BIGEarl
Well-known member
December 23, 2009: Tripyramids (north & middle)
Trails: Livermore Trail, Scaur Ridge Trail, Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail
Summits: North Tripyramid, South Tripyramid
Hikers: MadRiver (Rick), and me
My winter got started a day late for this year. MadRiver and I haven’t hiked together for a several months and this was a very good opportunity to get together for a day in the mountains. Rick has been working his way through a problem that has kept him off the trails for a while and hopefully he’s back.
The plan was to meet at the Livermore trailhead lot in Waterville Valley at 7:30am and get started. On the drive north I decided to stop at the Meredith exit off I-93 to feed the truck. Normally, I visit the Irving Station at this exit because they always have the best price, good “facilities”, and a well-stocked store if something is needed. The Irving Station was really busy but the place across the street wasn’t and their diesel price was the same. I went across the street. After fifteen minutes at the pump I had roughly 6 gallons – they knew of the pump problem but didn’t want to place an out-of-order sign on it. Instead, wasting the time of their customers seemed like a better choice. I paid up and drove across the street to the Irving Station and filled up.
A few minutes later than planned I pulled into the lot and there was Rick patiently waiting. I got my things together and we took off. The first couple miles are on a groomed ski trail. The man operating the grooming machine noticed we were setting off and stopped to provide guidance on hiking a groomed ski trail. If you’re going to do it you may as well do it right. We made our way to the bridge where the ski trail goes right and Livermore Trail goes left. From here to the junction with Pine Bend Brook we broke trail.
I started out in front. The snow was very dry and didn’t stick to the snowshoes at all, which kept the weight on our feet down to only the snowshoes. Roughly a mile into the trail Rick came up behind me and said “let me get in front”, and he passed to take the lead in trail breaking. Rick stayed there all of the way to Pine Bend Brook junction. We worked hard to alternate foot placement all of the way in and again all of the way back out. There is currently a terrific snowshoe track on Livermore and Scaur Ridge.
At the north junction with the Mount Tripyramid Trail we found the area all postholed by moose. There was a large amount of moose activity in this general area and high on Scaur Ridge and Pine Bend Brook. Generally, the only posthole problems on the trails came from moose. It seems hikers have been wearing snowshoes if needed and the trails are in pretty good condition to the middle peak.
We reached the Scaur Ridge – Pine Bend Brook trails junction and stopped for a quick break. From the junction we stayed with snowshoes heading for North Tripyramid. On the way we became separated by a short distance. I stopped to wait for Rick and another hiker came through. Click Clack (a recent addition to RoT) stopped to let me know Rick was running low on gas and suggested I head for Middle Tripyramid without him and we would meet up again on my return. A few minutes later Dave Landry and a couple of his closest friends passed by on their hike out. It’s always nice to see others on the trail.
I decided to retire the snowshoes for a while. The trail was solid and I thought MicroSpikes would be easier and faster. I made the change and started the final steep climbs to North Tripyramid. The change in footwear was a good move. I hit the North peak, got a couple pictures, and keep going to Middle Tripyramid. The trail between the peaks is very well tracked out and the MicroSpikes worked great. Just before reaching the final ascent to the Middle peak I met Click Clack again, on his hike out. I asked him to let Rick know where I was and that he should start out instead of waiting for me – I was concerned he might be getting cold on the North summit. I covered the final .2 miles to the Middle summit, got a few additional pictures and u-turned back to the North summit. When I arrived Rick was there waiting. The out and back was a little under an hour. He said there was just enough time to make a phone call, change into some dry clothes, and have a snack.
The hike back to the Scaur Ridge Trail junction was on MicroSpikes and went fast. There, we made a quick stop to change back to snowshoes and pull out the headlights – we didn’t need them yet but certainly would before we made it back to the trailhead. Rick told me to take off ahead of him several times. He planned to hike out slowly and give his sore foot a break. After about the sixth time I decided to go ahead. Evidently, I was hiking slower than Rick expected or he was moving faster, or possibly a little of each. In any event he came up behind me near the Sandwich Range Wilderness Boundary sign a short distance before the Livermore Trail. We re-grouped, and completed the final 3.8 miles to the trailhead, mostly with the help of our headlights.
Hopefully, anybody hiking the Tripyramids from Livermore will do so on snowshoes at least to the junction with Pine Bend Brook. The trail is a nice, smooth snowshoe track (I’m not sure what the moose may be doing to it).
