The Hikers
New member
Looking for the weekly hike and trying to keep the travelling distance down,we once again considered Chocorua. We'd been up twice in the last year,once on a nice warm and windless day, and once on snowshoes in a wind that threatened to blow me off the top.Both times we took the Hammond Trail, which we love.
Looking at the other options, we realized we hadn't done the hike by the Piper Trail in many years. Joyce (who remembers the birthday of anyone she has ever met) quickly figured that it was in 1977 or 1978.
Now some of you younger hikers may think that that is a long time, but as the saying goes, "time flies"
Anyway, that got us to reminiscing: We were a young couple, madly in love, still learning about each other. Joyce was a city girl, just out of High School.
To her, a hike up Chocorua was like a trip to another planet. But when you are in love, you will try many new things.We hiked the mountain in sneakers and our normal clothes and, I believe , with no extra fluids or any other supplies......kind of like a lot of those young couples we see on the trails now:
the ones who look at us with our packs and gear and wonder what planet we came from.
But wait, this is supposed to be a trip report: We got to the traihead and were headed out by 8:30. To us, after all the climbs we have made, the Piper was like an expressway, wide, cleared and what??? ACTUAL STONE STAIRS ??? we must be in Climber's Heaven. The mountain is visible from the trailhead and most of the way at this time of year, as the leaves have not yet come in.
A View From The Piper
We soon passed a young family taking a break. I noticed sneakers on the feet of some, and wondered how they were going to enjoy the snow which eventually became deeper and covered the trail. We made very good time, needing no extra traction devices . We had switched to our "summer" Asolos, Joyce breaking in a brand new pair as her old ones had become too tight. I figure mine have another year left in them.We got to the cone and carefully tried to follow those yellow paint marks. It was here , thirty-two years ago, that I departed from those marks and rock climbed more or less straight up to the summit, Joyce dutifully following me,the blind leading the blind. But this time we chose to do it it the correct and safe way.
Chocorua, Silver, and Ossipee Lakes from the Summit
(Joce sitting down in the rocks)
The weather HAD been wonderful, but on top the wind picked up again, blowing me around like a feather, and although we could see the sun shining on Washington, the dark clouds rolled in on us and a few raindrops stated to
fall.
We headed back down the Piper meeting many other hikers now reaching the mountain top. Some, in sneakers, were trying to dry their feet and some , a little short of the summit had decided this was far enough. Children were hopping rock to rock oblivious to any danger flying up to the top....oh to be young again...
Now our plan was to make a loop of it, so when we got to the first junction, we passed by the Piper and continued on, meeting hikers coming up the Champney Falls Trail. At the next junction we were to take a right onto the Middle Sister Trail. Seeing a completely snow covered trail with no prints visible, we hesitated a moment and considered the wisdom of continuing, but Joyce said "let's do it" so we went on.We were able to follow the trail through alternating ledge and snow drifts which sometimes swallowed up our poles. A slightly discernable monorail kept us out of real trouble. Eventually we reached the Third Sister with its stone tower. The views along the way were well worth the effort. I was not used to seeing Chocorua from this angle, and found it fascinating.
Third Sister
Can I recharge my phone here?
From the Third Sister we continued on until we reached the next junction. Here we turned Right onto the Carter Ledge Trail. The views, again, were well worth the effort. It was pretty evident that few, if any,had used the trail since the arrival of snow. The book had warned us that the ledges were dangerous when wet or icy, and as we made our way down the steep sections we had more than one occasion to second that advice. At the bottom of the ledges we came upon footprints. It was obvious someone had taken the trail from below and upon reaching the bottom of the cliff decided not to continue up. Probably a good choice.
Eventually , to our relief, the snow cover lessened and the trail became less challenging . We reached the junction with the Nickerson Ledge Trail, and we turned right to take this trail back down to the piper.This trail is fairly level all the way to just before the junction with the Piper. There were a few major blowdowns and some wet places that had to be bushwacked.The markings were almost non-existant, causing us to circle a few times to refind the trail.
Back on the Piper it was clear sailing to the car.
We decided this would be a wonderful loop in good weather, but today it was VERY slow going, descending those ledges, and fairly scary in places. We got a good work-out doing about 10 miles, and substantial elevation gains.
Now for the Marriage Advice: I figure if you take your partner on a mountain hike, get lost, make him/her climb up a rock cliff in sneakers and summer clothes, and they don't drop you right after that, maybe this will be a lasting relationship. For Joyce and I , hiking together, and doing our music together
have been a constant joy.And there is nothing like facing challenges together and conquering them.
