Mt Chocorua via Champney Falls

So this hike has ended up as one of my favorite hikes in The Whites.  What a great trail! We had so much fun today. I think it was nice to finally be out of boots and in trailrunners. I also learned about mud season as the trail is very soft. There is a lot of melting going on and water is plenty. I only started out with 2 liters, but hydrated hard all morning. We started at 10am and the lot was almost full. We hit snow and ice pretty quickly but made very good time to the Falls. The trail winds up along side of river and it was running very nicely. Im always amazed at how clear the water is in New Hampshire. We were in microspikes the second leg of the climb up. It was a nice gradual climb up and really only challenged Grayson, when we got to the rock scramble. He navigated it very nicely. I latered up his paws just before we came out above treeline with some Mushers Paw Wax and I could tell a difference. I did monitor his paws as we would hit the ledges as we ascended. Grayson is a hiking machine and really enjoys the other dogs and people he meets. He does very well off leash and on leash so we are pleased with how much he has progressed over the past few hikes. I think above treeline will get to be too much for him into July and August because of the heat.
We made the summit with few issues and did it pretty quickly. We sat on top and had some lunch. Grayson downed some Peanut Butter mixed with his treats. The views were absolutely stunning and I feel fortunate to live in such a place of amazing beauty. I have become familiar with the mountains up here so it's nice to look out from the summits and point to the one's we have climbed. Chocorua was no less amazing. I feel like the view looking straight up the back of Mt Washington with the quick snow melt is just gorgeous. You can look out from the top and point out so many 4000 Footers! On a really good clear day you can probably get a view of Old Speck.  We passed lots of people that were pretty ill equiped. I could not even imagine doing this without microspikes. The snow is melting very fast and is very slippery even with spikes on but you still get the needed traction. My feet ended up very muddy because I like to trudge through mud. So enjoy the pictures and we will see ya'll on the trail!

Mt Washington from the lower Champney Falls lookout

Trail Conditions, like this most of the way

Some tougher spots, but manageable with spikes

The lower ledge of Chocorua, looking up at the Sisters

Hanging out on the ledges, Mt Washington and the arm of the Southern Presi's

Treeline

Above treeline heading to the summit of Chocorua

Top of a mountain!

Grayson on Chocorua

Lunchtime

Team Chacopak on Chocorua

My favorite picture, Wak and Grayson

Chaco and Grayson Mt Chocorua

My beauties!

Team ChacoPak Mt Chocorua

The Sisters

Mt Washington

The Sandwich Range

Middle Sisters and Washington

Champney Falls

The condition of the bridge, the crossing is totally doable

New Trail runners for Wak

Wak picked up the new Merrell Proterra Vibram Trail Runners. These things are sweet looking. The young woman at EMS was very knowledgeable. Merrell had sent a rep to talk to them about the technology of a good sticky trail show. These will be getting broken in at Chocorua on Champney Falls so they will be put to the test.

Judgement Day

Every so often, a hike comes along and you get the sense that something is not safe. It can be because of weather, or terrain, or even laziness.  The day could not have been any better today, or perhaps in the end, it was too good. We set out this morning for Scott Road and The Hammond Trail up Mt Chocorua. For those of you that have never seen this mountain, it is truely a natural wonder. We hit Scott Road about 10 am with 2-3 other cars at the trail head. There is no longer any snow, so parking was ample. In all honesty, I did not really research much about this hike. We just sort of looked at the map this week and picked it out.  We figured it would just be better to avoid The Kanc. So, Mt Chocorua is at 3475 feet in elevation and has a ridge above treeline. When you enter the area, it sits perfectly for all to see from the road.  When looking at the map we also did not look at the amount of elevation we would be gaining.
We started out great. Grayson was having a blast being back out in the woods. We were as well. We climbed for about a 1000 feet before we got into the soft icy snow. We switched over to microspikes and encountered some very wet icy conditions going up to the saddle between Bald Mountain and Chocorua. We got to the Liberty Cabin and had a great view of the summit cone and the headwall we would be going up. The trail corridor became very tight going up and walking up rock slabs became very dangerous even with microspikes. We started to enter the chimney up to the summit when I made a judgement call. I was worried because I would have to more or less carry Grayson up the side of the mountain and then we would have to come back down on a slippery and icy slide. I was not going to risk it with a pup. I sat on a log a little disappointed, but quickly had the same thought I always have when I have to make a judgement call. I always remind myself that I am out doing what I love with the one that I love.  This week my wife and I celebrate our 3 year wedding aniversary. We are products of the trail and we formed this union doing what we love to do.  We have our 3rd honeymoon coming up in July.  Colorado was originally going to be our honeymoon, but things happen.  So Team ChacoPak will be doing lots of fun  hikes this summer. I think we are going to get Grayson on an overnight very soon. We hope to see you on the trail.

Scott Road Trailhead Hammond Trail

Chocorua Lake Pana

Mt Chocorua from Chocorua Lake

In the saddle

Grayson Mt Chocorua

Liberty Cabin

On the Ledge just before the climb up the chimney

Passaconaway, and Whiteface off in the distance

Grayson 5 months and 4 days

Wakapak at Liberty Cabin

Go Team Go

Grayson getting silly in a Watah Bah

Mt Tecumseh 4-14-13

We decided to go back to Mt Tecumseh to give Grayson his first 4000 Footer. Grayson made us look bad. He was strong the whole way, no problem.  Wak and I struggled. The snow was melted slightly so it was climbing through beach sand. None the less, the weather was interesting and let us try out Grayson's Gear. He loves the snow and was so excitted to see it again. We got to the ski trail junction pretty quickly and took our time humping to the top. We hit multiple bags of heavy sleet and snow, then sunshine and blue sky. Crazy weather day. Got some clearing at the top on the one over look. I attempted to go over the top down the Tecumseh trail, but it hasnt been broken out much. Lots of folks on the trail. Grayson did really well and is a strong hiker. He slept most of the way home and was ready to play by the time we got home.

Wakapak and Grayson on the Tecumseh Trail

Gearin up for some weather

Havin a snack close to the summit

One of the viewpoints on Mt. Tecumseh (4003')
Grayson's First 4000 Footer
4 months 29 days

Trail around the summit

Tripyramids