I had planned to meet adamiata and hockeycrew at the Depot Camp trailhead at 8:00 so I left Boston around 5:30. I pulled into the parking lot at 7:30 and they were the only folks there, so we actually got on the trail by 7:45. Adam related as we were hiking that this would be his last 2 4000'ers, denying me the thrill of carrying a bottle of champaign. 
The Livermore Road was cool and still, making for nice hiking conditions compared to the sweltering heat of the past few weekends. We made it to the North Tri slide trail (not the South Tri slide, more on that later) in short order, took some food, and then plunged into the woods.
The bottom part of slide wasn't very wet, which made the mossy stuff fairly easy. Except my boots are shot, I really need new boots. The morning clear skies were turning to high clouds as the day wore on. The upper part of the slide was dry and clear and easy hiking, but always spectacular. This time I was thinking about skiing. Next year.
We didn't see anyone on the slide, nor on the Livermore Road. A little odd on a July 4th weekend but we weren't complaining. As we got further up the slide the conversation slowed down and we just absorbed the views; except for occasional cries of "Rock!"
We stopped at the top of the slide for a snack and some yoga, then continued up the trail to the summit of North Tripyramid. Number 47 for Adam. With a short pause there we pushed on to Middle Tri. We finally saw another person along the way, but just one so far. The ridge is in good shape, just a few blowdowns along the way.
Middle Tri, and #48. Adam carried up a beer, and he celebrated with that. We had a nice relaxed celebration up there, the bugs weren't too bad. It was still before noon, it was an early day.
The south slide we took slow and easy, there was no need to rush. We met a few folks headed up, who took the south slide by accident because the sign on the Livermore Road isn't clear. We confirmed their suspicions and told them about diverting around the North Slide via Pine Bend Brook and Scaur Ridge. They did have a cute dog that would appreciate the diversion.
On the way out we started getting a little bit of rain, but it felt good and we were down off the slides. We decided on the short side trail to the Big Pines where HockeyCrew got a chance to hug a big tree.
Great hike, out by 3:00 PM, congrats to Adam.
-dave-
The Livermore Road was cool and still, making for nice hiking conditions compared to the sweltering heat of the past few weekends. We made it to the North Tri slide trail (not the South Tri slide, more on that later) in short order, took some food, and then plunged into the woods.
The bottom part of slide wasn't very wet, which made the mossy stuff fairly easy. Except my boots are shot, I really need new boots. The morning clear skies were turning to high clouds as the day wore on. The upper part of the slide was dry and clear and easy hiking, but always spectacular. This time I was thinking about skiing.
Next year.
We didn't see anyone on the slide, nor on the Livermore Road. A little odd on a July 4th weekend but we weren't complaining. As we got further up the slide the conversation slowed down and we just absorbed the views; except for occasional cries of "Rock!"
We stopped at the top of the slide for a snack and some yoga, then continued up the trail to the summit of North Tripyramid. Number 47 for Adam. With a short pause there we pushed on to Middle Tri. We finally saw another person along the way, but just one so far. The ridge is in good shape, just a few blowdowns along the way.
Middle Tri, and #48. Adam carried up a beer, and he celebrated with that. We had a nice relaxed celebration up there, the bugs weren't too bad. It was still before noon, it was an early day.
The south slide we took slow and easy, there was no need to rush. We met a few folks headed up, who took the south slide by accident because the sign on the Livermore Road isn't clear. We confirmed their suspicions and told them about diverting around the North Slide via Pine Bend Brook and Scaur Ridge. They did have a cute dog that would appreciate the diversion.
On the way out we started getting a little bit of rain, but it felt good and we were down off the slides. We decided on the short side trail to the Big Pines where HockeyCrew got a chance to hug a big tree.
Great hike, out by 3:00 PM, congrats to Adam.
-dave-
