Mount Chocorua day hike

This day hike started at the parking area for the Champney Falls trailhead on the Kancamagus Highway (NH Route 112), about 14 miles west of Route 16 in Conway. From the parking area we took the Champney Falls Trail to the summit of Mount Chocorua, returning the same way. On the way up we did the Champney Falls Loop to Pitcher Falls and Champney Falls.

Route 112/Kancamagus Highway - 1,250' Champney Falls Loop junction - 1.4 miles - 1,800' Champney Falls Trail junction - 1.6 miles - 2,000' Middle Sisters Trail junction - 3.7 miles - 3,200' Mount Chocorua summit - 4.1 miles - 3,478' Middle Sisters Trail junction - 4.5 miles - 3,200' Champney Falls Loop junction (upper) - 6.6 miles - 2,000' Champney Falls Loop junction (lower) - 6.8 miles - 1,800' Route 112/Kancamagus Highway - 8.2 miles - 1,250' Total distance round-trip - 8.2 miles Total elevation change - 2,228' Trail map - 500 x 749 - 24K Trail map - 822 x 1232 - 231K

This day hike started at the parking area for the Champney Falls trailhead on the Kancamagus Highway (NH Route 112). The main purpose of this hike was a trial run for Pam with her backpack fully loaded in preparation for a Grand Canyon backpacking trip she would be doing with me in a couple of weeks. The mileage covered for this trip would be longer than any individual day on the Grand Canyon trip and the evelation change was comparable to what she could expect for a single day. The terrain and climate would be completely different but there was just no way to simulate that.

We had a lovely early spring day for this trip and the temperature was already in the upper 40s by the time we started, a little before 9am. It was probably in the mid to upper 60s on top of the mountain and by the time we returned to the car it was up to 75.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam at the trailhead

We started closing in on Champney and Pitcher Falls after a little less than an hour of hiking and that was a first rest stop. After a winter of hiking in cold and snow it felt good to be out in warmer temperatures with just a short sleeve shirt and no need of a jacket.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Small waterfall on Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Small waterfall on Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam

There was still some ice and snow in the dark, little ravine where Pitcher Falls was located.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls ravine 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Ice at the top of Pitcher Falls ravine 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, Ice at the top of Pitcher Falls ravine 450 x 600   768 x 1024 Pam, Ice at the top of Pitcher Falls ravine 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Falls

We spent about a half of an hour at the falls before continuing up the trail. I took some more photos at Upper Champney Falls from the trail but we did not stop there.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Upper Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Upper Champney Falls

We encountered a few patches of ice and snow on the trail higher up in areas that probably did not get much sun. The first of these were easy enough to get around but one larger patch was very icy, very slippery and titled at an angle that just made it impossible to navigate. We had to bushwhack through the trees and brush below this to get past it on the way up and on the way down we just bushwhacked straight down to the next switchback to avoid it completely.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Snow and ice on the trail 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Washington

We reached the junction with the Piper Trail right at noon and the summit of Mount Chocorua was now very close.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam at the Piper Trail junction

The summit of Mount Chocurua was bathed in sunlight and there was no sign of any ice or snow up there. It is a very steep climb in a couple of places though and some of that granite is so well polished that it can be slippery pretty much all of the time.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Approaching Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Chocorua granite 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Chocorua granite, Middle Sister 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam on the final climb to Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam on the final climb to Mount Chocorua summit

We reached the summit of Mount Chocorua right around 12:30 and it was absolutely beautiful up there. The day had started out almost cloudless but now some clouds were starting to form as the day warmed up. There were a few other people on top but not very many and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. It was a little windy on the west side of the mountain but we found a windless spot on the east side to sit for a while and eat our lunch. We were up there for about 45 minutes and tooks lots of photos before starting back down.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam on top of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 View to the north from Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Washington from Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob & Pam on Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Other people on top of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, ledge on east side of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, ledge on east side of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, ledge on east side of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, ledge on east side of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, ledge on east side of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, ledge on east side of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Other people on top of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 View ot the west from top of Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Chocorua Lake from top of Mount Chocorua

On the way down we made a little side trip to a nice overlook of Middle Sister with Mount Washington behind. There was also a nice view of Mount Tripyramid, which was my last winter hike.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Washington, Middle Sister 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Sister 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Wasington, clouds 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Tripyramid

We got back to the car a little after 3:30 and Pam seemed to have done fine with the heavier backpack. It was a longer hike than should would have to deal with in the Canyon and I was not expecting her to have any problems. Even though the terrain and climate would be different in the Canyon hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire is still no piece of cake.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Brook

On the way home I took a slightly longer route down past Chocorua Lake so Pam could see what the mountain she had just climbed looked like from there. I had also hoped to stop at a nice little homemade ice cream shop in Chocorua and was disappointed that it was not yet open for the season. We did end up stopping at a Ben & Jerry's in Meredith though.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua, clouds 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pam, Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob & Pam, Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob & Pam, Chocorua Lake, Mount Chocorua

It felt very nice to drop Pam off at her car in Nashua, give her a hug and say "see you in Arizona".

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