Tripod — 3/26/11

[Gregory Karl]

Today I had to make a trip to what is surely one of the most scenic town dumps in the east. Since that put me on 9N north to Elizabethtown, I figured I might as well climb a local peak while I was out (Oh, the glamor of living locally!). Tripod (3,300 elevation) seemed like a good choice. I parked at the Hurricane Trailhead and started due south, ascending just west of and above the main drainage on the north side of the mountain. To my surprise the snow conditions were great—a few inches of fresh powder over a firm but not crusty base. It was like going back in time to mid-winter. At 2,300 feet I descended on a nasty side-slope and crossed the brook at the south end of a cliff line. After that I quickly found the sweet spot on the broad open face E of the drainage and had open hiking all the way to the summit. During a full survey of the summit area my altimeter couldn't make a definitive determination about which of five or so high points was the highest. Got a few pictures of Hurricane across the pass and then had a thoroughly enjoyable descent, braiding with my ascent trail through virgin snow and wide open forest. Two thirds of the way down I got into the main drainage right under the cliffs and did a new route back to the parking area. Three and a half hours all told. A route map and a few not-so-exciting photos are here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/curugroth/Tripod#

[Inge]

Greg! Glad you had such an enjoyable trip. That peak has been on my list for a long time....as well as it's lovely neighbor Knoblock. Were the woods thicker on the ridge or along the drainage?

[tcd]

Nice trip, Greg! Tripod is a neat mountain that does not get many visits. Our house is right on the other side of Flat Mountain; we climbed Tripod from there a few years ago in the summer. The woods were fairly open most of the way up, and only got thick at the top. We were not sure we were at the true summit either; until we found a piece of survey tape with a drawing of a rabbit on it! We were confident the rabbit knew where the summit was...

Knob Lock is also a beauty! There are two natural ways up: one from the East following Slide Brook, and the other from the Hurricane parking lot, up the brook between Knob Lock and Tripod. On the route from the Hurricane parking, there used to be a trail, many years ago; you still run across open lines and an occasional cairn. Knob Locks summit is wide open with spectacular views.

I'd be happy to go Knob Lock again, if people want to go.

Tom

[Gregory Karl]

Tom,

You don't have to sell me on Knob Lock. I've done it from Slide Brook but my favorite route is straight up the ridge from the highest point in the trail to Owl Head Lookout N of the brook. Lots of wide open rock. What I would really like to do someday is a point to point from the north Giant trailhead to the Hurricane Trailhead over Knob Lock. Even more fun would be to start at the N Giant trailhead on 9N, go a bit beyond High Bank, climb over the beautiful open ledges at 3000 feet on the Green Ridge, down the N side to Slide Brook, then up Knob Lock and down the Knob Lock ridge back to the trail.

[Gregory Karl]

Greg! Glad you had such an enjoyable trip. That peak has been on my list for a long time....as well as it's lovely neighbor Knoblock. Were the woods thicker on the ridge or along the drainage?

Inge,

Check out the route map posted with the pictures (https://picasaweb.google.com/curugroth/Tripod#). I also posted a map with some of the routes I have done on Knob Lock and Green with that set of photos. All of these routes were excellent, and, as you can see, there are a number of loop possibilities.

To answer your Tripod question: The ridge looked like it might not be too bad but I did most of the climb right in the middle of that broad open face E of the brook. On the way down I hiked right in the brook for a ways. There was a little bit of blow-down clutter but in the snow, at least, it was fine. The only part where I hit anything thick was just a bit of spruce coming down to cross the brook on the way up. Otherwise beautiful open woods. Look at the message to tcd above for Knob Lock. Would you like to do either of those routes?

[RTSpoons]

Your such an explorer....way to go....I like the map post with route.

[tcd]

There's so much to do in the Giant Wilderness! Years ago, I did Green from the high point on the North trail, all the way along the ridge and down to the Mossy Cascade trail. We had spotted bikes, and rode back to the car. Last year, Ellen and I did a little overnight, right from our house. We walked across the western slopes of Tripod (all very open woods!), picked up the trail to Hopkins, camped at the Giant LT, and then walked the North trail out to the road and back to our house.

I can tell you a trip that is thick, and I do not recommend it: Years ago, a friend and I left the Giant trail right near the evil swamp, and bushwhacked the subtle ridge that runs NE towards Knob Lock (at night). We got out to Route 9N, and our spotted car, at 3:10 AM. The tough part was going to work the next day...

Looking at the map you can dream up all kinds of routes, and sometimes they work out OK. But they're always fun!

