Trip report

W Sleeper & Tripyramids Bushwhack

Hiking/Walk DATE: 04/21/2018 - 04/21/2018

Trip/Event Location: Lincoln, NH
US

Trip Leader(s): shep5

Max # People: 8

Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money

Difficulty Level: Strenuous

Join me for a hike of the Tripyramids from the east utilizing an easy bushwhack up the West Sleeper Slide.  The approach will be via the Sabbaday Brook Trail.  Note:  As the parking

...
Driving directions to the location and spot to meet at:

We will meet up at the Pine Bend Brook Trailhead and then carpool to the Sabbaday Brook.  From Exit 32 on Route 93 for Lincoln, drive 18.7 miles east along the Kancamagus Highway (Route 112).  From the Route 112/113 junction in Conway, travel 16.4 miles to the west along the Kancamagus Highway.  There is no parking lot for this trailhead, but there will be a sign along the road.  Parking is along the road.  The shoulder near the trailhead is wide and is normally well-plowed for hikers.  Look for a gray Hyundai Elantra. 

For GPS Users:  Kancamagus Highway (Rt. 112), Lincoln, NH (44.001649, -71.412275).  To obtain custom directions, copy and paste the GPS coordinates directly into Google Maps.


Trip Report/Photos
Featured Photo

On Saturday, April 21st, David, Robert and myself met up initially at the Pine Bend Brook Trailhead along the Kancamagus Highway.  It was about 8:35AM and it was clear and sunny.  We carpooled down the road to the Sabbaday Brook Trailhead.

We got ready and by just before 9AM we walked a little way down the road to bushwhack around the closed trailhead.  The trailhead served a tourist area for a set of falls, which have been being renovated.  The woods were open and easy to navigate.  Also the snow was well-packed and hard, so it was easy with just microspikes as it supported our weights without any significant postholing.  It took only about 15 minutes to reach the trail above the construction zone.  A short time later we reached a few water crossings.  The water was fairly low and they were easy to cross, as the trail switched from one side of the brook to the other.  After entering the Sandwich Range Wilderness, the trail climbed higher up the hill to the east of the brook.  Even though there was no evidence of other hikers, this part of the trail was wide and very easy to follow.  We also had moose tracks on the trail to follow.  It wasn't long after the trail crossed the Sabbaday Brook again, that we reached the branch of the brook, which turned up the valley towards West Sleeper Mountain.  It was 10:45 and we crossed the brook and started up the valley.  Now off-trail, the woods were still very open as we stayed to the west of the brook as we followed an old tote road.  At 11:10 we emerged from the woods right out onto the bottom of the slide.  It was still snow-covered, which I didn't expect.  As it's very open and exposed, I figured the snow would have melted on the slide.  Anyway, we started up.  As I'd been up this before, I knew the left-hand side of the slide was a bit easier.  As this was a wide-open slide, there were great views over the valley and northward towards Mt. Potash.  It took diliberate steps as we climbed, but we did well until we had reached about three-quarters of the way up, when we entered the woods, which paralleled the slide.  We popped out of the woods again at the top of the slide and there was a wonderful view down the slide and over to Mt. Passaconaway.  It was 11:45 when we left the top of the slide.  The woods remained open, but the slope continued at a fairly agressive grade.  With an icy base at times this was hard to get good traction.  Robert and David took the lead and did well finding their way to the summit and we reached the wooded summit of West Sleeper Mountain (3881') at 12:40PM.  Just to the south was a beautiful glade where we took our lunch break.

After lunch, we started to proceed westward along the Kate Sleeper Trail.  This was a huge challenge as the trail was not easy to see.  I had a GPS track of the trail, so we tried to stay as close to it as possible.  Still we were only on the trail periodically.  The snow here was also softer and we did end up postholing more along this trail.  Our progress was slow, but we finally emerged out onto a minor slide on South Tripyramid at a little after 2PM.  It was comforting to find cairns and blazes on the slide.  We carefully crossed the slide as we were treated to views of Jennings Peak and Sandwich Dome to the south.  We re-entered the woods for a short distance before popping out on the South Slide and the Tripyramid Loop Trail.  The trail junction was fairly high on the slide, but the slide was snow and ice-covered and even though it was a short distance to the top, it was very tricky.  There was a wonderful view done over Waterville Valley towards the ski resort.  We ended up staying just inside the trees along the slide until we reached the top.  The trail was still steep beyond this point, so we carefully climbed the rest of the way to the summit of South Tripyramid (4100'), which we made by 2:50.

