Five Plus Two Equals Chocorua

July 31 2011

Five on two legs and two on four. Seven souls set of to climb Mount Chocorua near Conway New Hampshire today. Beth and I have been talking about hiking together for quite some time. Today we got the chance. I picked up Beth, her daughter Jill and their two dogs Buffy and Bu at Green Pond. They were all set to go and we headed to Sean’s to meet him and daughter Leah. This was to be Leah’s first “big mountain”. A precocious five year old, Leah’s hiking limits were as yet untested on a mountain of this size. Sean decided to take his own car in case they were not able to go the whole way. We left their house about 6:45 and drove to the Champney Falls hiker parking lot on the Kancamagus Highway arriving there about 7:45. Donning hikers and disbursing water, within a few minutes we were off. The weather was clear and with temps in the mid sixties, it was shaping up to be a perfect day.

 Leah was eager to go and to interact with the dogs.
After a quick photo at the kiosk, we headed up the trail The first mile was a shakedown of sorts with everyone trying to find a comfortable pace. Leah preferred to be in the thick of things and with the dogs but since Jill had both dogs on an Alpha lead and they were beside her, that meant four abreast and on a narrowing trail that was not going to work. Sean eventually convinced Leah, she should lead and set the pace. She was good with that and we settled in to a nice leisurely pace. Soon enough we were at the lower junction with the loop trail that goes by Champney and Pitcher Falls. We decided to go by the falls on the way up and  bypass them on the way down.

We got to the lower falls and stopped for a quick break and to take some  photos. A long stretch of dry weather had reduced the flow of water to a trickle but it’s a pretty place anyway. In winter this is a popular ice climbing spot, not much ice around today. We headed up the steep trail that skirts the lower falls and leads to the upper. At the upper falls we waited for a group of faster hikers to pass before continuing on. The next mile and a half seems longer than it is. There is only one good view spot and the trail gets steeper and more rocky than the section below. There are several switchbacks in this section and once past these the Champney Falls Cutoff diverges left and leads to the Middle Sister Trail. The grade soon eases as the trail nears the saddle between Chocorua and Middle Sister. From the more open ledges we began to catch glimpses of our objective.
Soon we passed the Piper Trail on the left and then the West Side Trail on the left a short time later. The last .4 mile is entirely in the open and view get better every minute. We climbed up and over the minor peak North of the actual summit and during this time were passed by several faster moving groups. At last we arrived at the crux move just below the summit, a head high section of ledge the dogs couldn’t negotiate. We could have lifted Buffy but Bu at 100 lbs. was a different story. Beth stayed behind in a shady spot with them as the rest of us scrambled up and over.

 

Leah had done an awesome job all day and with a bit of guidance from dad clambered up to the top. Sean and Jill topped out and enjoyed the views we worked so hard for. Having been here more than a half dozen times before, I headed down to relieve Beth so she could go up. Ten minutes or so later, the summit team came down and we all headed to a lower flat spot for a well deserved lunch. It was a nearly cloudless day and we enjoyed the
endless views. Twenty-two miles to the North,  Mount Washington was clear enough the we could see the summit buildings.

We finished our lunch and headed back across the ledges and down into the woods now meeting groups of hikers on their way up. We took our time going down with Jill and the dogs in the lead and Sean and Leah bringing up the rear.

We made our way down the mountain with several stops to let little tired legs catch up. We got back to the parking lot a little before 2:00 and took a long break on the grass, in the shade. Sean provided a cooler full of cold drinks and fruit. A nice end to a wonderful day in the mountains.