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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks North Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, South Tripyramid, Mt. Whiteface, Mt. Passaconaway, NH
Trails
Trails: Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Kate Sleeper Trail, Rollins Trail, Walden Trail, Dicey's Mill Trail, Walden Trail, Square Ledge Trail, Passaconaway Cutoff, Oliverian Brook Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Thursday, April 27, 2023
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Oliverian Brook Parking Lot was clear of snow. Pine Bend Brook trailhead still had available trees to lock bikes on. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Oliverian Brook Crossing had to step in to cross. Found rocks to keep this below ankle line 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Chaos from where Pine Bend Brook meets Scaur Trail until coming off of Passaconaway with snapped firs everywhere. Worst of it being on the Tripyramid Ridge in my opinion. Many dozens upon dozens of Christmas sized spruce tops everywhere. Many will be able to be tossed aside with a team of hands but it would seem as if a fair amount of saw work will be needed. Bigger downed trees as mentioned in last report. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Snowshoes went on about a hundred yards before Pine Bend Brook cuts to the east and out of the drainage. As mentioned above in trail maintenance section the downed trees were numerous and everywhere. Much of my day on the Tripyramid Ridge, parts of Kate Sleeper and just off of Whiteface was crawling over or detouring around spruce tops.

With what must have been quite the ice storm the snow on the ridges was firm everywhere so walking around the downed trees was easy with a 'pick your own path' along the ridge walk. Quite quickly once off of South Tripyramid I had to remove snowshoes as there was bare rock before the slide and all the way until Kate Sleeper ducked back into the woods.

It seemed to me that once off the shoulder of South Tripyramid the worst of the spruce damage was behind me for the day--although with this said there was still plenty to deal with on the rest of the walk. I had trouble route finding in the open wood sections of Kate Sleeper although found my way back to blue marks relatively often except when I daydreamed off to the wrong side of Kate Sleeper. If taking this route in the next few days do not follow my snowshoe marks (if you can see them) in this area. Instead of backtracking what must have only been 50 or 100 feet I decided to follow height of land around the edge of Kate Sleeper (for no good reason at all) and found myself wading through spruce traps and blowdown for 45 minutes.

Avoiding the snapped firs on Rollins Trail wasn't as easy as it's pretty tight in places. A handful of crawl overs in this area are necessary.

Snow was deep until about a half a mile before Dicey's Mill Trail at which point there were sizable stretches of open ground. I kept shoes on through this area, up Passaconaway, dealt with them down the ledges and until the beginning of Square Ledge trail. I bombed down square ledge leaving many post holes in extremely soft snow. Shortly before the Passaconaway Cutoff Starts any need for snowshoes is gone.

Saw a cloud that looked just like a bunny over Chocorua to end my day on the summits  
Name
Name: EAKenRea 
E-Mail
E-Mail: benewfang@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2023-04-27 
Link
Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/Crj351qNiuQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 
Bookmark and Share 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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