Tripyramid South Slides Snowshoe Bushwhack: 3/27/25

I hoped recent weather patterns had set up firm snow for bushwhacking in the hardwood forest, so I headed out to the SW slopes of Mount Tripyramid. Out there is a favorite vast expanse of hardwoods, where one can wander at will in open forest, and eventually end up at the South Slides for some views. Though the morning was cloudy and rather gloomy, the afternoon was bluebird. Even with a late morning start my wishes for firm snow and good views were both granted. 

Beyond the Depot Camp clearing, Livermore Trail had not been groomed recently. With ~3" of recent snowfall atop the old groom, I found snowshoes to be more efficient than bare booting.

Slide Brook was in good flow at the upper and lower drops of White Cascade.

 

Beyond where grooming ends, Livermore Trail was pretty choppy. It was easier to snowshoe along the edge on firm snow.

Turning onto the south side of the Mt. Tripyramid Trail.

Into the Wilderness after a small rock hop across Avalanche Brook.

The track on the Mt. Tripyramid Trail was ugly - fairly deep imprints of a solo snowshoer from a few days ago mixed with a set of old frozen postholes partly filled in with powder.

Gateway to the Wilderness.

Slide Brook.

A half-mile of this was more than enough. Time to head into the hardwoods for a whack that would bypass a mile or so of the trail.

Now we're talking!

Probably the best bushwhacking conditions of the season, with a couple inches of recent snow atop a rock-solid base. I was concerned that the new snow might clump on my snowshoes as the day warmed, but it never became an issue.

This old logging road, probably from the 1930s or 1940s, leads up into the basin of Cold Brook, which flows down between Middle and South Tripyramid.

Look at that sky!

It doesn't get much better than this.

A glimpse of the whitened peak of Middle Tripyramid.

A tree with a strong grip.

The road goes ever on.

I call this the drainpipe tree.

I ascended to one of my favorite maple glades in all of the Whites. Worthy of the Catskills, where I had been hiking the previous week.

Wonderfully open and inviting.

I descended a bit, then crossed Cold Brook to head SE across the long slope towards the South Slides.

The good woods just keep going on the flank of Tripyramid.

 

The joy of making tracks.

Up and across we go.

Who needs a trail when the woods are like this?

Another glorious maple glade.

Warrior trees.

I briefly rejoined the chopped-up trail, but quickly reverted to whacking up through high elevation hardwoods at 2900-3000 ft.

 

I came back to the trail once more for a short distance, passing this posthole where a hiker punched through into a small brook. Ouch!

I quickly left the trail again, crossed two slide track gullies, and whacked upslope through conifers. In here the snow cover was generally thin, powdery and slippery.

Bulging hardpacked drifts on a small remnant open patch of the Second (1885) South Slide. (The Mt. Tripyramid Trail ascends the First [1869] South Slide.)

Weaving through.

I dropped in at the lower end of the Third (2011) South Slide, which was gouged out by Tropical Storm Irene.

Making tracks up the slide, with a spur of West Sleeper in the background.

Looking up the slide.

Side view.
 

 

Looking out to Mt. Tecumseh.

Leaving the 2011 South Slide, I bushwhacked through dense spruces up and across to two open patches on the 1885 South Slide. I snowshoed up the lower patch with expanding views, stretching as far as Killington Peak and Dorset Peak in Vermont.

Parts of the upper patch had melted out in the spring sun.

 

The top of the upper patch has an excellent view of Sandwich Dome and the wild Lost Pass region.

Zoom on Lost Pass, with Mt. Israel seen through the gap. Way in the distance I could see the Pack Monadnocks and Crotched Mountain. I took a welcome long break here in balmy late afternoon sun. Didn't even need a jacket.

For the descent, I opted to follow my tracks back through the bushwhack route, even though it was a quarter mile longer than the trail. I had no appetite for doing 1.9 miles of that chopped up track.

 

Back across Cold Brook.

