Mount Chocorua, October 8, 2015, Sandwich Range, White Mountain National Forest

Chocorua's symmetrical summit cone, up close

Chocorua is one of the most easily-identifiable peaks in the White Mountains. On a beautiful, windless October weekday, K and I made a quick run up Mount Willard in order to eat lunch on the ledges and admire the great view into Crawford Notch. The late arrival of peak foliage this season meant that we didn't have any solitude (one never does atop Willard)  but the view is still the same. And at the center of that view, way off on the far horizon, is the perfectly-pointed cone-shaped peak that is Chocorua. They say that its symmetrical shape once made Chocorua the most photographed mountain in the world. Looking at it from afar reaffirmed a long-held curiosity about this popular peak and I wondered why I had never explored it. I resolved to check out the summit on the following day.

Slippery Roots on the Lower Champney Falls Trail

I usually try to take the lesser-traveled trails to the popular peaks. In this case, however, I had no choice but to take the popular Champney Falls route since it was the nearest to where we were staying in Sugar Hill. At one hour door to door to Champney, I didn't want to add any more time to my early AM drive to the trail. But I resolved to get out early and be the first to the summit. I made it to the parking area at 7 AM sharp. First car in the lot. Again.

The Falls

I quickly learned why Champney Falls trail is to popular. It has to be one of the easiest trails to pay such big dividends in the view department. Don't get me wrong. It's a long uphill climb covering nearly 2,300 feet in elevation gain. But it has a comfortable grade with multiple switchbacks and few boulder scrambles. The side route to the falls is well worthwhile since it reconnects with the main trail without having to backtrack. But the price of a look at the falls on the way up is a precipitously steep set of stone stairs. I hit the falls on my return instead.

The view to the Northwest from Chocorua summit

A peak with great summit views and a comparatively easy approach means LOTS of pressure. Sadly, I saw more cigarette butts long this trail than in all my visits to New Hampshire combined. Fortunately, however, the early hour meant that I made it all the way to the summit without encountering a single person. The top of Chocorua can be a bit confusing since the Champney Falls trail doesn't go to the summit. I followed the signs for the Piper Trail, which winds its way out of the tree line and then across the open summit ledges. Although the blazes were quite faded, it was fairly easy to find the hand-over-hand climb up and around to the marker on the summit. Although the sky was clear, strong winds and cold temps prevented too much relaxation up top. I had cold weather gear and donned it in order to spend some time admiring the spectacular views.

Just as I was leaving, the first of the day's hikers showed up. All were pack-less and wearing shorts and t-shirts. 

To each his own. At least they were not tossing cig butts.

Peak: Chocorua
Elevation: 3,500 feet (Gain: 2,250 feet)
Distance: 7.6 miles round trip
Route: Up and back, Champney Falls Trail to Piper Trail
Conditions: Full sun, 35 degrees F, gusty winds

Mount Willard, October 6, 2015, Crawford Notch State Forest, White Mountains, New Hampshire

The Famous View from Mt. Willard Ledges

I have mixed feelings when it comes to Mt. Willard. I hate that it attracts so many people, yet I like the friendly interaction that the popular peaks afford. I like the outstanding view south into Crawford Notch and the summits (namely perfectly-cone-shaped Chocorua) beyond, but I hate that the forested valley is scarred by a busy highway and railroad cut. I hate that the trail is so short that the climb involves minimal effort and time, but I love that the short distance makes for a nice warm-up hike or crummy weather excursion.

All mixed emotions aside, K and I decided to have a picnic lunch atop Mt. Willard on a day when we didn't feel like full exertion but wanted a nice higher elevation point to see the fall foliage. We arrived at the notch in late morning, passing a bustling Highland Center, yet easily finding a parking spot behind the train station. We hopped across the tracks and onto the Avalon Trail which leads to the three 4,000 footers on the west side of the notch (Tom, Field, and Willey), and then quickly turned left on the trail bound for Mt. Willard.

Foliage on Mt. Willard, and the Webster and Jackson ridge

It's an old carriage road, so that meant easy uphill grades the entire way. Lots of people were descending as we went up, which fortunately resulted in us nabbing the best picnic spot on the ledges. We hung out for quite a long time, enjoying what really is a great view.