[Gregory Karl]

I can tell you a trip that is thick, and I do not recommend it: Years ago, a friend and I left the Giant trail right near the evil swamp, and bushwhacked the subtle ridge that runs NE towards Knob Lock (at night). We got out to Route 9N, and our spotted car, at 3:10 AM. The tough part was going to work the next day...

Too late! One of my first bushwhacks began just beyond the swamp in the trough between that little ridge (a shoulder of Green) and the main mountain. I crossed it and then followed Slide Brook for five miles back toward the trailhead. This is still the most horrendous thicket-infested terrain I have yet encountered. Beginner's luck I guess.

[Neil]

I'd be happy to go Knob Lock again, if people want to go.

Tom
When I did Tripod just over 3 years ago I had planned a TP-KL twofer but the snow conditions were very slow. I went up from the 9N south along the drainage in between the two summits and planned on describing a letter T so as to use the upright of the T for both ingress and egress but nixed that plan and angled over towards TP, which I only got by returning a week later and using my broken trail.

Why would I have opted for TP over the gem of KL? List slavery. :D

I wouldn't mind going to KL when the snow is all gone and try going up as close to the cliffs as possible on the north side.

There may still be a (hermit's?) cabin in there somewhere east and south of the summit.

[Gregory Karl]

I wouldn't mind going to KL when the snow is all gone and try going up as close to the cliffs as possible on the north side.

There may still be a (hermit's?) cabin in there somewhere east and south of the summit.

I haven't seen signs of a cabin, having done it several times from the south and east—but then I wasn't actually looking for one. I recommend going up the ridge from the E and spotting a car at Hurricane trailhead. The ridge is beautiful and open and the col between the end of the E ledges and the summit area isn't too bad.

[Rik]

I've been to the "cabin" although that might too strong of a word. Shack seemed more fitting.

[Neil]

I've been to the "cabin" although that might too strong of a word. Shack seemed more fitting.
For how many years did you live in it?

[Rik]

For how many years did you live in it?

Not sure. Those years all sort of blur into each other.

[mastergrasshopper]

Not sure. Those years all sort of blur into each other.

did you attain nirvana ?
MG

[Rik]

did you attain nirvana ?
MG

I wasn't alive in the 60s. Just floating in the ether.

[nundagao]

Decades ago, on my first-ever stab at Knoblock I got pretty high up on something, looked across, and realized I was looking at Knoblock rather than climbing it. So, in for a penny, in for a pound. So...plan B: climb Tripod! Which I found aptly named as there seem to be three equally spaced "high points" using the term loosely. No views whatsoever, and no signs whatsoever of anyone having been there recently. No moss scraped from rocks, no broken branches, no cairns, zip. Since then I have met FEW who've ever been there, and NONE who've done it twice. Let me know if you want to climb it; I'll be busy that day. Knoblock, on the other hand, is a sheer delight. I've done several times by the ridge off the Giant trial; it's the only way to do it.

[tcd]

Ah, Tripod. We only climbed it because it's in our backyard.

Many years ago, in a conversation with Adrian Edmonds, we had mentioned Tripod. Adrian just chuckled, and said, "It's mighty thick up there..."

We joked about that statement for years, but held off climbing it. And it certainly turned out to be the case. But only really at the very top; many of the slopes are open woods.

[Gregory Karl]

Decades ago, on my first-ever stab at Knoblock I got pretty high up on something, looked across, and realized I was looking at Knoblock rather than climbing it. So, in for a penny, in for a pound. So...plan B: climb Tripod! Which I found aptly named as there seem to be three equally spaced "high points" using the term loosely. No views whatsoever, and no signs whatsoever of anyone having been there recently. No moss scraped from rocks, no broken branches, no cairns, zip. Since then I have met FEW who've ever been there, and NONE who've done it twice. Let me know if you want to climb it; I'll be busy that day. Knoblock, on the other hand, is a sheer delight. I've done several times by the ridge off the Giant trial; it's the only way to do it.

I've done Tripod twice and Knob Lock four times (I think). Of course, if one has to choose between Tripod and Knob Lock and do only one of them, do Knob Lock. Duh! 360° views. In defense of Tripod, however: One can get to the summit without facing any thick stuff at all, there are in fact some views to be found if one circles the summit area, the brooks and forest are nice, and the fact that there are no signs of human visitation is not necessarily a drawback.

I agree that the best route for Knob Lock is up the E ridge. But ascending among the cliffs from Slide Brook is also nice, as is the NE ridge.