"52 With A View" means 52 peaks in New Hampshire that have beautiful views - maybe there was a fire that burned the top of a mountain, or a storm cleared the top. They have their own book:
and I think this is definitely a project I can embrace!
Once upon a time I came across a listing of New England ski resorts, listed by "Best View". It has been GREAT visiting them over the years! [Sunapee, Gunstock, Bretton Woods, Wildcat]
I went skiing up at Bretton Woods in February, and drove up through Conway and North Conway. There is a stretch on 16, when you go over a hill, a beautiful lake (Chocorua Lake) stretches out in front of you, with Mount Chocorua dominating straight ahead of you:
At 3475 feet, Chocorua wasn't on either my "4000 footers" list or my "100 Highest" list - SO I HAVE NOT CLIMBED IT (yet)!
And after my failed hike in March, I still have not climbed it!
Let's zoom-in on the area around Conway:
Look at all these Great Mountains!! Wendy and Ellie are day-tripping to the Vineyard, so I'm going to tackle Mount Chocorua and Middle Sister (again).
Looking at the trail map for the eastern approaches:
There are actually TWO trails here that are on the "Terrifying 25" - the list dedicated to climbing the scariest of New Hampshire's trails: Carter Ledge Trail going up from the east and Brook Trail going up from the southwest:
Unfortunately, the trailheads are just too far apart for me to "loop them". So I'l park at the "Piper Trail" lot, walk up Route 16, go up "Carter Ledge Trail", over on "Middle Sister Trail". It runs into "Champney Falls Trail", which runs into "Piper Trail", which goes to the Summit.
I like nice loops, so I'll continue down the southwest side of Chocorua, come back on the "West Side Trail", and then down on "Piper Trail":
I did 10.94 miles in 5 hours 42 minutes.
I got up to the Piper Trail turnoff at 11:30
and said goodbye to the Crosstrek at 11:45
About 2/3 mile up Route 16 I encountered the Lovejoy Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (New Hampshire Audubon):
with a nice trail:
Hey, I have my own trails to climb, so this one is not for today.
But just a little farther, I could see the pond/wetlands through the trees, so I ambled down for a nice picture:
A few minutes later I was at the trailhead:
It is a nice trail through the woods:
with some nice stretches through pine forest:
After 2 miles you start the uphill section:
and I shortly got to my first ledge, with its view of Mount Chocorua:
VERY NICE yellow blazes on this trail - it might twist and turn a little, but it is really hard to get lost:
At 1:40, Chocorua looks VERY FAR AWAY:
The ledges are pretty cool:
The "Terrifying 25" write-up for "Carter Ledge Trail":
"several semi-steep ledges en route to the summit of Middle Sister; only one portion really stands out as semi-challenging (but it's very short)"
I think this was it:
definitely something you only want to cross in nice dry weather!
I reached "Middle Sister Trail" at 2:30, and 5 minutes later was having lunch on Third Sister:
At 2:50 I was up on Middle Sister:
with its GREAT VIEW looking northwest:
and south to Mount Chocorua:
10 minutes later I was over on "Third Sister", still looking at Chocorua:
and the blow-up of the hikers on the crest:
35 minutes later I was up on the SUMMIT:
There is a 360° view - looking over at Middle Sister:
Those are the ledges I came up:
Looking south at Chocorua Lake
and west to various other White Mountain peaks:
I left there at 3:40, and a little after 5 I had gone down "Piper Trail" and was crossing a really nice little brook:
A nice shot from Google Earth:
I finished at 5:36 PM - 2 hours 20 minutes to get to my pepperoni pizza at Ellie's Pizza in Beverly Farms, then home for a HOT BATH - Wendy and Ellie got home 20 minutes after me! Thank you God for this Great "52 With A View"/"Terrifying 25" Day!
The temp is in the 80's (occasionally hits 91), so I'm driving with ALL MY WINDOWS OPEN AND THE SUN ROOF OPEN!
(Unfortunately, I think Wendy and Ellie are driving in air-conditioned splendor, with all the windows rolled up)
As a result, no books-on-cd for me today - just loud music from an mp3 cd that I burned back in November 2000:
Marvin Gaye - Anthology, 1995 double album
The Police - Message in a Box - cds 1+2, 1993 4-cd box set
This is the "box set" for The Police - I listened to cds 3+4 on my trip west last August, so here we are today with cds 1+2. They contain the albums Outlandos d'Amour, Reggatta de Blanc, and Zenyatta Mondatta, plus a bunch of other stuff (some excellent, some good, some not-so-good).
And then, just because Yes, I do know how to listen to classical music:
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry - Symphonies 3 + 4, 1992
Shameless Plug: if you enjoy this blog, you may like my other one about visiting Art Museums and National Parks (and hiking in the Rockies)
hyperlink: dixonheadingwest
http://dixonheadingwest.blogspot.com/
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