With a little warmer temps and a subdued wind, we were off for the Tripyramids. We were hoping for the trails to be in good shape but we were ready for anything. Pine Bend Bk Trail was our starting place, so we parked the car along the side of the Kancamagus Highway for the day, and we were off. We were happy to see a nicely packed snowshoe track, so Jillian wore microspikes and I put on my snowshoes to try and help firm up the trail.
Today was a hard day for Jillian. She wanted nothing to do with hiking, but she really wants this so she ground this one out. Truth be told, that is the hardest part, the the relentless grind of it all. She is still going to school and doing all of the things associated with it, then on her weekends instead of resting, she hikes hard both days. It can be a bit much at times, and I have to be careful that I don't push her too hard. But she wants this, she is tough as can be, and it needs to be done - so we were off.
The lower part of Pine Bend Bk Trail was packed well and we made good time on it, but at the portion where you cross over the top of Horne Brook the wind had blown the trail full of snow. From that point on the majority of the trail needed to be broken out again, so it was another day of trail breaking for me.
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| Jillian pushing up some steep trail |
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| Summit of North Tripyramid |
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| Junction with Sabbaday Brook Trail |
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| More trail to break |
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| Summit of Middle Tripyramid (with a mouth full of food) |
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| Crossing back over North Tripyramid |
We saw two other people out today. We chatted with them for a bit and parted ways. Both of them were wearing snowshoes and the trail on the upper part of the mountain was packing in nicely, but with another storm coming in as I type this, it will make little difference. I can't say it was a good day since neither of us were feeling it today, but I can say with certainty that it is nice to have these two behind us.
31 down 17 to go
Good luck with the rest of your list. It's amazing Jillian is in school all week and then spends the whole weekend doing this. It's great you're doing this for her. My daughter and I hike together, but we're both adult women. If Jillian enjoys slides, maybe you'd like to do the Tripyramids in the warm weather.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words Jillian is an amazing kid. Please don't take this as harsh because it is not intended to be, and I know what you said was out of kindness. I am not doing this for her, I am doing this with her. Jillian caries her own clothes, food, water, and gear if she needs to bring snowshoes she caries them as well. I do not do the "sherpa dad" thing anymore. She is involved in deciding where we go on any given day she looks at the weather forecast and trip reports and we plan accordingly. Half the fun of this is passing on the skills of how to deal with the cold and watching her be self sufficient in the mountains. I think there is a lot to be learned and if I do it all for her she will learn nothing, and some things must be learned the hard way and I stand back let her do that too. Again don't take what I am saying as jumping on your case or anything, these are just some things I like to point out and if you see us on the trail please stop us and say hi.
ReplyDeleteYou don't sound harsh at all! One thing you're doing for her is something she could not do for herself, not legally yet anyway for at least six years! Your encouragement is more what I meant when I said "doing it for her."
ReplyDeleteDid you both come up with this winter idea or one more than the other? I can't rightfully say who comes up with stuff more, me or Prema. If we do see you sometime, we will definitely say hello!
That is true with about a 5 hour round trip drive for every hike I have been doing a LOT of driving lately.
DeleteThe idea sprung from after Jillian finished the 48 she said she wanted to finish her winter 48 this winter (she had 6 done at the time). I said as a joke that if we get the 42 done we may as well get the other 6 again to get the SSW48 and she ran with it. She has been working to get ready for this since July with a lot of physical training so she could be in the best shape she could be. It also gave the benefit of having a lot invested into this so she is highly motivated to do the best she can every trip.
Silly me, I double-posted and had to delete!
ReplyDeleteHi. Have been following your blog for a few weeks. Very inspiring. We hope you have some better weather next weekend. We were on the Hancocks on the same day and felt spoiled by the good trail and relative protection from the wind. We are pulling for you and hope to run into you one day hiking. Our goal of 48 in one calendar year seems very sane and relaxed compared to yours. We are huge fans and often are wondering where Jillian is hiking on a given day (no offense Chris).
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. We hope for better weather this weekend as well. I find it funny I don't think of us as inspiring, we are just doing our thing, but we are happy to be so for people. 48 in one calendar year is no small task, it took Jillian 3 years to do her first round of the 48. Hiking the 48 in any time frame is a lot of work then when you condense it with time restraints it becomes far more difficult. We will be pulling for you in your goals as well. Please if you do see us on the trail stop us and say hi, half the fun sometimes is chatting it up with people.
DeleteThat's OK I have been in Jillian's shadow for 10 years now and I am quite comfortable with it. In fact I wouldn't want it any other way.