una_dogger
Well-known member
Route: Livermore ->Tripyramids Trail via South Slide -> Pine Bend Brook Trail -> Scaur Ridge Trail -> Livermore Rd.
MichaelJ, Terra and I were up in the Whites this weekend to participate in the Flags on the 48 Planning Meeting. We rolled into the KOA in Lincoln about 7:30 pm friday and we greeted by a much missed and "too long since we've seen you" Dirt_girl. After pitching our tent and tarp, we hung out by the campfire enjoying a few Harpoon Hefe's. We were hadn't really decided what hike we'd do saturday, but knew that Hiker Ed and a group were heading over the Tri's the next day, so we decided to try to meet up with them.
Morning came and we took our time heading to the trailhead, arriving at..ahem..about 9:45 am.
Since we missed the start of the group hike, we decided to hike the route in the opposite direction and cross paths.
We headed out the Livermore road and reached the Tripyramid Loop trail in about an hour, opting for the South Slide approach because we had Little Terra Firma with us today.
Just before reaching the S Slide we met up with the first of Ed's group who was waiting for the rest to catch up. He'd been there awhile, and was beginning to worry , so we all headed up together. About 1/3 of the way up the slide we ran into the group, first being greeted by Jeff, then Ed; who we met about a month ago back on the Presis. We chatted for about ten or so minutes, then parted ways. The sky was beginning to darken and we were eager to get off the slide before any bad weather came our way. We felt a few raindrops, but MJ breaked to pull out his packcover; our sure-fire way to avoid any rain from falling. We lucked out and remained dry all day.
Beyond the slide we encountered one or two blowdowns before reaching South Tripyramid, but they were easily hopped over or crawled under. Just before the summit we stopped to eat our lunch, I was pretty hungry and didn't want to bonk. We summitted a few minutes later, and spent about ten minutes hanging out enjoying,albeit limited due to the haze, views.
The trail between South and Middle contained a few scattered blowdowns and a bit of mud, but was overall in fine shape. A little bit of snow lingered here and there. We ran into two hikers who had come up the North Slide that morning and remarked several times "that was STEEP....and slippery!!". We were happy to have not taken it.
Within a short time and an easy walk we reached the summit of Middle Tripyramid; and followed a small herd path to the right of the summit where we hung out and enjoyed some more views towards Green's Cliff and Sawyer Pond. The misty haze settled in the dips and notches and created a pretty backdrop, setting a peaceful contrast against the many greens of the freshly opened forest canopy.
We left our quiet little outlook and headed towards the North Peak, catching a glimpse of it when the trees opened up in the sag between Middle and North. It looked far from the sag but we reached it quickly and easily; and once again took a little break on the summit rock.
Very quickly off the summit we took the Pine Bend Brook Trail to the right. There was still alot of ice packed in the slab on the way down from the summit. We had to take a bit of extra care here to negotiate the icy spots but all in all it made for a welcome challenge after the easy walk we had been experiencing since topping the South Slide.
About 1/2 mile down the slabs were passed and we entered into a beautiful hardwood forest. The trail itself was a beautiful and gently travelled path. Spring beauties, trillium, trout lilly and false Solomon's Seal were all in bloom and growing right up to the edges of the trail. It was wonderful to be on a less travelled route. We reached the crossing of the easily crossed upper reaches of the Pine Bend Brook, and I filted a couple of liters of water. Yum. Fresh filtered mountain stream water. We realized this was turning into an eight hour hike and decided to just continue to take it slow and try to be in the moment as much as we could.
Shortly thereafter we reached the junction of the Scaur Ridge Trail and took it back to the Livermore Trail. Both the Pine Bend Brook and Scaur Ridge Trails were my favorite parts of the hike. Coming down we could see at times the North Slide and remarked "Wow, that's steep! And it looks slippery!". Yeah, I'm really glad we didn't take it, after seeing it I can't imagine asking my little pup to follow me up something like that (because a. I know she would and b. it wouldn't feel right to me to risk her getting hurt. )
Once again we joined the Livermore Trail and began our 3.8 mile walk back to the car. My feet were hurting and I was unusually sore. We theorized it was all the biking, or maybe the slide itself that posed a new challenge to my muscles. I focused on Terra romping along the trail, going into "roundup mode" several times when she was taunted by red squirrels or chipmunks, but always stopping and leaving them be when called. What a good girl! She enjoyed splashing in the brooks and then shaking the wetness all over us. About an hour later we reached the car. It was a nice hike and it felt good to be back in the woods, and especially to share it with MJ and Little Terra Firma.
On our way back to the KOA we stopped at Periwinkle's store in Waterville Valley and got a yummy & spicy buffalo chicken wrap and the BEST fries I've ever had.
We rolled into the KOA just before the skies opened up. We spent the rest of the evening in Scoutmaster Gary's fab new screen tent, downing beers, telling tall tales, and playing cribbage. I could elaborate, but "what was said in the screen tent, stays in the screen tent".....
Total mileage: about 12 miles
Total gain: about 3k
Trail time: 8 hours even
NH4k 21 and 22
NEHH 44 & 45
NE111 47 & 48
Pictures, mappage and other bits of data to be provided by MichaelJ, coming soon.........
