| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, South Tripyramid, West Sleeper, East Sleeper, Mt. Whiteface, Mt. Passaconaway, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Kate Sleeper Trail, Rollins Trail, Dicey’s Mill Trail, Walden Trail, Square Ledge Trail, Passaconaway Cutoff, Oliverian Brook Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, July 10, 2021 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Second car at Oliverian Brook trailhead between 7:15 and 7:30am and there were already about a half dozen cars at the Pine Bend Brook trailhead between 7:30 and 7:45am. Note that there is only roadside parking at the Pine Bend Brook trailhead. The Oliverian Brook trailhead has room for over a dozen cars before it’d overflow which it probably doesn’t as easily as other trailheads in the whites as it’s not as terribly popular. When we returned at 4:15pm there were probably between a half dozen and a dozen cars at Oliverian Brook and over a dozen at Pine Bend Brook. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The area had gotten about 1.5in of rain in the past 24hrs. The crossings were not at all dangerous as some seemed to think they would. Had another friend that cancelled as he would’ve gone down Downes Brook and there was worry there with those crossings being more difficult. I can guarantee they would not have been rock hopable Saturday but I can’t imagine even those would’ve been dangerous; just a wade. Anyway, the crossings on Pine Bend Brook Trail were obviously elevated. They were all barely rock hopable without getting your foot wet or you had to step on rocks that were just barely submerged. Poles were helpful but these crossings were still pretty easy. The one or two tiny crossings between the peaks were perhaps a bit elevated but quickly going down and we’re obviously not a problem. The crossing on Passaconaway Cutoff was, as anticipated, the most difficult to get across without getting your feet wet but again not at all dangerous; water was just higher than usual and there’s not a lot of rocks to hop on there although it looked like a couple very intent on not getting their feet wet may have found some way of finannglinf it a short ways downstream. I’ve previously found more rocks popping up above the water just upstream of where the trail crosses but those were underwater Saturday so my feet got a little wet. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Pine Bend Brook Trail is blazed in yellow down low but quickly reaches the wilderness boundary which you’re then in the the vast majority of the hike. That said, you do still see the occasional blaze, namely one three-pronged yellow arrow on Mount Tripyramid Trail on the South Slide indicating that you’re coming to the jct with Kate Sleeper Trail (the sign and trail jct is off to the left if descending and not at all obvious on the slide so keep an eye out for it or this arrow if you’re without GPS and you haven’t done it before), and the occasional faded blue blaze on Kate Sleeper Trail. The only blowdown I actually recall is a stepover on Oliverian Brook Trail that will probably remain there but that doesn’t mean there’s others I’m forgetting about. As always, I enjoy seeing the devastation of precious storms on the Sleeper Ridge and the blowdown patches (and clean up!) there. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
A long hike for some dogs but not too much scrambling other than around the cone of Passaconaway and the Tripyramids. A long ridge walk with only a few spots for water though. We probably saw a few. |
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 | Bugs: |
Minimal. I didn’t use spray and was okay. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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 | Comments: |
Trip report three days late...I guess I’m still getting back in the habit of writing these lol. 5th-8th peaks for my grid this month leaving me at 8/26 done for this month. 18 more to go...
You could definitely tell that we’d gotten some much needed rain the day before but nothi that made the hike very hard. It was mostly sunny in the morning so things were drying out. There will always be a wet rock somewhere though... a couple puddles and mud pits to avoid on Pine Bend Brook but mostly just frequent minor mud which I took as a good sign that the ground was saturated haha. On the Sleeper Ridge, namely on the approach to East Sleeper where the trail contours just south of the summit before turning left and ascending to the jct wit the spur trail to the summit, there were some very large puddles to avoid but this spot is often watery. Same with the relatively flat section before the steeper ascent to Rollins Trail between Downes Brook and the former. The worst of the mud was probably found over a very short distance on the Walden Trail right at its jct with Dicey’s Mill and the summit spur.
We didn’t see as many people out as we thought we would particularly at the start of the day with the several cars we already saw at Pine Bens Brook. Only one person was returning that way. So either a bunch of people were going down Sabadday or doing what we were doing but without a car spot (no cars at Sabbaday when we passed it) or were doing some ducky redlining. Nice weather throughout the day although the second half was much cloudier I believe going against the forecast. |
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 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
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 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2021-07-13 |
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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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