BIGEarl
Well-known member
April 23, 2013: Tripyramids
Trails: Pine Bend Brook Trail, Scaur Ridge Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail
Summits: North Tripyramid. Middle Tripyramid
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Here’s a surprise; Sue is on vacation, which often means we’re hiking. I really hope Sue enjoys her vacation days as much as I do. Since the next day had an early wake-up for work, we needed to hike a target that would let us finish early; Tripyramids from the Kanc fit our timing needs perfectly. We got started a little earlier than needed but wanted to have a little extra insurance in case the conditions were difficult; and we expected difficult conditions.
We started out from the Kanc with a temperature in the mid-20’s. Overnight everything froze and we had a solid trail to enjoy. There was very little ice and the trail surface was generally crusty with great traction. We were able to bare boot the early part of the hike to roughly 2 miles. The trail became steeper and we needed some added traction. We went with MICROSpikes and the developing traction problem was taken care of.
Along the way to this point there are a number of crossings of small streams. If you’re headed out this way and you get an early start with sub-freezing overnight conditions, watch the rocks on the streams crossings, they may be covered in a wet glaze of ice. The rocks with the best footing might have a small flow of water over them.
We made the turn and started the climb to the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail. The lower part of the climb is a nice introduction to what is coming up. There are a couple small, steep pitches on the initial climb. The trail ascends to the upper and final crossing of the brook, makes a hard turn to the south, and gets very steep and icy. There is a section of side hill that requires a great amount of caution. I’m pretty sure we were pushing the MICROSpikes to their limit. Fortunately, the temperature was holding at well below freezing and the trail was solid with a good crusty surface. We had the needed traction to make MICROSpikes work for us. If it were warmer I believe we would have had problems. More than once we both thought about crampons. The trail is clearly tracked out and even though there is limited marking of the trail route it is easy to follow. Eventually, the trail pitched over and we arrived at the ridge near the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail.
From the trail junction to the North Tripyramid summit is only .8 miles but it has ~750 feet in elevation generally packed in the final .4 miles. In other words, the climb to North Tripyramid is a steep one. With almost no ice to be a concern the climb was very similar to the one we just completed. We worked our way to the steep final approach and just climbed. The MICROSpikes did their thing and we were soon standing on the first summit for the day. We did a quick time check and surprisingly found we were pretty much right on book time. With the difficult spring conditions I expected to be roughly an hour over at this point. We’re having a good day.
We got a couple summit pictures and set off for Middle Tripyramid. Still enjoying a solid tread way we were able to move well without worries about postholing. In fact, the trail was in very good condition with few postholes but I’m sure that will change over the next couple weeks.
Soon we passed the Sabbaday Brook Trail junction and were on the final .3 to Middle Tripyramid. The climb to the summit has a couple steep pitches but they presented no problem at all. I had been expecting the trail to be softening by this point but the temperature held and so did the trail. We passed the viewless viewpoint near the summit and stepped to the top for our usual summit pictures. The lack of views, cloud cover, and breeze meant there was no reason to hang around. We made the u-turn and headed back out the way we hiked in.
Re-climbing North Tripyramid from the ridge is much easier than the initial ascent. Before long we were clearing the summit for a second time and starting the steep descent. Leaving North Tripyramid got us in the right mood for our descent from the lower ridge. There are a couple steep pitches that gave us a good introduction to descending in the current conditions. Both of us managed to make our way off North Tripyramid and stay upright all of the way down.
We passed the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail and just kept moving. The upper pitch from the ridge is the less severe of the two and we generally just walked down to the small flat area, and a quick break. From there back down to the top of the brook was the tough part of the day. There are a few places where I’m pretty sure MICROSpikes were a poor choice but we used them with a great amount of care and made our way down, staying upright all the way. Eventually we reached the top crossing, relieved. We continued down to the lower crossing and were then on a final cruise to the trailhead. The final 2.2 miles are very mild terrain all the way out, loaded with small stream crossings.
By now the temperature at the lower elevation had warmed to above freezing, the snow had softened a little, and the icing on the stream crossings had vanished. We simply worked to stay on the tracked out part of the tread way to avoid postholing, and worked around the edges of the mud pits (there are some very nice mud pits on the lower part of the trail).
Roughly half-way to the trailhead Sue turned to me and asked if we could stop for few minutes. She had a serious expression on her face and I was concerned there might be a problem. Eventually the expression changed a little and I did the math. It was Snowman Time! Earlier I was thinking there would be no snowman today because of the cold conditions but everything finally changed. Warmer temperature made for soft sticky snow. Sue dropped her pack and went to work. Oh yeah, Sue made a nice one; a happy snowman on the side of the trail.
Well ahead of our plan we reached the trailhead, tossed our things into the truck, and set off for the highway south. On the way we made a quick stop at Lincoln Woods to change into some dry clothes for the ride home.