On the way out, we popped into the Highland Center to check out the map selection.

We passed on the "I climbed Mt. Willard" bumper sticker.

Peak: Mount Willard Ledges
Elevation: 2,800 feet (Gain: 900 feet)
Distance: 3.2 miles round trip
Route: Up and back, Mt. Willard Trail
Conditions: Partly cloudy, 50 degrees F

Mount Carrigain, October 5, 2015, Pemigewasset Wilderness, White Mountain National Forest

Carrigain, the view from Zealand Falls Hut

I've been reading Samuel Adams Drake's 1882 account of White Mountain hiking, The Heart of the White Mountains: Their Legends and Scenery. Of Mount Carrigain, my third to last 4,000 footer, he wrote...

"Carrigain is solid, compact, massive. It is covered from head to foot with forest. No incident in the way diverts the attention for a single moment from the severe exertion required to overcome its steeply inclined side; no breathing levels; no restful outlooks; no gorges; no precipices; no cascades break the monotony of the escalade. We conquer, as Napoleon's grenadiers did, by our legs. It is the most inexorable of mountains, and the most exasperating."

True that.

View from fire tower on Carrigain

Although it is unclear if his account referred to my route or another earlier approach, the up and back hike via the Signal Ridge Trail to the summit of Mount Carrigain certainly makes for a big day. The relatively flat approach route from Sawyer River Road and across Carrigain Brook covers nearly two tedious miles. Then the climbing begins. As Drake describes, the climb is unrelenting and noticeably devoid of vista points, waterfalls, and other natural landmarks. One just has to slog along, steeply and consistently, until reaching the 4.5 mile post, where the open ridge line is (finally) reached and the hiker is rewarded with great views to the east. That point marks the home stretch, as the fire tower on Carrigain's summit peaks out over the partially-wooded summit just a half mile to the north.

Looking to the fire tower, along the final ridge approach

It took me 6 hours round trip for an up and back to the summit, which included a nice break underneath the fire tower for a snack and rest in the warm October sun. The early hour on a Monday meant that I had the summit all to myself.

It made the hike up the most "inexorable and exasperating" of mountains worthwhile.

Kind of.

Peak: Mount Carrigain
Elevation: 4,700 feet (Gain: 3,300 feet)
Distance: 10 miles
Route: Up and back, Signal Ridge Trail
Conditions: Partly Cloudy, 40 degrees F

Zealand Falls Hut, October 4, 2015, Pemigewasset Wilderness, White Mountain National Forest

Sometimes, one just wants to amble in the woods over flat earth. So many of the hiking trails in the Whites involve steep ascents, rocky footing, slippery tree roots, and boulder scrambles that even the shortest of trails can still be tough on the legs and lungs. Hoping to ease our way into a two week-long visit to NH and Maine, K and I opted for a Sunday hike on what I think is the very best of the easy trails/warm up hikes -- Zealand Trail to the Zealand Falls Hut.

Beaver Ponds along Zealand Trail

At a round trip distance of 5.5 miles and only 829 feet of elevation gain (almost all of it at the rock staircase up the falls to the hut), the Zealand Trail makes for a nice and easy walk past swamps, beaver ponds, waterfalls and multiple vista points. Our drive in to the parking area at the end of Zealand Road took us past the trail head for Mount Hale and we remembered our icy climb to the summit two years before -- a day when one of the "easiest" 4,000 footers was rendered nasty tough. I also recalled that Zealand was the jumping off point for our one-day traverse of the Bonds -- which now lives on in infamy as "The Longest Day" of all of 4,000 footer day hikes,

Easy grades on the Zealand Trail

We took our time hiking along the easy grades through forest and over boardwalks, stopping often to admire the fall foliage and glass the bird species still hanging around before winter. At Zealand Pond, the trail loops around the southern shore to the base of the falls. Thus begins the only steep part of the hike -- a 1/8 mile of rough stone staircases leading to the AMC hut.

Zealand Falls in Autumn

We used the hut as our lunch spot and then admired the view from the top of the falls, which you can hear cascading downward from the porch of the hut. Of all the huts, I think Zealand might be in the most picturesque. More importantly, it is a nice destination for a warm up hike and relaxing lunch before a couple weeks of North Country outdoors adventuring.