| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
South Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, North Tripyramid, Scaur Peak, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Livermore Road, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Pine Bend Brook Trail, bushwhack, Scaur Ridge Trail, herd path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, April 17, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Livermore lot was sloppy. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
On the ascent two south, both crossings of significance could be done on snowshoes on wet or partially submerged rocks. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns on the ridge. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Quite the elevational transition driving up this morning - bare ground along I-93, then a dusting along 49, then a few inches heading up toward Livermore.
A good 6" of powder starting on Livermore Road, so we immediately donned snowshoes. It was a denser snow, so it made for a decent base in the morning. Snow depths increased to perhaps 10" by the time we reached the first Mt. Tripyramid Trail junction.
Soon after getting onto the Mt. Tripyramid Trail (to south), the new snow was a foot deep, and not particularly moist. Surprisingly good snowshoeing. Heading into the slide, there were lots of places that had drifted in knee deep. There is no residual snow in the slide, so this will probably melt out before long, but I can't imagine attempting this this morning without snowshoes.
Decent amount of snow on the ridge as well, though bony in a couple of places where the residual snowpack was gone. Snowshoes were still the best choice. We finally hit existing tracks on Middle; unfortunately these folks had barebooted. They lost the trail in places and were postholing up to their knees in many others. We were leaving a decently repaired track behind us when we encountered cotton-wearing barebooters coming off North. What a mess.
More snow on the descent of upper Pine Bend Brook. Since the bareboot brigade hadn't flailed down this descent yet, it had enough powder to fill in the rocky/ledgy areas decently.
We descended a bit below the Scaur Ridge junction, then bushwhacked in fairly open woods to the summit of Scaur Peak. Generally 6-10" of wet powder with no base underneath. We then backtracked slightly, then bushwhacked down to the Scaur Ridge Trail (no recent tracks and no apparent base), followed that for a bit, then bushwhacked down to the old logging road, which we took out to the north Mt. Tripyramid Trail junction. Generally 8-10" of powder, but not as moist as atop Scaur Peak.
Looks like someone had attempted to ascend the north slide without snowshoes, but had to turn around (saw boot tracks in both directions at the bottom, but not tracks up top). Uneven going initially down Livermore Road due to the aforementioned postholer, but we soon joined some ski tracks, which made it smoother (until they caught the barebooter, at which point the barebooter postholed down their tracks).
Snowpack became a bit more thin around the Kettles junction, but remained full all the way to the parking lot. Snowshoes stayed on all day, but I suspect the lower mile of the Livermore Trail will be very thin by tomorrow. I also suspect that this snow will melt quickly and that the ridge won't have much left if we have a warmer week. Nevertheless, snowshoes were the way to go today.
Mild temperatures with occasional snow flurries up high, but never particularly cold. Snow starting to melt and drip off the trees in the afternoon, but not much in way of sunlight to accelerate melting. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-04-17 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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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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