Looking at the other options, we realized we hadn't done the hike by the Piper Trail in many years. Joyce (who remembers the birthday of anyone she has ever met) quickly figured that it was in 1977 or 1978.
Now some of you younger hikers may think that that is a long time, but as the saying goes, "time flies"
Anyway, that got us to reminiscing: We were a young couple, madly in love, still learning about each other. Joyce was a city girl, just out of High School.
To her, a hike up Chocorua was like a trip to another planet. But when you are in love, you will try many new things.We hiked the mountain in sneakers and our normal clothes and, I believe , with no extra fluids or any other supplies......kind of like a lot of those young couples we see on the trails now:
the ones who look at us with our packs and gear and wonder what planet we came from.
But wait, this is supposed to be a trip report: We got to the traihead and were headed out by 8:30. To us, after all the climbs we have made, the Piper was like an expressway, wide, cleared and what??? ACTUAL STONE STAIRS ??? we must be in Climber's Heaven. The mountain is visible from the trailhead and most of the way at this time of year, as the leaves have not yet come in.
A View From The Piper
We soon passed a young family taking a break. I noticed sneakers on the feet of some, and wondered how they were going to enjoy the snow which eventually became deeper and covered the trail. We made very good time, needing no extra traction devices . We had switched to our "summer" Asolos, Joyce breaking in a brand new pair as her old ones had become too tight. I figure mine have another year left in them.We got to the cone and carefully tried to follow those yellow paint marks. It was here , thirty-two years ago, that I departed from those marks and rock climbed more or less straight up to the summit, Joyce dutifully following me,the blind leading the blind. But this time we chose to do it it the correct and safe way.
Chocorua, Silver, and Ossipee Lakes from the Summit
(Joce sitting down in the rocks)
The weather HAD been wonderful, but on top the wind picked up again, blowing me around like a feather, and although we could see the sun shining on Washington, the dark clouds rolled in on us and a few raindrops stated to
fall.
We headed back down the Piper meeting many other hikers now reaching the mountain top. Some, in sneakers, were trying to dry their feet and some , a little short of the summit had decided this was far enough. Children were hopping rock to rock oblivious to any danger flying up to the top....oh to be young again...
Now our plan was to make a loop of it, so when we got to the first junction, we passed by the Piper and continued on, meeting hikers coming up the Champney Falls Trail. At the next junction we were to take a right onto the Middle Sister Trail. Seeing a completely snow covered trail with no prints visible, we hesitated a moment and considered the wisdom of continuing, but Joyce said "let's do it" so we went on.We were able to follow the trail through alternating ledge and snow drifts which sometimes swallowed up our poles. A slightly discernable monorail kept us out of real trouble. Eventually we reached the Third Sister with its stone tower. The views along the way were well worth the effort. I was not used to seeing Chocorua from this angle, and found it fascinating.
Third Sister
Can I recharge my phone here?
From the Third Sister we continued on until we reached the next junction. Here we turned Right onto the Carter Ledge Trail. The views, again, were well worth the effort. It was pretty evident that few, if any,had used the trail since the arrival of snow. The book had warned us that the ledges were dangerous when wet or icy, and as we made our way down the steep sections we had more than one occasion to second that advice. At the bottom of the ledges we came upon footprints. It was obvious someone had taken the trail from below and upon reaching the bottom of the cliff decided not to continue up. Probably a good choice.
Eventually , to our relief, the snow cover lessened and the trail became less challenging . We reached the junction with the Nickerson Ledge Trail, and we turned right to take this trail back down to the piper.This trail is fairly level all the way to just before the junction with the Piper. There were a few major blowdowns and some wet places that had to be bushwacked.The markings were almost non-existant, causing us to circle a few times to refind the trail.
Back on the Piper it was clear sailing to the car.
We decided this would be a wonderful loop in good weather, but today it was VERY slow going, descending those ledges, and fairly scary in places. We got a good work-out doing about 10 miles, and substantial elevation gains.
Now for the Marriage Advice: I figure if you take your partner on a mountain hike, get lost, make him/her climb up a rock cliff in sneakers and summer clothes, and they don't drop you right after that, maybe this will be a lasting relationship. For Joyce and I , hiking together, and doing our music together
have been a constant joy.And there is nothing like facing challenges together and conquering them.