Thanks Sue for sharing another of your vacation days. We had a good one.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Pine Bend Brook Trail, Scaur Ridge Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail
Summits: North Tripyramid. Middle Tripyramid
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Here’s a surprise; Sue is on vacation, which often means we’re hiking. I really hope Sue enjoys her vacation days as much as I do. Since the next day had an early wake-up for work, we needed to hike a target that would let us finish early; Tripyramids from the Kanc fit our timing needs perfectly. We got started a little earlier than needed but wanted to have a little extra insurance in case the conditions were difficult; and we expected difficult conditions.
We started out from the Kanc with a temperature in the mid-20’s. Overnight everything froze and we had a solid trail to enjoy. There was very little ice and the trail surface was generally crusty with great traction. We were able to bare boot the early part of the hike to roughly 2 miles. The trail became steeper and we needed some added traction. We went with MICROSpikes and the developing traction problem was taken care of.
Along the way to this point there are a number of crossings of small streams. If you’re headed out this way and you get an early start with sub-freezing overnight conditions, watch the rocks on the streams crossings, they may be covered in a wet glaze of ice. The rocks with the best footing might have a small flow of water over them.
We made the turn and started the climb to the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail. The lower part of the climb is a nice introduction to what is coming up. There are a couple small, steep pitches on the initial climb. The trail ascends to the upper and final crossing of the brook, makes a hard turn to the south, and gets very steep and icy. There is a section of side hill that requires a great amount of caution. I’m pretty sure we were pushing the MICROSpikes to their limit. Fortunately, the temperature was holding at well below freezing and the trail was solid with a good crusty surface. We had the needed traction to make MICROSpikes work for us. If it were warmer I believe we would have had problems. More than once we both thought about crampons. The trail is clearly tracked out and even though there is limited marking of the trail route it is easy to follow. Eventually, the trail pitched over and we arrived at the ridge near the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail.
From the trail junction to the North Tripyramid summit is only .8 miles but it has ~750 feet in elevation generally packed in the final .4 miles. In other words, the climb to North Tripyramid is a steep one. With almost no ice to be a concern the climb was very similar to the one we just completed. We worked our way to the steep final approach and just climbed. The MICROSpikes did their thing and we were soon standing on the first summit for the day. We did a quick time check and surprisingly found we were pretty much right on book time. With the difficult spring conditions I expected to be roughly an hour over at this point. We’re having a good day.
We got a couple summit pictures and set off for Middle Tripyramid. Still enjoying a solid tread way we were able to move well without worries about postholing. In fact, the trail was in very good condition with few postholes but I’m sure that will change over the next couple weeks.
Soon we passed the Sabbaday Brook Trail junction and were on the final .3 to Middle Tripyramid. The climb to the summit has a couple steep pitches but they presented no problem at all. I had been expecting the trail to be softening by this point but the temperature held and so did the trail. We passed the viewless viewpoint near the summit and stepped to the top for our usual summit pictures. The lack of views, cloud cover, and breeze meant there was no reason to hang around. We made the u-turn and headed back out the way we hiked in.
Re-climbing North Tripyramid from the ridge is much easier than the initial ascent. Before long we were clearing the summit for a second time and starting the steep descent. Leaving North Tripyramid got us in the right mood for our descent from the lower ridge. There are a couple steep pitches that gave us a good introduction to descending in the current conditions. Both of us managed to make our way off North Tripyramid and stay upright all of the way down.
We passed the junction with Scaur Ridge Trail and just kept moving. The upper pitch from the ridge is the less severe of the two and we generally just walked down to the small flat area, and a quick break. From there back down to the top of the brook was the tough part of the day. There are a few places where I’m pretty sure MICROSpikes were a poor choice but we used them with a great amount of care and made our way down, staying upright all the way. Eventually we reached the top crossing, relieved. We continued down to the lower crossing and were then on a final cruise to the trailhead. The final 2.2 miles are very mild terrain all the way out, loaded with small stream crossings.
By now the temperature at the lower elevation had warmed to above freezing, the snow had softened a little, and the icing on the stream crossings had vanished. We simply worked to stay on the tracked out part of the tread way to avoid postholing, and worked around the edges of the mud pits (there are some very nice mud pits on the lower part of the trail).
Roughly half-way to the trailhead Sue turned to me and asked if we could stop for few minutes. She had a serious expression on her face and I was concerned there might be a problem. Eventually the expression changed a little and I did the math. It was Snowman Time! Earlier I was thinking there would be no snowman today because of the cold conditions but everything finally changed. Warmer temperature made for soft sticky snow. Sue dropped her pack and went to work. Oh yeah, Sue made a nice one; a happy snowman on the side of the trail.
Well ahead of our plan we reached the trailhead, tossed our things into the truck, and set off for the highway south. On the way we made a quick stop at Lincoln Woods to change into some dry clothes for the ride home.
Thanks Sue for sharing another of your vacation days. We had a good one.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
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