Today’s post has a bit of a theme: Ice. I went up to Mt Chocorua on a beautiful Saturday to get a taste of real snow cover and solitude. I hiked up via the Champney falls trail so I could get a look at the frozen falls on the way, but I ended up seeing a lot more ice than I had expected. It started early with a couple of stream crossings right near the start of the trail.
After some steady climbing I arrived at the falls I had been looking for. As expected, the small gorge had massive sheets of ice forming on the uphill side. In addition though there were an assortment of intricate ice formations across the area. I spent quite a while poking around in the early morning quiet to check them all out.
Eventually other people started to show up and I continued on up the mountain. Though most of the climb was not noteworthy, once I emerged onto the ridge between the summits, I was surrounded by incredible views. To the north was the heart of the pemi wildterness and presidential range, including a clear view of Mt. Washington. To the south were miles of hill country dotted with small lakes, many featuring some ice fishing. Most impressive though was the jagged summit of Chocorua which was clearly visible just over the ridge.
I climbed to Middle Sister, one of the minor summits and then across the ridge to Chocorua itself. On the traverse I saw even more examples of different kinds of ice. It was definitely a photographic journey, with many stops along the way.
After taking some time at the summit, it was back down the mountain along the same trail. The mountain continued to impress with more incredible views (and more ice formations) along the way, but much of it was familiar at this point. Though it certainly was not crowded, there were a number of people out on the trail this day. Clearly I was not the only one who came up this this idea. Great minds think alike.