Thanks Rick – it was a fun day out and great to get together with you again. Take care of the foot.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Livermore Trail, Scaur Ridge Trail, Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail
Summits: North Tripyramid, South Tripyramid
Hikers: MadRiver (Rick), and me
My winter got started a day late for this year. MadRiver and I haven’t hiked together for a several months and this was a very good opportunity to get together for a day in the mountains. Rick has been working his way through a problem that has kept him off the trails for a while and hopefully he’s back.
The plan was to meet at the Livermore trailhead lot in Waterville Valley at 7:30am and get started. On the drive north I decided to stop at the Meredith exit off I-93 to feed the truck. Normally, I visit the Irving Station at this exit because they always have the best price, good “facilities”, and a well-stocked store if something is needed. The Irving Station was really busy but the place across the street wasn’t and their diesel price was the same. I went across the street. After fifteen minutes at the pump I had roughly 6 gallons – they knew of the pump problem but didn’t want to place an out-of-order sign on it. Instead, wasting the time of their customers seemed like a better choice. I paid up and drove across the street to the Irving Station and filled up.
A few minutes later than planned I pulled into the lot and there was Rick patiently waiting. I got my things together and we took off. The first couple miles are on a groomed ski trail. The man operating the grooming machine noticed we were setting off and stopped to provide guidance on hiking a groomed ski trail. If you’re going to do it you may as well do it right. We made our way to the bridge where the ski trail goes right and Livermore Trail goes left. From here to the junction with Pine Bend Brook we broke trail.
I started out in front. The snow was very dry and didn’t stick to the snowshoes at all, which kept the weight on our feet down to only the snowshoes. Roughly a mile into the trail Rick came up behind me and said “let me get in front”, and he passed to take the lead in trail breaking. Rick stayed there all of the way to Pine Bend Brook junction. We worked hard to alternate foot placement all of the way in and again all of the way back out. There is currently a terrific snowshoe track on Livermore and Scaur Ridge.
At the north junction with the Mount Tripyramid Trail we found the area all postholed by moose. There was a large amount of moose activity in this general area and high on Scaur Ridge and Pine Bend Brook. Generally, the only posthole problems on the trails came from moose. It seems hikers have been wearing snowshoes if needed and the trails are in pretty good condition to the middle peak.
We reached the Scaur Ridge – Pine Bend Brook trails junction and stopped for a quick break. From the junction we stayed with snowshoes heading for North Tripyramid. On the way we became separated by a short distance. I stopped to wait for Rick and another hiker came through. Click Clack (a recent addition to RoT) stopped to let me know Rick was running low on gas and suggested I head for Middle Tripyramid without him and we would meet up again on my return. A few minutes later Dave Landry and a couple of his closest friends passed by on their hike out. It’s always nice to see others on the trail.
I decided to retire the snowshoes for a while. The trail was solid and I thought MicroSpikes would be easier and faster. I made the change and started the final steep climbs to North Tripyramid. The change in footwear was a good move. I hit the North peak, got a couple pictures, and keep going to Middle Tripyramid. The trail between the peaks is very well tracked out and the MicroSpikes worked great. Just before reaching the final ascent to the Middle peak I met Click Clack again, on his hike out. I asked him to let Rick know where I was and that he should start out instead of waiting for me – I was concerned he might be getting cold on the North summit. I covered the final .2 miles to the Middle summit, got a few additional pictures and u-turned back to the North summit. When I arrived Rick was there waiting. The out and back was a little under an hour. He said there was just enough time to make a phone call, change into some dry clothes, and have a snack.
The hike back to the Scaur Ridge Trail junction was on MicroSpikes and went fast. There, we made a quick stop to change back to snowshoes and pull out the headlights – we didn’t need them yet but certainly would before we made it back to the trailhead. Rick told me to take off ahead of him several times. He planned to hike out slowly and give his sore foot a break. After about the sixth time I decided to go ahead. Evidently, I was hiking slower than Rick expected or he was moving faster, or possibly a little of each. In any event he came up behind me near the Sandwich Range Wilderness Boundary sign a short distance before the Livermore Trail. We re-grouped, and completed the final 3.8 miles to the trailhead, mostly with the help of our headlights.
Hopefully, anybody hiking the Tripyramids from Livermore will do so on snowshoes at least to the junction with Pine Bend Brook. The trail is a nice, smooth snowshoe track (I’m not sure what the moose may be doing to it).
Thanks Rick – it was a fun day out and great to get together with you again. Take care of the foot.
Pictures will follow.
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