Angus
Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2005
- Messages
- 961
- Points
- 16
drove into WV with the idea of hiking the Tripyramids but no preparation in terms of picking a trail head or having read a description of routes, etc.
after driving around a couple of residential roads and consulting my AMC map, I parked at the old ski hill and followed signs for the cascade path/trail which followed a XC ski trail up into the woods and then veered off onto a wood path. The trail was marked by a yellow slash. It took me less than an hour to arrive at a sign indicating the Tripyramid loop was 4.9 miles round-trip. I elected (randomly) to tackle the north peak first which was in hindsight the right choice. The nice part of this hike was getting a glimpse of the XC trail network which was extensive and I'll try to get too this winter.
I came to a sign indicating 1.2 miles to the north summit and proceeded up surrounded by hardwood trees. After some distance, suddenly the trees changed to softwood spruce-fir. I don't think I'd ever seen such an abrupt demarcation. Anyway, shortly thereafter the trail became a stream-bed. Initially the stream bed was fairly narrow and not particularly steep but as I made my way up, it widened, steepened with more ledge. About mid-way up, I veered into the woods (left side) because I was having traction problems on the steep granite and was hiking alone. After a bit, I came back out into the slide area and scrambled up thru loose rocks and scree. It was still pretty steep and the footing was loose with a good amount of rock tumbling down as I pushed off.
At the top of the slide area, I ignored the cairn indicating the trail off to the left and pushed into a narrow trail at the very top of the slide which required a bit of bush-wacking to reach the summit. I didn't spend much time looking around b/c I was on a short schedule so I pushed on, down a saddle and back up to middle which provided a nice view of the ski area. Again back down and up arriving at the south peak which again provided some views both east and west but I didn't take much time enjoying. All three peaks have fairly tall trees covering them. The slide on the south peak isn't as long and much easier to navigate. The Sleeper trail (over to whiteface) is about 60-70 yards down the slide and this seemed to be a favorite hike for the few people I met - many who had started on the Kanc and were doing day hikes.
Once I left the slide area, the forest transitioned back to hardwood trees very abruptly again. I hiked back out and retraced my steps, stopping at the norway rapids to take a relaxing dip to cool off and clean off the grit. I was back to the car shortly thereafter making for a round trip hike of almost exactly 6 hours.
By this time, the chair lift at the old ski area was running which surprised me. It looked like it was running for mountain bikers and sight seeing. Also, I ran across a # of mountain bikers on my descent thru the XC ski trails - they all looked to be enjoying themselves. Going up the slide was fun but I think I enjoyed my hike up Sandwich Dome last Fall much more - better views at the top. But again, I didn't really bother to explore vistas due to time.
I've now hiked Osceola, Sandwich Dome, Welch Dickey, Whiteface and Passaconaway and the Tripyramids. Welch Dickey is the least effort and provides the best views! Osceola provides nice views at the top too but is a boring hike especially if you are doing it as an out-and-back from Tripoli Road! Think I'm done with the Sandwich Range for now unless I hike something around Squam Lake.
after driving around a couple of residential roads and consulting my AMC map, I parked at the old ski hill and followed signs for the cascade path/trail which followed a XC ski trail up into the woods and then veered off onto a wood path. The trail was marked by a yellow slash. It took me less than an hour to arrive at a sign indicating the Tripyramid loop was 4.9 miles round-trip. I elected (randomly) to tackle the north peak first which was in hindsight the right choice. The nice part of this hike was getting a glimpse of the XC trail network which was extensive and I'll try to get too this winter.
I came to a sign indicating 1.2 miles to the north summit and proceeded up surrounded by hardwood trees. After some distance, suddenly the trees changed to softwood spruce-fir. I don't think I'd ever seen such an abrupt demarcation. Anyway, shortly thereafter the trail became a stream-bed. Initially the stream bed was fairly narrow and not particularly steep but as I made my way up, it widened, steepened with more ledge. About mid-way up, I veered into the woods (left side) because I was having traction problems on the steep granite and was hiking alone. After a bit, I came back out into the slide area and scrambled up thru loose rocks and scree. It was still pretty steep and the footing was loose with a good amount of rock tumbling down as I pushed off.
At the top of the slide area, I ignored the cairn indicating the trail off to the left and pushed into a narrow trail at the very top of the slide which required a bit of bush-wacking to reach the summit. I didn't spend much time looking around b/c I was on a short schedule so I pushed on, down a saddle and back up to middle which provided a nice view of the ski area. Again back down and up arriving at the south peak which again provided some views both east and west but I didn't take much time enjoying. All three peaks have fairly tall trees covering them. The slide on the south peak isn't as long and much easier to navigate. The Sleeper trail (over to whiteface) is about 60-70 yards down the slide and this seemed to be a favorite hike for the few people I met - many who had started on the Kanc and were doing day hikes.
Once I left the slide area, the forest transitioned back to hardwood trees very abruptly again. I hiked back out and retraced my steps, stopping at the norway rapids to take a relaxing dip to cool off and clean off the grit. I was back to the car shortly thereafter making for a round trip hike of almost exactly 6 hours.
By this time, the chair lift at the old ski area was running which surprised me. It looked like it was running for mountain bikers and sight seeing. Also, I ran across a # of mountain bikers on my descent thru the XC ski trails - they all looked to be enjoying themselves. Going up the slide was fun but I think I enjoyed my hike up Sandwich Dome last Fall much more - better views at the top. But again, I didn't really bother to explore vistas due to time.
I've now hiked Osceola, Sandwich Dome, Welch Dickey, Whiteface and Passaconaway and the Tripyramids. Welch Dickey is the least effort and provides the best views! Osceola provides nice views at the top too but is a boring hike especially if you are doing it as an out-and-back from Tripoli Road! Think I'm done with the Sandwich Range for now unless I hike something around Squam Lake.
