Piper Trail Ramble

Continuing on some ramblings around Mt. Chocorua, I took a walk up the Piper Trail to Camp Penacook and the first view ledge above. I hadn't been up this way in a decade and figured it was time to check it out.

 

This sign provides a little trail history at the large trailhead parking area off Route 16.

 

This popular route is well-constructed and pleasant to hike.

After this junction Piper Trail follows an easy-graded section along the NE side of the Chocorua River valley.

This is a really nice section of trail.

In a 1956 aerial photo, this steep drainage shows up as a narrow open slide. Within 25 years it had been closed in by tree growth.

Farther along, I made a short, steep bushwhack to a familiar small gravel slope/slide that offers impressive views up to the surrounding ridges.

Looking across the valley to the great SE ridge of Chocorua, traversed by the Hammond Trail.

A unique perspective on nearby Carter Ledge.

Another unusual view: Mount Chocorua and the Sisters rising above the headwaters of the Chocorua River.

 

Chocorua's rocky cone, a little fuzzed out by snow flurries.

A beautiful trailside hardwood glade.

Footbridge over the Chocorua River, here a mountain brook.

An attractive section through hemlock forest above the river.

Higher up, Piper Trail ascends via many rock steps.

At this turn the trail follows a major relocation, with several switchbacks, that the WMNF constructed in the late 1970s, bringing the route up onto the crest of a spur ridge with several view ledges.

More rock steps.

No camping in the Chocorua Forest Protection Area except at Jim Liberty Shelter and Camp Penacook.

Junction with the spur to Camp Penacook,

The spur is 0.16 mile long and climbs 200 feet. It starts out with a steep rock staircase.

The final steep approach to the shelter, made a little tricky by some hardpacked snow and ice. I used spikes to come down.

A ledge right in front of the shelter provides only a limited view these days.

The scoop on Penacook.

 

A problem at many shelters and campsites.

Chocorua's summit looms above.

The single tentsite is down below.

Camp Penacook was built by the Chocorua Mountain Club in 1916. It was named for the tribe to which Chief Chocorua belonged. At the time the CMC noted that with its capacity of twelve persons, it was one of the largest shelters in the White Mountains. In addition, “it commands a splendid view of the Bear Camp Valley and the distant Ossipees. It is substantially built, and, with its shingle roof and southern exposure should be a comfortable camp in winter as well as summer.” In his 1925 book, Skyline Promenades, J. Brooks Atkinson wrote of the shelters’ “huge natural fireplace” and the long view south and east, and “to the west a near view of the precipitous summit of Chocorua, which rises five hundred feet above.” Today it is maintained by the WMNF.

The water source is a small nearby brook, one of the headwaters of Chocorua River.

Back on Piper Trail, I climbed to the first view ledge on the SE spur ridge of First Sister. This spot at 2630 ft. is a worthy destination in its own right, even if you do not intend to climb to the summits.

A great look down at Carter Ledge.

Peering up at Middle Sister.

Chocorua's cone presides above.

Chocorua's SE ridge, with Silver Lake and Ossipee Lake in the distance.

On the way down, shortly before headlamp time, I caught glimpses of a crescent moon suspended above Bald Mountain.

 

South Side of Chocorua

The Mount Chocorua area has long been one of my favorite haunts, but I've more or less neglected it for the last several years. It was a geocaching event that brought me back to the area. After attending a geocaching breakfast gathering in North Conway, Carol and I joined several fellow geocachers to grab a couple of new hides along Scott Road, which provides access to the trailhead for the Hammond Trail, a quiet southern approach to Mount Chocorua. 

 

This summer and fall the trailhead parking area was greatly expanded as part of the development of the new Mary Mullarkey All Persons Trail, a joint project of the Tamworth Community Nurse Association and the Chocorua Lake Conservancy. The CLC newsletter notes:"This 0.5 mile out and back forest trail is a mix of deciduous and conifer trees and features boardwalks, resting benches, and a viewing platform at a destination point on the Chocorua River. The ADA-compliant trail is located on conservation land owned by the Korson family and is known as the Mary Mullarkey All Persons Trail in honor of Tom Korson’s late wife and Andrew Korson’s mother. Mary Mullarkey passed away in 2021, after many years living with multiple sclerosis. Throughout her distinguished career, she served as a Supreme Court Justice in Colorado for 23 years—12 of which were spent as the state’s first female Chief Justice—prior to her retirement in 2010."