Long shadows on the snow.

An artifact from the logging days.

The golden hour.

Last sun on Tripyramid.

 

Catskills: Diamond Notch, 3/20/25

On the last full day of our Catskill trip, Carol and I did some geocaching and enjoyed one of our favorite short hikes in the Catskills into Diamond Notch, the wild cut between West Kill Mountain and Southwest Hunter. This was the first hike Carol and I ever did together in the Catskills, back in 2004.

 

On the way to the trailhead we stopped on CR 42 in Deep Notch for a look at Halcott Falls. This parking spot is the launching point for the bushwhack/herd path up Halcott (pronounced Hawk-it) Mountain, one of the 3500-ft. peaks. When I climbed Halcott in 2014, the only obvious herd path I found was up on the final approach to the broad summit. It sounds as if there is much more of a beaten herd path nowadays. 

From CR 42, we took the scenic six-mile drive up the Spruceton valley to the trailhead at its end and set off around noontime on the Diamond Notch Trail, which follows an old, easy-graded woods road to West Kill Falls (aka Diamond Notch Falls).

The trail offers several nice views of the West Kill. (Kill is a Dutch word for a waterway or stream.)

This would be a nice place to hang out on a hot summer day.

This hardy trio were on their way out after climbing West Kill Mountain (3,880 ft.). Along the way they encountered plenty of ice. Carol and I climbed West Kill back in 2005. My friend Dean MacGeorge is the volunteer maintainer of the portion of Devil's Path that ascends West Kill.

 

West Kill Falls is located by the junction of Diamond Notch Trail and the Devil's Path. For the best view you must descend a short but steep and somewhat sketchy side path. We made an unsuccessful search for a geocache on that slope.

Closer look.

From the falls we crossed a footbridge over the brook and continued past the junction with the trail up West Kill Mountain.

The trail is somewhat rocky as it climbs gradually towards Diamond Notch, with the slope of Southwest Hunter (aka Leavitt Peak) rising on the left.

Happy hiker.

The Diamond Notch Lean-to occupies a secluded setting near the top of the pass.

Nice stretch of trail through a hemlock stand.

Approaching the open stretch in the heart of the notch. Uh-oh, time to get out the spikes.

Still plenty of snow down in the deep cut.

Shaly talus on the slope of Southwest Hunter.

This trail shelf reminds me of the Ethan Pond Trail through Zealand Notch in the Whites. This route was an old road, not a logging railroad. There was a logging railroad line up on Southwest Hunter, and its bed serves as part of the unofficial route to that 3740-ft. peak.

 

A very neat section of trail.

Peering down to the floor of the notch. No snow on this south-facing part of the cut.

Looking up at the steep slope of West Kill Mountain.

Just south of the height-of-land a flat rock provides a view south to the distant Burroughs Range,

From L to R: Balsam Cap, Wittenberg, Cornell, Peekamoose, Lone, Table and the mighty Slide Mountain.

Time to recline for a while in the 60-degree sun.

 

Heading back through the notch after an hour's sojourn. This 3 1/2 mile round trip, with 550-ft. elevation gain, is one of the best short hikes in the Catskills.

On our way home the next day, we stopped at the excellent Catskills Visitor Center on NY 28 in Mount Tremper, operated by the non-profit Catskill Center. On the grounds of the Center, reached by a short, easy walk, is an 80-foot fire tower that was originally used for fire surveillance in Venice, FL. It was moved here and reassembled in 2019. Now known as the Upper Esopus Fire Tower, it is part of the NY DEC 's Catskill Fire Tower Challenge, along with towers on Tremper Mountain, Overlook Mountain, Hunter Mountain, Red Hill and Balsam Lake Mountain.

 The winds were gusty up in the tower, but it was worth the climb. Tremper Mountain is close by to the north.

 

Off to the south is the iconic peak of Ashokan High Point.

 

 Looking down. This is a lofty tower! Then it was time for the long drive back to New Hampshire.