Mount Chocorua day hike

This day hike started at the parking lot for the Champney Falls Trail off of New Hampshire Route 112 (Kancamagus Highway) in Albany, New Hampshire. From the parking lot we took the Champney Falls Trail to the summit of Mount Chocorua and then returned the same way.

Kancamagus Highway - 1,260' Pitcher Falls - 1.75 miles - 1,900' Three Sisters - 3.25 miles - 3,180' Mount Chocorua - 3.8 miles - 3,474' Three Sisters - 4.35 miles - 3,180' Pitcher Falls - 5.85 miles - 1,900' Kancamagus Highway - 7.6 miles - 1,260' Total elevation change - 2,214' Trail map - 1,000 x 1,294 - 477K Trail map - 1,380 x 1,604 - 621K

This was the last of the warm up hikes for the upcoming Grand Canyon backpacking trip at the end of April. This was the second one for Max who also did Mount Monadnock with me the prior weekend. Another friend, Jance, accompanied us on the hike. She also did Mount Monadnock with us the week prior and that was her first New England mountain. Mount Chocorua would be her second.

I picked up Janice in Boston and then we picked up Max the Park & Ride lot in Nashua and all drove up togther. I made a short stop at Chocorua Lake on the way up for one of my favorite views of the mountain.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Chocorua, Chocorua Lake, reflection

We arrived at the trailed abour 9:15 or so and there were already a number of cars there. We started hiking at 9:30. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground but the trail itself was well packed.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max at the trailhead 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice at the trailhead 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trailhead 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trailhead 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Crossing Twin Brook

It tooks us about 45 minutes to get to the lower falls and within an hour we were at Champney & Pitcher Falls. Pitcher Falls was still well frozen and quite beautiful. There was lots of ice around Champney falls but there was a lot of water flowing through the center as well. We spent probably close to a half of an hour there wandering about and taking photos of the falls and the ice from different angels. It was a cloudy morning and I was hoping that the sun would come out later in the day so we could see what that would look like on the way back.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Frozen waterfall on Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Frozen waterfall on Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Frozen waterfall on Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice, frozen waterfall on Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Climbing back to the main trail 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Gorge, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Gorge, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Behind the ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Behind the ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Behind the ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max, Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Ice, Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Brook

The trail climbs at a gradual rate up to the waterfalls but then beyond them it becomes somewhat steeper and really starts to gain some elevation. After another mile or so we reached the section where there are a few switchbacks as the trail climbs towards the Three Sisters. It was just after noon when we reached the junction with the Middle Sisters Trail. At that point the trail levels out for a while and the only climbing that remained was the final climb to the summit of Mount Chocorua.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice at a trail junction 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trees on the ridge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Darwin fish in the snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Sister 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Sister 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Sister, Max, Janice

We started that final climb around 12:30 and were on top of the mountain by 12:45. There was still some snow on top but there was also lots of bare rock and a few icy patches. We encountered a few people on top but not many. It was certainly nothing like a warm summer day on top of Chocorua with the masses of people that invade it then.

It was windy on top and cold so after taking our summit photos we descended a little and looked for a spot out of the wind to have our lunch.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Approaching Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Approaching Mount Chocorua summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice scrambling over a ledge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Going for the summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max & Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max & Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Clouds 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, Janice & Max 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, Janice & Max 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob, Janice & Max 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Sister, ledges 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Chocorua Lake 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mighty Moose 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Numbers at the top 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Cairn 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Looking for a place to have lunch

We started the hike down around 1:30 and made pretty good time for the hike down. We actually managed to do some butt sliding in a few places which Janice really enjoyed. The clouds started to break up and the sun came out during the hike down which made everything look a lot different than it had on the hike up. The trail was a lot more slippery than it had been on the hike up as the temperature was above freezing and with the sun shining on it the surface ice and snow was melting.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trees, Middle Sister 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Sister from the "View" 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Washington from the "View" 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Side trail to the "View" 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice doing some butt sliding 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice doing some butt sliding 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Washington 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Mount Washington 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Max & Janice

Around 2:45 we reached the top of the big area of waterfalls which looked a lot different with sunlight on them. We stopped there for a while again to take some more photos.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 A nice picnic spot among the rocks 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Upper Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Upper Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Upper Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Upper Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Ice, Upper Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Champney Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Middle Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Icicles, Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Icicles, Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice, Lower Champney Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Gorge, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Icicles, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice behind the ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Janice behind the ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Behind the ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Behind the ice, Pitcher Falls 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Ice between Pitcher and Champney Falls

Below the waterfalls the trail was not as steep and we made pretty good time back to the parking lot, arriving there right around 4pm.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Small pine cone & leaf on the snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Destroyed footbridge at Twin Brook 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Sign at the trailhead 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Numbers for the day

It was a great hike and we all had a good time. Max did well and he was carrying a full pack with a lot of extra weight in it just to feel what it would be like on our Grand Canyon trip. This day hike was longer and had more elevation gain than any single day on the backpacking trip would have so I was confident he would not have any problems with it. The trails in the Grand Canyon are steeper in places but there also would not be any snow or ice to contend with, and it would be a lot warmer.

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