Middle Sister | Maine Wanderlust

The weekend before our big Taconic Crest Trail traverse, Jeff, John and I headed to Mount Chocorua to get in a last training hike. We set up for a traverse over Mount Chocorua with 1.5 ascents of the mountain. We needed to get back to the Portland area in early afternoon so we started crazy early, which is always beneficial for finding parking and beating the crowds. It was perfect hiking weather with high clouds, and I was able to trace 3 new White Mountain trails.

ROUTE

Spotted car at Hammond Trail parking on Scott Road in Tamworth, NH
Parked car at White Ledge Campground entrance on Route 16 in Albany, NH
Hiked Carter Ledge Trail to intersection with Middle Sister Trail
Right on Middle Sister Trail over the Sisters and to intersection with Piper Trail
Left on Piper Trail to summit of Chocorua and back down to intersection with Penacook Shelter Spur
Right on Penacook Shelter Spur to the shelter and back
Right on Piper Trail to intersection with Wentamoo Trail
Right on Wentamoo Trail to Hammond Trail
Left on Hammond Trail to spotted car

PHOTOS

STATS

Date: 08 May 2021
Distance: 13.4 miles
Moving Time: 05:16:18
Pace: 23:37/mile
Elevation Gain: 4944′

Tracing White Mountains Trails:
Middle Sister Trail
Camp Penacook Spur
Wetamoo Trail

Contact Me

maine.wanderlust@gmail.com

Trail Report

As the last weeks of winter rolled around I considered a winter ascent of Mount Washington. Unfortunately, there were a lot of icy trail reports that dissuaded me from attempting Washington. Instead, I decided to return to Mount Chocorua as I really enjoyed the summit and I was hoping that the lower elevation would mean less ice. Plus, in a few months the weather would be nice and undoubtedly the crowds would return to the mountains and I wouldn’t be hiking Chocorua then.

I chose Piper Trail as the starting point of the hike and would go up Nickerson Ledge Trail, Carter Ledge Trail and Middle Sister Trail to make the hike into a lollipop loop. I got to the parking lot at 8:00 am, and there were no cars in the lot. It was pretty windy (the final icing on the no-go-Washington cake) and partly cloudy. The forecast was calling for a significant drop in wind speed and a clearing of the clouds.