As I was driving away from the Cascade Path trailhead, I saw a brilliant rainbow to the east.
The Tripyramids make a challenging hike! I got completely exhausted and also developed a few small blisters, but I feel great today! I'd like to hike them again, perhaps taking some variations on the route.
I got a sprinkling of rain on the way down the south slide. Fortunately, it never turned into a downpour. Fortunately - because I neglected to bring any raingear, aside from my backpack cover!
Compared to the Tripyramid slides, Livermore Trail looks like downright civilized. It made a nice change on the return trip.
For the curious, here's a close-up look at the make-up of the gravel on the south slide. The toe of my boot is there for scale.
The south slide is wide open at the top, but it narrows down pretty soon, as you can see here. Most of the south slide is narrow, in fact, making it easier to traverse than the north slide, in my view.
Getting from Middle Tripyramid to South Tripyramid is reasonably easy, and from there you go down the south slide. This view was taken at the top of the south slide. It's very steep over here, too.
The Guide says the south slide has bad footing, and I guess it does. But compared to the north slide, I found it a piece of cake. Yes, there's gravel, but there are also lots of little plateaus where you can set your foot down flat. There are some short spurts where you are at risk of sliding (and I did), but never too badly.
If I had been wearing a heavier pack, it would have been more difficult. A set of poles might have helped. I didn't bring mine.
Hiking from the north to the middle peak is a nice walk with just a little bit of boulder climbing. There's a great view from Middle Tripyramid.
Practically speaking there's no view at North Tripyramid; it's crowded with trees. There is this little "rock couch" near the peak, nice for taking a break. If you want to stop where there's a view, you can do that at the top of the north slide, or wait till you get over to Middle Tripyramid. There are nice views over by the south slide, too.
Here's another view of the slide, with mountains in the distance. I think the mountains just make it look steeper.
I took a photo looking across the slide to get a feel for the angle. It really doesn't look too bad here, but feels pretty bad when you're on it.
One question I have about this slide is: how necessary is it to follow the yellow blazes? I spent quite some time trying to find them, and was concerned when I wasn't sure if I was on the right track. If you stray off the advised trail, does the slide become a lot more difficult? I think I took too much time trying to search out the yellow blazes. If I go again, I'll just make my own way.
I'll have to do some research to see how difficult it is going down this slide. It seems like it would be much harder going down than going up, and going up was pretty tough.
This is a view of a cairn on the most difficult part of the north slide.
At some point, the slide opens out to this very wide, exposed area that is covered in a jumble of steep slabs, unstable rocks, and gravel. The slope here is quite steep, and the trail is poorly marked with a rare yellow blaze. I was frequently buffeted by blasts of cold wind while making my way up here, which I found disconcerting.
The AMC Guide says the trail along here "turns sharp left into the woods at a cairn", but don't be fooled by the first cairn that you see. There are several cairns along this slide, and by the time you reach the right one, it will be obvious because it is close to where the trail goes into the woods on the left side of the slide.
I don't usually suffer from acrophobia, but it did a number on me going up this slide. I probably aggravated the problem by turning around to look out at the vast mountain views frequently, and stopping to take photos.
I crawled up most of the way, sometimes pulling myself up with my hands. This got to be pretty tiresome since I was wearing a 12-lb pack. I recall thinking several times that I should never do this again; being concerned that it might rain and the rocks would become slippery; that I might get stuck without being able to move up or down.
Regardless, I did keep moving up. Eventually I was passed by one guy who seemed to have little trouble walking up, without using his hands. This makes me think my problem was mainly psychological. Looking at the photos from the safety of home, it does look steep but not murderous.
It was kind of hard for me to grok just how long the north slide is. The AMC Guide describes it as "climbing 1200 ft in 0.5 mi." This slide seems to go on forever.
At this point, I thought I was nearing the top. In fact, I was nearing the part of the slide where it expands into a large open area. So far, this was a fun climb, though tiring. It gets a bit tricky after this, to say the least.
Here we continue up the north slide to North Tripyramid. This area is still not difficult. I didn't slip here, and the trail is obvious.
It's a pretty easy jaunt from Cascade Path over to the start of the Mt Tripyramid trail. Cascade Path is not always perfectly marked, but if you're moderately alert you shouldn't have problems.
The AMC White Mountain Guide recommends climbing up the north slide of Mt Tripyramid Trail, and taking the south slide down. I did this. I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm posting these photos to give you an idea. This first picture shows the beginning of the north slide. It's not at all threatening. The moss would be nasty in rain, but yesterday I had no problems slipping.
I got started a little late, because I didn't print out a detailed map to get to the trailhead. It's not described well in the AMC White Mountain Guide, and the trail map doesn't make it clear. So here are directions to the Cascade Path trailhead.
Take Rte 93 in NH to exit 28, and follow Rte 49 northeast just about as far as it will go. Eventually, the speed limit goes from 50 to 30 mph, and you'll see signs for the Waterville Valley ski area on Tripoli Rd, to the left. Don't go there; continue straight on. At this point, Rte 49 gets confusing. A lot of this area seems like a set of private streets meandering through a condo.
You'll eventually get to a big brown sign on the right of the road, which is called "Valley Rd" here. The sign points to various attractions, including a (public) golf club, and "WVAIA" trails. Take this right. This is the confusing point. You have been following Rte 49, which is Valley Rd, and you need to continue on this road by going right. If you continue on straight, you'll be following Snow's Brook Rd, which leads off in the wrong direction.
Follow Valley Rd past a golf course and tennis courts. You'll pass Stone Tower Ln and W Branch Rd on your left - Valley Rd becomes Boulder Way around this point. Soon, you'll pass a large shed next to a ski lift, followed by a dirt parking lot. You'll want to park in the lot, as described in the AMC guide. Just beyond the dirt lot is Cascade Ridge Rd; the Cascade Path trailhead is located at the intersection of this road and Boulder Way.
The road in this photo is Cascade Ridge Rd; you'll see this view when driving on Boulder Way in front of the parking area. This is where I started my approach to the Tripyramids.
I hiked over North Tripyramid and Middle Tripyramid yesterday, my 8th and 9th 4000-footers.
I took Cascade Path to Norway Rapids Trail to Livermore Trail, and then took the Mt Tripyramid trail clockwise over the summits. The total hike was about 11 miles and took about 6 h 45 min, excluding breaks. My pace was a tepid 1.6 mph. The total time is iffy, since I kept stopping my watch and forgetting to restart it.
This trip offers some great views, like this view from the "north slide".
