| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pend Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, February 19, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The pullout on the Kanc is not really plowed out. Today about a dozen cars squeezed over as far as they could, but I don't think any were fully over the white line, so not advisable if snowfall is predicted. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The larger ones were open but not difficult to get across in snowshoes. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Many blowdowns blocking the trail up high, particuarly from the left turn on the ridge to the North peak. All were bigger than my small handsaw could handle, and some will require some interesting maneuvers to get around if/when the deep snowpack gets any deeper. The snow pack is so deep up high that your head is in the tree canopy much of the time. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw one doing fine, there are no concerning conditions. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Very deep snow up high! 1-2 feet at the trailhead, but up along the ridge we are talking 5-6 feet or more. Many blazes are at or beneath the snow level, and the normally well-overhead tree canopy was in our faces or even lower at times. Middle Tripyramid is approaching a 360-degree view from the summit rock, though it needs a bit more snow for that to happen. North Tripyramid's normal summit clearing is blocked by a couple leaners and tree canopy due to the big snow depth. There was a good snowshoe trench established by those from yesterday and the handful of folks ahead of us, thanks to all of them! The snow was soft due to the warm temps, and up high the trees soaked us with melting snow. Not too much balling on the snowshoes though, and we enjoyed the day despite some interesting conditions, and enjoyed a fair bit of sun until well into our descent. Thanks for coming along and doing some of the driving Patrick.
Now for the rant portion that I try to avoid in favor of letting folks do what they want: the trail this morning was utterly littered with thousands of knee-to-crotch-deep postholes from someone that apparently decided to head up without snowshoes yesterday after the 2 feet or so of snow that fell over the last week. It was a massive mess, and all of us on the trail (16 snowshoers that we saw on the way up) commented on the mess. We all did our best to bury/smooth out the mess and it was looking pretty good as we started down. Then more barebooters/spikers appeared. 5 in all, split among 2 groups, (and one of those carrying snowshoes...), with 4 more snowshoers in between. While the trail wasn't littered with new post holes, there were more, and the trail was all chopped up pretty deeply. I suspect it got beat up even more on their descent, and sadly they will be the last ones down, so little clean up by the snowshoes.. People need to recognize what happens when they don't wear snowshoes when the trail is soft like today: tonight, when all the postholes and such freeze and stay frozen as the forecast predicts, this trail will be a significant ankle-twisting/snapping hazard zone. I hope no one actually requires a rescue due to an injury from these holes. Perhaps more education is needed for the newer hikers? 2 FEET+ OF NEW SNOW. PLEASE WEAR SNOWSHOES UNLESS THE TRAIL IS A SIDEWALK! |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-02-19 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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