The Tuesday Trip Report: Mt. Chocorua. May 24, 2012
The forecast called for morning fog and a 20% chance of showers, but the girls wished to hike regardless. Sage wanted to get her "hands on some rock," and Alex wanted to check out a mountain we'd never experienced before. We decided on Mt. Chocorua, a popular 52WAV peak that everybody but us seemed to have climbed.
We chose Piper Trail for the ascent, since someone had recommended it for the Terrifying 25 list.
The ledges were wet and the fog was dense on the upper part of the trail, but we didn't have any difficulties. I'm not sure why Piper Trail was suggested for the Terrifying 25 list...yes, there are ledges, but this is the Granite State and ledges abound. When we returned home from the hike, I removed Piper Trail from the T25 list. There's nothing frightening or difficult about this one. It is, however, an enjoyable trail, and one we highly recommend.
Up we went...
Summit!
We hung about on the summit for a while in spite of the damp air and stiff breeze. Though our only view was Cloud, we enjoyed this rocky peak. We stayed until we started to feel chilled, then we began our descent. We went down via Liberty, Hammond, and Weetamoo Trails.
Ghost cairn!
We had to descend this ledge. There's a log and some scrub near the bottom, so one can't fall off the mountain. I slid down most of this...not quite intentionally...
Foggy Liberty Cabin.
Foggy woods.
We had a fun day; I can see why this is such a popular peak. It's probably even better on a dry, clear day. :)
3 comments:
Foggy, yet awesome! We still haven't don Chocorua, but it's at the top of our 52WAV list. Getting it on a foggy day has the benefit of not dealing with the usual crowds (which is the main thing that's kept us away). We need to get together again soon. Still haven't done our spring Monadnock hike yet (and we're running out of spring).
Mark
Hi Trish,
I think the person that suggested the Piper Trail for the T25 list may have been thinking of the Piper in conjunction with the Nickerson Ledge and Carter Ledge Trails. I did this hike last Saturday and Carter Ledge Trail could easily be on the T25 list. There are several steeply sloping rock ledges and one kind of dangerous spot where you have to step up a few feet while standing on a downward sloping ledge on the downhill side and up against an 8 foot or so rock wall on the uphill side. I was lucky that there were some other people at this spot who helped me up the step.
Mike, thanks for your input. The girls and I plan on going back to try Carter Ledge Trail; another person told me about it after I posted this TR. It sounds like a lot of fun (and it's now on the T25 list). :)
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