MichaelJ, Terra and I were up in the Whites this weekend to participate in the Flags on the 48 Planning Meeting. We rolled into the KOA in Lincoln about 7:30 pm friday and we greeted by a much missed and "too long since we've seen you" Dirt_girl. After pitching our tent and tarp, we hung out by the campfire enjoying a few Harpoon Hefe's. We were hadn't really decided what hike we'd do saturday, but knew that Hiker Ed and a group were heading over the Tri's the next day, so we decided to try to meet up with them.
Morning came and we took our time heading to the trailhead, arriving at..ahem..about 9:45 am.
Since we missed the start of the group hike, we decided to hike the route in the opposite direction and cross paths. We headed out the Livermore road and reached the Tripyramid Loop trail in about an hour, opting for the South Slide approach because we had Little Terra Firma with us today.
Just before reaching the S Slide we met up with the first of Ed's group who was waiting for the rest to catch up. He'd been there awhile, and was beginning to worry , so we all headed up together. About 1/3 of the way up the slide we ran into the group, first being greeted by Jeff, then Ed; who we met about a month ago back on the Presis. We chatted for about ten or so minutes, then parted ways. The sky was beginning to darken and we were eager to get off the slide before any bad weather came our way. We felt a few raindrops, but MJ breaked to pull out his packcover; our sure-fire way to avoid any rain from falling. We lucked out and remained dry all day.
Beyond the slide we encountered one or two blowdowns before reaching South Tripyramid, but they were easily hopped over or crawled under. Just before the summit we stopped to eat our lunch, I was pretty hungry and didn't want to bonk. We summitted a few minutes later, and spent about ten minutes hanging out enjoying,albeit limited due to the haze, views.
The trail between South and Middle contained a few scattered blowdowns and a bit of mud, but was overall in fine shape. A little bit of snow lingered here and there. We ran into two hikers who had come up the North Slide that morning and remarked several times "that was STEEP....and slippery!!". We were happy to have not taken it.
Within a short time and an easy walk we reached the summit of Middle Tripyramid; and followed a small herd path to the right of the summit where we hung out and enjoyed some more views towards Green's Cliff and Sawyer Pond. The misty haze settled in the dips and notches and created a pretty backdrop, setting a peaceful contrast against the many greens of the freshly opened forest canopy.
We left our quiet little outlook and headed towards the North Peak, catching a glimpse of it when the trees opened up in the sag between Middle and North. It looked far from the sag but we reached it quickly and easily; and once again took a little break on the summit rock.
Very quickly off the summit we took the Pine Bend Brook Trail to the right. There was still alot of ice packed in the slab on the way down from the summit. We had to take a bit of extra care here to negotiate the icy spots but all in all it made for a welcome challenge after the easy walk we had been experiencing since topping the South Slide.
About 1/2 mile down the slabs were passed and we entered into a beautiful hardwood forest. The trail itself was a beautiful and gently travelled path. Spring beauties, trillium, trout lilly and false Solomon's Seal were all in bloom and growing right up to the edges of the trail. It was wonderful to be on a less travelled route. We reached the crossing of the easily crossed upper reaches of the Pine Bend Brook, and I filted a couple of liters of water. Yum. Fresh filtered mountain stream water. We realized this was turning into an eight hour hike and decided to just continue to take it slow and try to be in the moment as much as we could.
Shortly thereafter we reached the junction of the Scaur Ridge Trail and took it back to the Livermore Trail. Both the Pine Bend Brook and Scaur Ridge Trails were my favorite parts of the hike. Coming down we could see at times the North Slide and remarked "Wow, that's steep! And it looks slippery!". Yeah, I'm really glad we didn't take it, after seeing it I can't imagine asking my little pup to follow me up something like that (because a. I know she would and b. it wouldn't feel right to me to risk her getting hurt.
) Once again we joined the Livermore Trail and began our 3.8 mile walk back to the car. My feet were hurting and I was unusually sore. We theorized it was all the biking, or maybe the slide itself that posed a new challenge to my muscles. I focused on Terra romping along the trail, going into "roundup mode" several times when she was taunted by red squirrels or chipmunks, but always stopping and leaving them be when called. What a good girl! She enjoyed splashing in the brooks and then shaking the wetness all over us. About an hour later we reached the car. It was a nice hike and it felt good to be back in the woods, and especially to share it with MJ and Little Terra Firma.
On our way back to the KOA we stopped at Periwinkle's store in Waterville Valley and got a yummy & spicy buffalo chicken wrap and the BEST fries I've ever had.
We rolled into the KOA just before the skies opened up. We spent the rest of the evening in Scoutmaster Gary's fab new screen tent, downing beers, telling tall tales, and playing cribbage. I could elaborate, but "what was said in the screen tent, stays in the screen tent".....
Total mileage: about 12 miles
Total gain: about 3k
Trail time: 8 hours even
NH4k 21 and 22
NEHH 44 & 45
NE111 47 & 48
Pictures, mappage and other bits of data to be provided by MichaelJ, coming soon.........
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