Mt Chocorua: One Year Later

Published by Derek under Pictures, Personal on August 11, 2008

I had yet another amazing climb up Mt. Chocorua yesterday.

It all started with Sara (a new friend who is WWOOFing on the farm) and me saying I want to go hike a mountain. Sara’s only here another couple weeks, so we figured we better go now before it’s too late. Despite the weather forecast we decided to take the plunge up to the summit of Chocorua.

We stayed the night at Justin’s house and got up at the ass crack of dawn to get to the mountain around 7am. It was a foggy start but the sky cleared up beautifully. When we got to the mountain Sara and I decided to climb up the Piper trail and then cross over the three sisters and come down the Carter trail.

Piper’s trail is great. It’s a steady uphill climb with lots to see… waterfalls, rivers, and great views. When we got to the rocky areas where the trees start to thin out we found blueberries and started to pick. We couldn’t help ourselves. We were like two kids in a candy shop. I was stuffing them in my mouth by the handful. After we couldn’t stand to eat anymore we made way yet again for the summit.

We got to the top in under 3 hours and met a few people up there. It was stunning.. as usual. We ate a quick lunch admired the view and then made our way back down across the other three smaller summits; the three sisters.

WARNING!!! IF YOU EVER HIKE MT. CHOCORUA DO NOT COME UP OR DOWN CARTER. It is a horrible accent and descent. The paths are hard to see and very treacherous. There are also poor views and such. Although despite the horrible climb down we made it safely and in under 2 hours. (We ran a lot because we were afraid of rain)

Out of all the trails I’ve taken up and down Chocorua my favorite is still Chapney Falls!!! The trail head starts on the north side of the mountain on the Kangamangus Highway. It has the best views and a moderate trail to climb up.

Here are some pictures!

Peace and Love