NON-slide tripyramids loop

What is the general opinion about a loop of N. and Middle tripyramid

Park at Sabbaday brook
1.0 mile road walk to Pine Bend Brook (is it UP hill this way?)
Up the two peaks
Down Sabbaday Brook back to the car?

We are thinking of doing it like this because I'd rather do a road walk at the beginning of the hike AND I think (by reading the AMC guide) that Sabbaday brook would be an "easier" descent...

Thanks.

Uphill all the way ... from 1,320 to 1,370 feet

Whichever direction you do it in, be aware of the multiple stream crossings, some "difficult at high water", on the Sabbaday Brooks Trail.

the loop you suggest is a nice one. i did it my first trip to tripyramid years ago, but didn't take into account the water crossings on sabbaday brook trail. it made for a difficult, wet and cold exit (wading). definitely watch the conditions.
a pretty popular loop lately and one that is real nice is to use just the south slide and loop over and down scaur ridge trail from livermore (or the reverse).

bryan

But the slides are the fun part...

bryan said:

a pretty popular loop lately and one that is real nice is to use just the south slide and loop over and down scaur ridge trail from livermore (or the reverse).

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I wholeheartedly agree. The Scaur Ridge trail is a gem (though there are a handful of nasty blowdowns that you'll need to negotiate right now). The grades are so moderate that it barely feels as if you're climbing.

The road walk is pretty darn flat. I will reinforce Mohameds comments about stream crossings. Walking out Sabathday brook trail starts out with some insignificant stream crossings that gradually get wider and more interesting. The last few are very wide and rock hopping is not normally optional, if its the end of your hike you can just walk through with your boots on, bareboot or carry sandals. I wouldnt do it after a rain event.

lots of info here....

http://vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37565

I don't think you can do a non-slides Tripyramid loop and stay on trails, as Pine Bend Brook and Scaur Trails are the only ones without slides - Sabbaday Brook is still partly on old slide and Sleeper is partly on South Slide

In and out Pine Bend Brook is the shortest route with the most brook crossings

The South Slide is pretty easy, particularly in descent. (Also, pretty gravelly so it should drain well.) You can make a loop from the Waterville side by ascending the Scaur Tr to bypass the North Slide and descending by the South Slide.

Doug

Here's a look at one of the lowest crossings of Sabbaday Brook. I believe that several can be avoided by an easy, open-woods bushwhack staying on the same side of the brook, but it was a lot of years ago that I was up there. What I do remember (thanks to the photo caption) is that it's not deep, but it's wide and doesn't have organized stepping stones, so just a few inches of water can mean wet feet. It also means that it can probably go up quite a bit and not sweep you away ... those brook banks are not very high.

I've done late fall & early winter trips on the Tri's. Many years ago (not sure he'll admit to being this old) Chomp & I did the South Slide up & Pine Bend Scaur loop in December with maybe 6-10" of snow along the upper sections.

A few winters ago a group of us (Chomp included I think) did the Sabbaday Brook, Pine Bend loop with a car spot. That January had light snow, about a foot at the top. I found the upper sections of Sabbaday to be worse than the South Slide. The little bit of snow on the steep slope kept giving way.

This time of year through winter, I'd rather do the South Slide.

LRiz said:

I wholeheartedly agree. The Scaur Ridge trail is a gem (though there are a handful of nasty blowdowns that you'll need to negotiate right now). The grades are so moderate that it barely feels as if you're climbing.

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Scaur Ridge is a gem through some beautiful forest.. the nasty blowdowns had been cleared off as of tuesday. That being said..we went Scaur Ridge the other day to avoid the many brook crossings on sabbaday in particular though in low water i like that loop..easy road walk also on the Kanc

Tripyramids from the southeast

I just hiked the Tripyramids today actually. I'd wanted to bag them for a while, but I also wanted to check out the Kate Sleeper trail in the process. So I did just that; it made for a rather long day, but once you get to the Sleeper trailhead it's mostly smooth sailing. There is a significant up near the end of the day, as you make your way back to just south of the Whiteface summit. The Sleeper trail is pretty nice; it's rarely used, mostly flat with forgiving footing and the scenery is nice. You end up on the upper part of the South slide.

Other than the views from the slides, I was a bit disappointed by the views from the Tripyramids - I'm sure there are some good outlooks I didn't find as I didn't linger long.

The only people I ran into all day was a couple just about to finish up their 100 highest list with East Sleeper. Kind of an anti-climactic choice for the final peak.

e - by the way, as of today there is no snow on the peaks, and the trails were mostly dry.

wisher said:

I just hiked the Tripyramids today actually. I'd wanted to bag them for a while, but I also wanted to check out the Kate Sleeper trail in the process. So I did just that; it made for a rather long day, but once you get to the Sleeper trailhead it's mostly smooth sailing. There is a significant up near the end of the day, as you make your way back to just south of the Whiteface summit. The Sleeper trail is pretty nice; it's rarely used, mostly flat with forgiving footing and the scenery is nice. You end up on the upper part of the South slide.

Other than the views from the slides, I was a bit disappointed by the views from the Tripyramids - I'm sure there are some good outlooks I didn't find as I didn't linger long.

The only people I ran into all day was a couple just about to finish up their 100 highest list with East Sleeper. Kind of an anti-climactic choice for the final peak.

e - by the way, as of today there is no snow on the peaks, and the trails were mostly dry.

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The best views IMO are from the slides, South in the fall with the lakes & foliage (whiteface even better) and the views from the North Slide are nice too. Even if you don't do the slides, checking the view from just below the tops of the slide are nice.

Mike P. said:

The best views IMO are from the slides, South in the fall with the lakes & foliage (whiteface even better) and the views from the North Slide are nice too. Even if you don't do the slides, checking the view from just below the tops of the slide are nice.

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IIRC, there is a nice viewpoint from the South peak, just above the S slide.

Doug

DougPaul said:

IIRC, there is a nice viewpoint from the South peak, just above the S slide.

Doug

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This is from that viewpoint



The best views of the day though were from the blueberry ledges mid-morning, with the fog burning off.

There are S views from N peak to the other bumps, E views from M peak, and W views from a spot just N of M peak

thanks all for the help.

It was a good hike. Not great...pretty routine (but, you all knew that). We went up Pine Bend brook...down Sabbaday. The roadwalk was nothing...and, actually, nice to do to get into the stride.

It snowed...flurries and showers...all day...so there were NO VIEWS AT ALL. Not many pictures, but I've attached a link to the few we took below.

I can ABSOLUTELY see where the river/brook crossings on Sabbaday would be undoable in high water. But wouldn't that Sabbady Fall be awesome?!

link to pics here

Thanks for sharing your trip. The pictures were great. It's amazing what you see when there is nothing to see.