November 25, 2010
Sabrina had a great hike planned for us today: Whiteface, Passaconaway, and the Tripyramids. We met at the Pine Bend Brook Trailhead to spot my car. We then drove to the Oliverian Brook Trailhead. The last time I did this hike I did it solo and had a long roadwalk. It was great to be able to spot a car. A few minutes before 8:00, Sabrina, Michael, Jeremy, Mark, and I hit the trail with our canine companions Terra and Madison.
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Taking a short break at the slide on the Passaconaway Cutoff.
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Looking up to Mount Passaconaway
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Terra, the trail dog, would be completing her 2nd round on Passaconaway.
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Here's our group on the summit of Passaconaway. Congratulations to Terra! We had a short stand up celebration as Sabrina shared Cranberry Bliss Bars.
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We headed on to Whiteface. When we reached the summit Mark pulled out a Santa hat. Sabrina held it over Terra's head.
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Here our group split. Mark, Jeremy, and Michael headed back while Sabrina, the dogs, and I continued. We were socked in so we didn't bother with the south peak of Whiteface. We also skipped the spur trail to the summit of East Sleeper. We had both been there before.
Sabrina and Terra on the Kate Sleeper Trail
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We went over West Sleeper. We didn't bother going slightly off trail to the true summit. We then came out on the South Slide of the Tripyramids where we bundled up.
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Within minutes we were faced with battle conditions as a squall moved in.
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This was my 2nd time hiking with just Sabrina. We had similar conditions last time. I joked with her that she always brought adventure.
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We reached South Peak
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The weather calmed. "I think the sun is trying to come out," said Sabrina. I didn't believe it, but a few minutes later the sun did come out. What a wonderful surprise. We had a great view of Mounts Passaconaway and Chocorua from Middle Tripyramid.
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Sabrina took my picture with Mount Tecumseh in the background.
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Blue Skies
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The blue skies were nice but short lived. By the time we reach North Tripyramid the clouds were back. I showed Sabrina a little secret viewpoint that I had found my last time here. If you stand on the highest rock about five feet off the trail, face the trail, then turn 180°, and look down you will see a herd path. Hop off the rock and walk about 10-15 feet to a fairly nice outlook. There's no place to sit though and only one or two people can check it out at a time.
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We made our way down to the Scaur Trail junction. It was dark by now. The remaining 3 miles or so were new miles for Sabrina. Part way down we put our headlamps on. We finished about 6:30. Another great day in the Whites!
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