After tending to mail orders in the morning, I had the afternoon free for for a hike. I figured I had time to head out to Avalanche Ravine, at the base of Tripyramid's North Slide, to find some early snowy beauty. With a 12:20 pm start I would not be able to dilly-dally to complete an 8 1/2 mile hike, even with most of the mileage on the easy-going Livermore Trail.
White Cascade on Slide Brook was starting to freeze over.
A peek at North Tripyramid from the Livermore Trail. Along here I ran into Denise Stassis and two friends, who had climbed North and Middle Tripyramid via Scaur Ridge Trail and were on their way down.
On to the Mount Tripyramid Trail.
Avalanche Brook where the trail crosses. An easy crossing this day.
A legacy sugar maple.
A favorite scene - the glade of old, gnarled yellow birches along the approach to the North Slide.
Off trail and on to the floor of Avalanche Ravine. A snow depth of maybe an inch near the trailhead at 1580 ft. had increased to 3-4" at 2700 ft. and made for slippery footing on inclines. But pre-winter beauty abounded.
It looked cold up on the North Slide.
My ultimate destination, the East Fork of the North Slide. Lovely spot for a second lunch.
The bottom of the main fork of the North Slide, where the trail heads up. These conditions would be less than ideal for an ascent, though there were a couple of old boot tracks leading upward.
Heading back down, a scene along the trail.
Forecasts had called for breaks of sun later in the afternoon, and it had cleared off nicely. Here the sun drops behind the slope.
Still shining up on Scaur Ridge.
Perhaps my favorite scene of the day.
Homeward bound on Livermore Trail.
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