I Tried the Pyramids

A long overdue post about my #35 and #36 4,000 footers. Like, a week overdue.

The day started off pretty hectic: indecision about which mountain to tackle, a car that refused to start, ants taking over the kitchen. Needless to say, I got a late start on my hike so decided to stay close to home and give the Tripyramids a go.

I parked over at Sabbaday Falls at 11:00am and headed a mile up Route 112 towards the Pine Bend Brook Trail. I decided to start the trek this way because 1) I didn't want to park my car on the side of the road 2) I wanted to end with a welcome sight of a waterfall without the knowledge of having to schlep a mile on the road to get to a car. It was a fairly uninteresting walk and was when I discovered my phone battery was low and I forgot my iPod (I know, very unnature-y of me to hike with a headphone in my ear, but it gets me going on those downhill runs).

I started up the Pine Bend Brook Trail, which was gradual and easy to follow thanks to a bunch of yellow blazes. Well, that was up until this point:

 Looks like you're supposed to go straight ahead, right?
       Well don't! Turn to your right and jump over the little brook. It has a little white marker on it. This is when I had the first inkling that this trail might be more like a 4,000 footer as opposed to the fairly easy ones I've been doing.

LEAP

A little ways beyond this point I rescued a dad wearing flip-flops, toting his young son as they looked for Sabbaday Falls. I think that exemplifies that the start of this hike was pretty casual (well, besides that  leap). Then things got a little more interesting. There's various brook/stream crossings that, at times, leaves you (or maybe it's just me) wondering if you're in fact going in the correct direction. Especially since the markers suddenly seem to be few. Don't fear! About 2.5 miles into the woods you'll start to go up: up rocks, up roots, up into the Sandwich Range.

Rock Scrambling                                   

Root Scrambling

3.2 Miles up you'll come to a junction for the Scaur Ridge Trail, which will be to your right. Continue on the Pine Bend Brook  Trail/Mt. Tripyramid Trail and in no time you'll arrive at a spot, with woods, and a couple rocks, and what looks like a place to tent. Jump to the left, over a rock (or take the little trail, but rock jumping is fun!) and behold, a VIEW from North Tripyramid. 

Don't let the bugs get the best of you, but if they do, just keep forging ahead towards the Sabbaday Brook Trail. The ridge line was runnable, which is exactly what I did. The half-mile to the next trail signage flew by (speaking of which, I saw these adorable robin eggs hiding out)

Continue straight past the sign for Sabbaday Brook Trail and go three-tenths of a mile UP to reach Middle Tripyramid. Here you'll get better views from two look-outs. 

         

                        This first shot (above) is facing south, towards Waterville Valley Ski Area, which is just as pretty in the summer. Go straight across the trail to face the north for this mountainous view (below).

I didn't stay too long on account of the black flies eating my flesh from the bone. I headed down happy that I got in a more challenging hike than I have been doing. Little did I know at that point what awaited me on the Sabbaday Brook Trail. 

Rock slabs were the first obstacle I encountered on my path back to my car. I didn't worry too much. Nothing my super, sticky approach shoes couldn't handle although my left knee wasn't very impressed with the extra pressure. Some points did require a squat/jump down, but again, nothing super out of the ordinary. But wait for it...

EROSION! That's what was really waiting for me like a person waiting on the the other side of a door ready to jump out and scare the piss out of me. All along the trail there's trees of varying sizes gracefully sprawled across the path. I felt like I was really prepping myself for my obstacle course race, weaving under, over, and between trunks to stay on route.

        This photo is just one of a gazillion I could've taken. At one point I had to use my skills to figure out which way the trail was as there were no markers that I could see and there were HUMONGOUS   trees down across a brook.  This occurred around an area that people camp in. Do not fear! Keep following the brook and you'll find the trails once again!

 Speaking of brooks...water completed the trifecta of the Tripyramids that made me long to know how much longer of the 4.9 miles I had left to conquer. I was NOT HAPPY at this point. I didn't even feel like running, as much as I wanted off of the mountain. This was definitely a THINKING hike. I had to think about where I was heading, where the trail might be, how to reconnect with it, and the best approach to get through the, what felt like, twenty brook crossings (it was probably really like 4 or 5). This is not a great hike for a newbie.

This isn't a great representation, but where all the water is flowing, that's the trail.

The descent felt like HOURS dragging by with no end in sight. However, there was a pretty amazing reward for when I did break through to the very populated Sabbaday Falls. 

It all felt worth it when I laid eyes on this gorgeous waterfall. It was just what my soul needed at that point, which made me ecstatic that my car was a mere .3 miles away in the parking lot. I patted myself on the back for planning this approach. I relaxed, breathed in the cool air, watched the families excitedly hum about the beauty that was in front of them. I did kick myself for not bringing my flip-flops as they would've helped with the crossings and it would've felt AH-MAZING to rest my tired, achey feet in the water. Alas, lessons for next time.

Overall the hike took me under 5 hours (11:04am-3:40pm) and is 11 miles long. 

It was moderate with some difficult spots.

Mostly wooded summits with look outs for a view (or two!)

Killer waterfall at the end which makes it worth it.

A million toads.

Until next time~