Part of the new trail has a smooth gravel and crushed stone surface...

...followed by an impressive section of boardwalk.

At the end is a viewing platform.

It overlooks a peaceful spot on the Chocorua River.

Our group of senior citizens found the cleverly hidden cache at the platform.

The other folks headed out while Carol and I grabbed our packs and set off on a short hike along the trails of the Chocorua Conservation Lands.

We hiked an easy 2.6 mile loop around Heron Pond (aka Lonely Lake), passing by this privately owned historic farmhouse of the 19th century Hammond farm.

The Heron Pond Trail climbs over an esker, a long and narrow glacial ridge.

Interesting signage by the pond.

We walked a side path down to the shore of the frozen pond, a classic kettle hole pond with no inlet or outlet. In the background is a small ridge known as Bickford Heights.

Nobody will mistake Carol for a deer during rifle season.

Good signage provided by the Nature Conservancy in its Frank Bolles Preserve, named for a late 19th century naturalist and author. His At the North of Bearcamp Water is a White Mountain classic, with an entire chapter devoted to Lonely Lake..

Very pleasant walking on these trails.

The next day I returned to the Hammond Trail trailhead and headed up that trail for a climb to Bald Mountain and the ridge beyond. In its first easy 0.6 mile, Hammond Trail crosses Stony Brook twice. Frank Bolles deemed the headwaters of Stony Brook to be "The Heart of the Mountain."

Bald Mountain looms ahead.

Hammond Trail climbs steadily through a hardwood forest dominated by beech...

...and oak.

Higher up, the trail climbs by pleasant switchbacks.

 

Some ice on a steep ledge approaching the crest of Bald Mountain.

A peek back to the south.

Off trail exploration reveals why it's called Bald Mountain. I walked carefully to avoid trampling lichens.

A view south to Chocorua Lake.

Zoomed.

A small white pine sprouts from a crack in the bedrock.

Ossipee Range in the distance.

Glacial erratic.

From northern ledges (which are accessed by a well-worn 100 yard path from Hammond Trail), a striking view of Mount Chocorua, the Three Sisters and Carter Ledge rising from the Chocorua River valley.

Carter Ledge, a fine objective in its own right. On a 1921 Chocorua Mountain Club map it was labeled as "Sandslides Ledge."

Chocorua's cone.

I spotted a couple of hikers on the right side of the summit.

Looking northward to the Moats and Kearsarge North. White Ledge is in the foreground under Kearsarge North.

I returned to Hammond Trail and continued north up the ridge, passing the junction with Weetamoo Trail.

 

No camping in the Chocorua Forest Protection Area except at Jim Liberty Shelter and Camp Penacook.

This scramble up a rocky cleft can be a little tricky, especially with some crusty snow mixed in. There is a well-beaten bypass to the right.

Though lightly used today, Hammond Trail is the oldest trail route to Mt. Chocorua. It was cut around 1860 by David Hammond and his sons, who had purchased a farm near Stony Brook at the south base of the mountain a year earlier. (The farmhouse had been built in 1829 by Joseph Bennett, and was owned by Warren Tasker from 1846-1859.) At the time the Hammonds built the trail, the crest of the ridge and the broad top of Bald Mountain were mostly bare ledge with extended views. Trampers using the trail would tether their horses in the field at the Hammond farm while they were on the climb. Visitors might be treated to one of Mrs. Hammond’s famous pies. In his 1876 guidebook, Moses Sweetser noted that the most popular route up Chocorua was the path from the Hammond farm. Though the ridge is now mostly wooded. there are still a few expanses of open ledge above Bald Mountain. This expansive outcrop is reached by a short side path just above the rocky cleft.

At the eastern edge of these ledges there's a nice view of Carter Ledge.

Typical terrain along this ledgy, scrubby ridge.

Another ledge viewpoint reached by a side path at the 2.5 mile mark. This was my turnaround point.

Long view out towards southwestern Maine.

Heading back towards Bald Mountain through nice spruce forest.

Pre-sunset glow over Red Hill.

Last peek.

Deep leaf cover heading down through the hardwoods.