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| One of the Waterfalls on Cascade Path |
The first hike was over Mt. Tripyramid. Tripyramid is one of the mountains that surrounds Waterville Valley. It is a 4000 footer. Actually two peaks meet the criteria to be official four thousand footers (North Peak and Middle Peak). There is a loop trail that goes over all three peaks. The trail goes up a slide on the North Peak and down a slide on the South Peak. By far the best views are from the slides. The actual summits are wooded without much of a view.
The trail starts on Livermore Road in Waterville. I, however, started on the Cascade Path. There was rain the night before and the rivers were swollen. I figured that by adding an extra mile to my hike, I could see five waterfalls. So I made an already long day a little longer, but it was worth it. After I got past the falls, I cut over to the Livermore trail to make my assault on the mountain.
Because of all the rain the day before, I could not do the normal loop. The North slide is extremely
steep with rock slabs. It is basically like climbing a cliff face. Descent is discouraged, and climbing it in wet weather is considered very dangerous. So I did an alternate plan. I climbed the South slide and came down a different trail called the Scaur Trail. This too, made my hike longer, but it also made it possible and much safer.
Going up the South Slide was fun. The view faces south and I could see Lake Winnipesaukee. The closest mountain is Sandwich Dome, which is on the top of my list of mountains to climb. When I reached the summit, it was almost disappointing, after such a cool climb, there was no view at all.
From the top of South, I went down a col then up another rise to Middle Tripyramid, Again not much to see. From there I went to North. Even though I wasn't going to hike down the North Slide, I did plan on hiking down to the top of the slide to eat my lunch. It is a couple hundred feet down from the top to the slide. I got to the top of it and was awed by its steepness. The view was a full 180 degrees. I could see a huge portion of the White Mountains. From the south was Tecumseh (the ski mountain in Waterville) all the way to the Presidentials. I counted at least 20 mountains over four thousand feet. I stayed at the slide for an hour. The sky was a little hazy (as you can see by the pictures) but clear enough to enjoy the view.
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| This is the top of the North Slide Notice how it just drops off. It drops 1000 feet blow this image |
When I woke up, the sky was still cloudy. I did not have cell service so I could not check the weather forecast. I hoped the sky would clear. I climbed the mountain hoping my view wasn't of fog. So a hazy day with great views was more than I could have hoped for.
After my lunch, it was about a mile to my next trail. From there, it was about five miles to the car. I was tired and my feet hurt but was pleased with the hike.
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| Mount Carrigan |
I found a picnic table on Route 49 and made some supper. After supper I had three hours left of daylight, so I went for another hike.I did the Welch-Dickey loop. I'll write about that one later.
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| My view from one of the peaks. You can see the Waterville ski area in the background (Mt. Tecumseh) |
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| Welch-Dickey from South Tripyramid |
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