Hiking in the White Mountains: Mount Chocorua

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.

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

Mount Chocorua

Carter Ledge Trail

Date of Hike: 10/23/10

Piper Trail: 4.3 miles
Liberty Trail: 1.2 miles
Hammond Trail: .9
Weetamoo Trail: 2.0 miles
Piper Trail: .6 miles
Total Miles 9.0 miles (2,800 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- After spending the past two weekends on vacation in Italy it was time to head back to the White Mountains and try to sneak in one last hike without traction!
- Accompanying me on this trip were three of my friends from back in the day growing up in Lincoln RI, Matt (now living in Colorado), Nasser (Boston/Philly) and Brad (NYC).
- It had been over ten years since our last hike together (Up Huntington Ravine with my dad and our Golden Retriever Teddy) and I was hoping to take them up Jefferson via Caps Ridge and Castle Trails or do the classic Franconia Ridge loop. However over the past two weeks while I was away the higher elevations became ice and snow capped which made for the perfect opportunity to hit up Mount Chocorua, one of the sub 4,000 foot peaks with a view, AKA "52-With-A-View."
- On trail at 9am, summit 12pm, finished 3pm. Temps in the 40's, clear skies with 60 miles plus visibility, 25 mph wind gusts out of the NW.
- It was easy going along most of the Piper Trail as the grades are easy with very good footing through the woods with some pretty good foliage for late October.
- The Piper Trail steepens the last 1.5 miles where the footing becomes rougher and passes through a couple of open ledges below the ridge then becomes completely exposed for the last few tenths of a mile once gaining the ridge ascending the summit.
- Views below and on the summit where incredible as there were no clouds in the ski providing great 360 degree views.
- The summit was pretty busy with lots of hikers enjoying the great views of Mount Passaconaway, Whiteface, and all the way north past Hancock and Carrigain Notch to the Presidential Range.
- After taking a break to refuel and warm up out of the wind on the summit we headed down the Liberty Trail past the John Liberty Cabin over to the Hammond trail and out the Weetamoo Trail through picturesque Hemlock groves.
- As usual it was a great day in the White Mountains catching up with old friends on a mountain that's perfect for all hikers!

Hiking Along the Piper Trail