Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
| Peaks |
East Sleeper, West Sleeper, South Tripyramid, Middle Tripyramid, North Tripyramid, NH |
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| Trails: |
Downes Brook Trail, Kate Sleeper Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Pine Bend Brook Trail |
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| Date of Hike: |
Saturday, November 1, 2014 |
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| Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Very large dirt lot. Fee area. No facilities. |
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| Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Slush |
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| Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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| Water Crossing Notes: |
Downes Brook has 10 river crossings as well as several brooks and drainages. The first 5-6 crossings are significant and even with the low water levels it required some thought to a route across and some stepping in 1-2" of water. Pine Bend Brook has numerous small brook crossings that were all fairly easy. |
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| Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Minimal blazes and most very old, faint and hard to spot. Lot of blowdowns on Downes Brook, mostly step overs but some work required on several. Kate Sleeper, even with all the recent work had 4-5 hand and knees duck unders and Mt Tripyramid and Pine Bend also had a few stepovers of awkward height. Toward end of Pine Bend brook there is a large muddy area where the log bridges are rotted, snapped and collapsed. |
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| Dog-Related Notes: |
Mt Tripyramid trail has some ledges and scrambling that might be an issue for smaller or inexperienced dogs. Plenty of water along way. |
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| Bugs: |
No bugs but no shortage of spider webs to walk through. |
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| Lost and Found: |
none |
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| Comments: |
Snow got an early start and made a large portion of this hike very hard for traction. By the time I reached the East and South Slides there was a coating of about 3/4" which made everything slick. Used microspikes from just below the Slides to the base of North Tripyramid were it angles across Scaur Ridge. At the lower elevations and in the flats they were impossible to use because there were so many wet leaves they balled up like glue with the slushy snow and made huge clumps on the spikes that had to be cleared every 2-3 steps. The headwall of the valley Pine Bend Brook trail goes down was absurdly treacherous on the steep slopes and wet, leave covered rocks. The last two miles out on Pine Bend also had significant stretches of mud that were hard to see and avoid in a lot of places. What I thought would be a fairly straightforward hike became very long and tedious with the early snow. |
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| Name: |
DayTrip |
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| E-Mail: |
bblanchette0709@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-11-02 |
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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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