Mount Chocorua Day Hike

Last weekend we got our first hike of the season under our belts, and we both reveled in how great it felt to put our packs on. There’s certainly some irony to backpacking as a means of relaxation… that loading myself with 20-40 pounds of weight truly makes me feel lighter. It was a late decision, but Friday night around 10 PM we decided that Saturday morning we would head north to hike Mount Chocorua.

Here now I feel the need to briefly mention of the mountain’s indisputably most widely known and adored namesake, pictured below.

Our cat Chocorua’s most notable attribute is his size, but Mount Chocorua measures “only” 3,478 feet. In my hasty research the night before we hiked, I found numerous sources, most notably the AMC, claiming Mount Chocorua to be one of the most photographed mountains in the world. Piper Trail is the most popular trail, and most other trails converge with it towards the summit. Since Mike had hiked Piper already, and we were hoping to avoid crowds, we opted for the slightly less popular Champney Falls trail instead. (My research also brought an unsettling discovery of an unverified and slightly haunting myth about the curse of Chocorua. If you have time, I encourage you to check out the Wikipedia page.)

Though we were only planning a day hike, we knew it would benefit both of us to carry some weight in our packs, so we loaded them up. It felt great to be back on the trail and it was nice to get out ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, allowing our legs to kick off the season with one day of activity instead of three in a row.

The trail is little under 4 miles each way. We took our time and enjoyed playing with our new camera, a Sony Alpha a5100 we picked up on Mother’s Day. I’d recommend the Champney Falls Trail to anyone who loves a classic exposed New Hampshire summit, but if you’re looking for solitude, I’d go somewhere else. While it gets a bit technical towards the top with some hands-on scrambling, the summit is still accessible enough to get a bit crowded. Being early in the season, we also caught sight of the last traces of ice on the trail. Pictures below. Enjoy!