July 15, 2005

11 mi | 3000′ ele. gain | 5:45hr

A long, scrambly hike. This is a lollipop loop that goes clockwise: up the north slide to North Tripyramid, across Middle Tripyramid and down the South. The North slide is crazy steep: 1200 vertical feet of climbing in just about a half a mile. I do enjoy hiking up these slides, even if they are challenging. The views are simply incredible. That’s why I do it. For the views from the top.

I joined up with a couple of people from the bostonhikers group for this hike. I’ve got to find more hiking partners.

After the hike I chugged a milkshake, sat by a cool river to douse my achy feet, and returned to my campsite to listen for birds and watch the chipmunks play. They are very interested in my oatmeal raisin cookies, which are locked securely away in a Ziploc bag at my feet. I will squash that chipmunk before it gets my cookies.