Date of Hike: 7/4 & 7/5
7/4: Champney Falls Trail: 3.2 miles / Piper Trail: 0.6 miles / Liberty Trail: 0.2 miles / Brook Trail: 0.5 miles / Bee Line Trail: 1.7 miles / Bolles 3.8 miles
(10.0 miles, 3,200 elevation gain)
7/5: Carter Ledge Trail: 3.7 miles / Middle Sister Trail 3.3 miles / Carter Ledge Trail: 1.1 miles
(8.0 miles 2,500 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- I decided to spend a hot, hazy, and humid fourth of July exploring some new trails as we hiked up Mount Chocorua. I ended up making a loop using the well traveled Champney Falls Trail and the lightly used Bolles Trail.
- The highlight of the Champney Falls trail is Pitcher and Champney Falls. It is a popular destination so there were lots of people around as we made our way to the falls. I took a nice little break at Pitcher Falls and the mist from the waterfall was refreshing and a nice escape from the heat.
- After heading past both of the falls I made my way up to the open ledges leading to the summit of Mount Chocorua.
- From the summit I dropped down more open ledges via the Liberty and Brook Trails until banging a right into the woods on the Bee Line Trail. The Bee Line Trail starts off steep, with some rough footing but soon becomes more gradual with excellent footing. I did a little trail running as I made my way down to the Bolles Trail, taking a nice break by cooling off in the brook.
- The Bolles Trail is in the middle of nowhere. We saw a guy wearing Crocs with a hound dog, his leash was an old rope and he may or may not have been on drugs and he really didn't want anything to do with us!
- The Bolles Trail ends up falling apart near a sandy brook crossing, I lost the trail but ended up on a herd path which took me up towards the height of land before dumping us back on the trail a few tenths of a mile before cresting.
- I ran into a couple of other not so enthusiastic hikers as we rumbled down the trail back towards the Kanc. The Bolles Trail crosses Twin Brook ten times on it's way back to the Kanc. The trail is an eroded mess in spots but I had a blast jumping in and out of all the stream crossings.
- I made it back to the car just after 3 p.m. and headed down the Kanc a little ways before finding a nice spot along the Swif River to jump in and cool off.
7/4: Champney Falls Trail: 3.2 miles / Piper Trail: 0.6 miles / Liberty Trail: 0.2 miles / Brook Trail: 0.5 miles / Bee Line Trail: 1.7 miles / Bolles 3.8 miles
(10.0 miles, 3,200 elevation gain)
7/5: Carter Ledge Trail: 3.7 miles / Middle Sister Trail 3.3 miles / Carter Ledge Trail: 1.1 miles
(8.0 miles 2,500 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- I decided to spend a hot, hazy, and humid fourth of July exploring some new trails as we hiked up Mount Chocorua. I ended up making a loop using the well traveled Champney Falls Trail and the lightly used Bolles Trail.
- The highlight of the Champney Falls trail is Pitcher and Champney Falls. It is a popular destination so there were lots of people around as we made our way to the falls. I took a nice little break at Pitcher Falls and the mist from the waterfall was refreshing and a nice escape from the heat.
- After heading past both of the falls I made my way up to the open ledges leading to the summit of Mount Chocorua.
- From the summit I dropped down more open ledges via the Liberty and Brook Trails until banging a right into the woods on the Bee Line Trail. The Bee Line Trail starts off steep, with some rough footing but soon becomes more gradual with excellent footing. I did a little trail running as I made my way down to the Bolles Trail, taking a nice break by cooling off in the brook.
- The Bolles Trail is in the middle of nowhere. We saw a guy wearing Crocs with a hound dog, his leash was an old rope and he may or may not have been on drugs and he really didn't want anything to do with us!
- The Bolles Trail ends up falling apart near a sandy brook crossing, I lost the trail but ended up on a herd path which took me up towards the height of land before dumping us back on the trail a few tenths of a mile before cresting.
- I ran into a couple of other not so enthusiastic hikers as we rumbled down the trail back towards the Kanc. The Bolles Trail crosses Twin Brook ten times on it's way back to the Kanc. The trail is an eroded mess in spots but I had a blast jumping in and out of all the stream crossings.
- I made it back to the car just after 3 p.m. and headed down the Kanc a little ways before finding a nice spot along the Swif River to jump in and cool off.
Champney Falls Trailhead
Trail Information
Champney Falls Trail Staircase
Mount Chocorua
Looking back to the 'Sisters'
Brook Trail Junction
Bee Line Trail Junction
Bee Line Trail
Bolles / Bee Line Trail Junction
Bolles Trail
The Bolles Trail
Bolles / Champney Falls Trail Junction
Day Two
- On Friday I got on the trail early to beat the heat. I headed up the Carter Ledge Trail and out the Middle Sister Trail. Unfortunately, the heat was already horrible at 8 a.m. and the bugs were out in full force from the beginning.
- The hike up the ledges as you ascend towards Middle Sister is a great little hike, it's steep at times, but there are numerous views from the many open ledges. I was able to enjoy the views from one of the ledges as there was a breeze that blew the bugs away. There are excellent views up and over to Mount Chocorua and cool views to the east and southeast into the valley where there are numerous lakes in view.
- Once back in the woods every kind of flying bug known to the animal kingdom was buzzing around me, including one bad-ass wasp that looked like it had body armor on. Eventually, I was able to swat it with my hat and it left me alone.
- The Carter Ledge Trail gains the ridge a few tenths of a mile below the summit, I opted out of heading up to the left and back down to the summit and just banged a right onto the Middle Sister Trail. A few minutes later I came to a nice open ledge and took a break before booking it down through the woods back to the trailhead.
- The last three miles were spent trail running because I just wanted to get back to the car and get something refreshing to drink!
White Ledge Campground parking for the trails
Carter Ledge / Nickerson Ledge Trail Junction
Carter Ledge Trail
Carter Ledge Trail
Mount Chocorua
Carter Ledge Trail
Carter Ledge Trail
Carter Ledge Trail
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