Last Monday I hiked the Tripyramids via the Pine Bend Brook trail as part of a three day White Mountain getaway. I got to the trailhead around 6 AM and began hiking in the dark. There was little snow on the trail from the get-go so I opted to not wear spikes for the first two miles. This proved fine except for a water crossing about a mile in. A combination of icy rocks and darkness led to a poor crossing attempt and I ended up submerging one of my boots. By the time I pulled it out my sock was wet. Disappointed, I then saw a big tree that I could have used to cross. Once on the other side I dried off my foot as best I could and put on a dry sock. The temp was around 30 degrees so thankfully it wasn't too cold.
A half mile later I rung out my new sock and attempted to dry out the inside of the boot as best I could. Despite my foot still being wet it wasn't cold so I pressed on. Once the trail started the climb it was time for spikes but there was still plenty of exposed rocks that made wearing the spikes annoying. Around 2.5 miles the trail finally had enough snow/ice to justify the spikes completely. Not the winter hiking I had envisioned but these were the conditions we had after the Christmas rainstorm.
There were no views to be had today and the wind was gusty near the top. At Middle Tri I swapped out my wet sock for the other dry one. The foot started to get an inkling of cold after this transition so it was time to make my way back down. I considered taking the Sabbaday Brook Trail down but it would have added a road walk and I decided the devil I knew was better.
Began to encounter folks heading up as I descended. The water crossings were easier on the return - the ice on the rocks seemed to have melted or been cracked by other hikers in my absence. My knee began to ache with a couple miles to go. It's been an issue with my descents lately when I've been up there. It made me wonder if I would be able to hike the Osceolas the following day as was my plan. A few flakes of snow were falling over the last couple miles and just after I got back to the car it really started coming down.
I turned around and headed back towards Lincoln. By the time I reached the high pass of the Kang the road wasn't great. I was happy to arrive in town and promptly ordered a burger from Black Mountain which I gladly ate in my car before taking a nap in the back. I can't say I loved the Pine Bend Brook trail. Certainly the conditions after the rainstorm were not great and soaking the foot was a bummer. Luckily the temps never got too cold and the foot was never an issue. I'm looking forward to returning one day to the Tripyramids via the slides, which I've never climbed. For those interested see below for a video. How much you enjoy will depend on how much you enjoy my goofy singing.
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