Double Bow
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On Sunday, Shamie and I met up with our friend Erica for a hike, despite the less than stellar forecast. Our plan was for me to hit these 6 peaks and the girls to hit 5 (they weren't going to do Whiteface). The Tripyramids would be Shamie's 46th and 47th NH4K and they would be Erica's 6th and 7th! I was looking forward to hitting East Sleeper and getting my 81st NEHH peak as well as picking up Whiteface in fall, making it all four seasons I'd been up there and which had been a straggler from a Passaconaway snowshoe climb last October (on 3' of snow!).
We left Erica's car at the Downes Brook trailhead and then drove over to Sabbaday for our climb. We had decided that with rain in the forecast, it would be prudent to take the trail with the better footing, so that left Pine Bend Brook out of consideration.
The climb up Sabbaday was uneventful at the start. The showers were on again and off again. Once we got to the last crossing before the trail really starts to climb, Erica slipped and got her feet wet. Fortunately, there was no shortage of dry socks. She took off the wet legs of her pants and put on Shamie's rainpants. Later, Shamie would put on mine.
The rest of the climb up to the ridge wasn't too bad, except for the steep slabby part which was tricky with it being so wet but, we made it up with no further problems. Once we hit the ridge, we bounced over to North Tri and back and then stopped just before the summit of Middle Tri to have a quick bite and to add/change some layers.
After passing over Middle Tri, I went past Shamie and Erica as I was still planning to go to Whiteface and figured I'd cut down the wait time. As I was about to turn onto the Kate Sleeper Trail, I looked up the slide and waited for a minute until Shamie came into view and then I shouted up to her to let her know where the turn was, since it's easy to miss if you don't know what to look for. Then, I headed off again. I found the Kate Sleeper Trail to be very enjoyable. The woods there are really cool and I'd like to go back there again sometime for sure. As I was passing over West Sleeper, I went off the trail to what looked like the highest bump (since it's on the 3K list) and that was very easy to do. On East Sleeper, I took a self-portrait for my 81st NEHH peak. It's a very interesting spot and well worth the trip up the spur.
It wasn't long after East Sleeper that before I got to the junction with the Downes Brook Trail and paused for a moment before climbing up to Whiteface. That stretch of trail is much easier that the map makes it look and it is in surprisingly good shape. Once I hit the Rollins Trail, I continued up to the summit, which now has a small cairn on the side of the trail, and then doubled back and went to the ledge to see if I could see anything at all through the soup. Besides, I figured that the ledge is what I think of when I think of Whiteface and that it wouldn't really feel like I had been there if I hadn't visited this landmark. Luckily, while I was there, the wind gusted just right and I had a moment where I could see all the colors in the valley below before the clouds swallowed it up again.
Having see that, I headed back to Downes Brook and headed down. Seeing some cleared drainage told me that Shamie and Erica had made it through here. While the trail was a bit slippery, the footing was good for the most part. The worst things about the descent were the numerous stream crossings, which weren't hard but it wasn't always clear where you were supposed to cross to, and the slow rate of descent. I was surprised that I didn't catch up to the girls, even after it got
dark. I will say that I was relieved when I got out to the parking lot and saw that Erica's car was gone. I knew that meant that they had gotten out OK and were
going to get my & Shamie's car. A little later, they arrived. We estimated that I got off the trail about 20min after them. Not bad, considering I tacked on a couple of extra miles and had run a race the day before!
In the end, we were all very glad that we made it out safe and sound and that we had accomplished so much. If only it hadn't been raining all day, it would have been an amazingly fun trip! I would definitely do the Sabbaday -> KST -> Downes route again or, with more time and better weather conditions, I'll tack on Passaconaway and head down Oliverian Brook.
Shamie has vowed that when she finishes her 48th this weekend, she's going to do it on a good weather day. It's looking like either this Saturday or on Monday, depending on the forecast (Saturday is the early favorite). Clearly, we have different ideas about hiking in the rain!
Here are some pics.
We left Erica's car at the Downes Brook trailhead and then drove over to Sabbaday for our climb. We had decided that with rain in the forecast, it would be prudent to take the trail with the better footing, so that left Pine Bend Brook out of consideration.
The climb up Sabbaday was uneventful at the start. The showers were on again and off again. Once we got to the last crossing before the trail really starts to climb, Erica slipped and got her feet wet. Fortunately, there was no shortage of dry socks. She took off the wet legs of her pants and put on Shamie's rainpants. Later, Shamie would put on mine.
The rest of the climb up to the ridge wasn't too bad, except for the steep slabby part which was tricky with it being so wet but, we made it up with no further problems. Once we hit the ridge, we bounced over to North Tri and back and then stopped just before the summit of Middle Tri to have a quick bite and to add/change some layers.
After passing over Middle Tri, I went past Shamie and Erica as I was still planning to go to Whiteface and figured I'd cut down the wait time. As I was about to turn onto the Kate Sleeper Trail, I looked up the slide and waited for a minute until Shamie came into view and then I shouted up to her to let her know where the turn was, since it's easy to miss if you don't know what to look for. Then, I headed off again. I found the Kate Sleeper Trail to be very enjoyable. The woods there are really cool and I'd like to go back there again sometime for sure. As I was passing over West Sleeper, I went off the trail to what looked like the highest bump (since it's on the 3K list) and that was very easy to do. On East Sleeper, I took a self-portrait for my 81st NEHH peak. It's a very interesting spot and well worth the trip up the spur.
It wasn't long after East Sleeper that before I got to the junction with the Downes Brook Trail and paused for a moment before climbing up to Whiteface. That stretch of trail is much easier that the map makes it look and it is in surprisingly good shape. Once I hit the Rollins Trail, I continued up to the summit, which now has a small cairn on the side of the trail, and then doubled back and went to the ledge to see if I could see anything at all through the soup. Besides, I figured that the ledge is what I think of when I think of Whiteface and that it wouldn't really feel like I had been there if I hadn't visited this landmark. Luckily, while I was there, the wind gusted just right and I had a moment where I could see all the colors in the valley below before the clouds swallowed it up again.
Having see that, I headed back to Downes Brook and headed down. Seeing some cleared drainage told me that Shamie and Erica had made it through here. While the trail was a bit slippery, the footing was good for the most part. The worst things about the descent were the numerous stream crossings, which weren't hard but it wasn't always clear where you were supposed to cross to, and the slow rate of descent. I was surprised that I didn't catch up to the girls, even after it got
dark. I will say that I was relieved when I got out to the parking lot and saw that Erica's car was gone. I knew that meant that they had gotten out OK and were
going to get my & Shamie's car. A little later, they arrived. We estimated that I got off the trail about 20min after them. Not bad, considering I tacked on a couple of extra miles and had run a race the day before!
In the end, we were all very glad that we made it out safe and sound and that we had accomplished so much. If only it hadn't been raining all day, it would have been an amazingly fun trip! I would definitely do the Sabbaday -> KST -> Downes route again or, with more time and better weather conditions, I'll tack on Passaconaway and head down Oliverian Brook.
Shamie has vowed that when she finishes her 48th this weekend, she's going to do it on a good weather day. It's looking like either this Saturday or on Monday, depending on the forecast (Saturday is the early favorite). Clearly, we have different ideas about hiking in the rain!
Here are some pics.