There was sill no evidence of anyone having hiked over to this peak, since it was not an official 4000-footer.  We descended off of the peak and made out way over to the Middle Peak.  Along the descent there was a beautiful view over to the other two Tripyramids.  The trail was fairly easy to follow down to the col and then it took a little more effort to find as the trail meandered slightly around the peak until it climbed steeply from the southwest.  We popped out on to the summit of Middle Tripyramid (4140') at 3:20.  From the summit itself there was a great view over to Mounts Passaconaway and Whiteface along with Mt. Chocorua to the east.  A westward facing ledge provided wonderful views down into Waterville Valley with Mt. Tecumseh and the Osceloas.  Now on a broken-out trail, we descended the fairly steep northern side of the peak with views of Mount Washington through the trees.  We reached the summit of North Tripyramid (4180') at just before 4PM.  We stopped to take in the view from a nearby ledge, which again provided nice views up to the Presidential Range and again over to Mt. Passaconaway.  

From here we started our descent of the peak via the Pine Bend Brook Trail.  There were views along the way and it was clear at some of the steeper sections that others had butt-slid down the trail.  At about 5PM we reached the part of the trail, where it horseshoed around the valley.  Rather than follow the trail, we ended up sliding directly down a cut-off to the trail below.  This was difficult, as it was hard to control and brake during our somewhat rapid descent.  At the bottom, the trail became much more modest in grade, as it meandered through the woods as the trail made it way back to the road, which we reached by a little after 6PM.

We hadn't seen a soul the entire day, but back at the road we ran into a hiker, who was hiking on the trail earlier during the day and was now frantically looking for her dog.  We chatted a bit, but were unable to provide any information.  We got packed up and drove back down the road to collect the other car.  Afterward, we called it a day and headed home.

It was quite the day and one we won't easily forget!  It turned out to be challenging in spots.  Surprisingly, the bushwhacks were easier than following some of the higher elevation unbroken trails.  We had a great day weather-wise and the views were amazing with crystal-clear skies.  With all the fresh snow, it seemed that winter is hanging on with all its might this year.  Thanks to the adventurous David and Robert for sharing this fantastic outing with me!

  There are 35 photos in Album (Note: Move mouse pointer over larger pic and click on NEXT for better viewing)

What Members Are Saying About This Trip/Event

  • Is he ready to say goodbye to winter and welcome Spring - YES HE IS! This was, by far, the most epic and crazy adventure to date - awesome! There was alot of learning for me on this day - and it was too much fun. For the 3rd time in as many weeks - I couldn't think of a better way to top off the winter season in the whites and it's technically spring. I'm ready for backpacking, dry earth and warm sun - gotta splash in those spring waters mates!! Cheers!! - Robert.L

Members That Participated

shep5

Outdoor Fitness Level: Very Strenuous


Jaffrey, NH


United States

Attended
dpbyrnes

Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous


Ipswich, MA


United States

Attended
Robert.L

Outdoor Fitness Level: Very Strenuous


Bowdoin, ME


United States

Attended
<
Hiking, backpacking, camping or vacation adventures, GayOutdoors [GO] has been the LGBTQ outdoorzy community leader for the last 22 years. We are an informal group of diverse hiking enthusiasts in the United States with a shared love of the mountains who prefer hiking with friends. We invite you to join us on our hikes, to post hikes for other members to join you and to share your hiking photos, stories and advice.

Become A Member

If you find it invigorating to hike along a mountain trail with friends not knowing what’s just around the corner, to get some fresh air, to stop and soak in the views on a summit, and to soak your feet in a mountain brook after a hike, give us a try!

BECOME A MEMBER







Powered by Ecomsolutions.net - ColdFusion Experts