide two of the party decided to head out to their cars at a faster pace and I accompanied Doug who is deliberately trying to keep a slow pace while getting his leg backin order. With the exception of a few slips, we made it down to the Livermore road. I expected that we would head straight out, but Doug suggested a few of the short side hikes along the road. Particually impressive is the short route to a small stand of very large white pines that somehow had survived the local loggers. They are in a nice little spot on a shelf by a river so we speculated that there must have been someone keeping and eye on them over the years.
After a longer than expected day, we made it to the car and headed home. Definitely one of those days where I felt I had hiked a lot longer than the 11.7 miles that Doug's GPS indicated.
Your name: peakbagger
Trail Conditions: Great, no significant issues
Special Equipment Required: Summer hiking gear!
I have lived in the Whites for close to twenty years and have never done the Tripyramids via the slides. For someone from the north country, the difference between parking at the Kanc and doing an out and back vs a Waterville Valley run is 45 minutes to an hour so all of visits have been from the north. I had it on my list of hikes to do this summer but trying to get a good weekend lined up with folks was difficult to begin with and Irene didnt help.
Given this past weekends forecast, I threw caution to wind and posted the hike on trips and events (awfully quiet for upcoming hikes in that forum these days!) and found one brave VFTTer to join me. Doug Paul met me at the trailhead along with a couple of folks from Meetup. I had advertised it as a slow hike as Doug is still working out the kinks from his accident. When I had left my house in Gorham it was 65 degrees at 6:30 AM, when I got out of the car at the trailhead it was quite a bit cooler to the point where the fleece came out.
The weather was perfect, sunny with a breeze. There is some trace of Irene on the Livermore Road but nothing that would impact a hiker, although the Greely Ponds trail is still very well marked as closed. After walking by the south slide junction we noticed several mountain bikes chained to the trees awaiting folks who were out to do the loop, we arrived at the turn off and headed through the woods to the slide. Upon arrival at the slide the going was reasonable although the rocks were damp probably from overnight condensation. The going was good but it stayed a tad bit cool until we were 3/4 of the way up and in the loose stuff. There were a lot of folks on the slide and the biggest challenge was to avoid loosening rocks or getting pelted from ones set loose by other hikers.
The views just got better and better although a trace of summertime haze limited the long range views. I must say there are a couple of trails in the whites with occasional stretches of slightly more challenge but for sustained exposure the north slide definitely takes the cake.
When we arrived at the north summit there were quite a few folks hangin out and we stopped for lunch. After lunch we zipped over to South Tripyramid and soon we were at the south slide. Having never done the south slide, I decided that I would take the north slide over the south slide as I am not a fan of loose sand slides with rocks mixed in when there are lots of folks uphill. About half way down the slide two of the party decided to head out to their cars at a faster pace and I accompanied Doug who is deliberately trying to keep a slow pace while getting his leg backin order. With the exception of a few slips, we made it down to the Livermore road. I expected that we would head straight out, but Doug suggested a few of the short side hikes along the road. Particually impressive is the short route to a small stand of very large white pines that somehow had survived the local loggers. They are in a nice little spot on a shelf by a river so we speculated that there must have been someone keeping and eye on them over the years.
After a longer than expected day, we made it to the car and headed home. Definitely one of those days where I felt I had hiked a lot longer than the 11.7 miles that Doug's GPS indicated.
Your name: peakbagger
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