Elevation: 2,789 ft. (overall) 3,465 ft. (total)
Time: 4:04 (North Tripyramid) 4:45 (Middle Tripyramid) 9:26 (Sabbaday Falls Trail Head) 9:46 (Total)
Trails: Pine Bend Brook Trail, Mt. Tripyramid Trail, Sabbaday Brook Trail, Road (Rt. 112)
The Pine Bend Brook Trail started off nice and firm along the flat beginning of it. By the time it neared the first brook it would go alongside of though, I decided it was time for my snowshoes instead of microspikes. The snow was just soft enough on the edges of the main path that I kept sinking in enough to be annoying. At this point I realized though, that my new snowshoes both had left bindings. With the binding not being too bad for my right foot, I decided to use them anyways. Looks like they just got bundled wrong at the factory.
The firm easy trail to start
It was easy hiking for quite a while. Occasionally there was a small brook crossing in the trail. Non of these had snow bridges established yet, so a couple of them required some creativity to keep from taking my snowshoes on and off multiple times. The trail continued like this for some time, so I was covering distance quickly.
One of the water crossings
Once into the ravine that the trail follows, things get steep. The trail was still easy to follow and the snow was firm, but there started to become a layer or ice in places. Sometimes this was more a layer of small chunks which made it similar to walking on miniature ice cubes. I was already thinking this could be tricky to descend. As the trail continued to climb, the ice got thicker and there started to be some blow downs. Some were easy to get over, while a couple required venturing completely off trail. Once up onto the ridge, the pieces of ice in the trail were getting even bigger. It was clear that there had been heavy icing on the trees recently, but then it warmed up enough for it to fall off and onto the ground.
View of Carrigain along the ridge
View from North Tripyramid
After stopping at the summit of North Tripyramid, I probably could have walked just fine without snowshoes at all. There was more ice on top of the snow and conditions were very firm. But despite the noisiness from my snowshoes on these conditions, I left them on just in case I found soft spots. These conditions also made it harder to follow the trail. You couldn't see any previous tracks (or even your own in places) so you had to pay attention to where the path was widest between the trees and hope that it was still the trail. I got off the trail a couple times, but never far.
Hard ice covered snow between the peaks
Clouds are coming in on Middle Tripyramid
Coming back down from Middle Tripyramid, I debated about hiking out along the Sabbaday Brook Trail. I was thinking back to the loose layer of ice this morning. I knew there would be a few larger brook crossings this way, but firm snow conditions gave me hope that they would be the only issue on this route. So despite noting on the map I left home with my wife that going out this way was "highly unlikely", I did it anyways.
Steep section of Sabbaday Brook Trail
The snow was firm to start and you couldn't tell if anyone had been through here yet this winter. Conditions stayed well for all of the steep descent except for one side hill section that was a bit tricky and one steep pitch I actually went backwards down for better traction. Down near the brooks lower in the valley, things were softening up a little bit. A moose had been through here recently and they had done a great job of finding firm snow, so I followed its tracks while staying on/near the trail. At the upper crossing of Sabbaday Brook, I decided to not cross and to bushwhack through the open woods here. Again, the moose was picking a good route, and I was hoping maybe I could avoid two crossings. I didn't know how far down the second crossing was, which was part of why this way a bad idea.
Down near the brooks where no one had been yet this winter
After having firm conditions for a while bushwhacking, things all of a sudden got soft. I was having a hard time staying on top of the snow and I was slowed way down. I decided it was best to get down the brook, cross it, and at least take the trail so I had a wide path to use. I was already tiring out by the time I crossed the brook. Add that to the soft snow and it was a hard climb up the embankment to the trail. Once on the trail, snow wasn't as deep, but I was still sinking in with snowshoes 4 out of 5 steps. This continued to tire me out. Before I got to the next brook crossing, it was already dark enough that I needed my headlamp. Good thing I brought it even though I wasn't planning on being out this late. I kept slowly making my way down the trail sinking in almost every step.
The brook crossings were deeper than I had expected. There was no way to cross with snow shoes and there weren't many options for dry boots either. I picked the best route I could each time trying to put my boots under as little as I had to. After the last crossing I started to see tracks again from the people that ventured past the waterfall to check things out. Soon, the trail was nice and firm again. At the trail head here, I put my snowshoes onto my pack and headed up the road back to my car. Tired, but happy for a nice firm surface. In the end, I probably got back to my car 1.5 hours or so later than I had planned, and much more tired.
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
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