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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Chocorua, Middle Sister, NH
Trails
Trails: Carter Ledge Trail, Piper Trail, Liberty Trail, Hammond Trail, Weetamoo Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, February 28, 2021
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes:  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes:  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes:  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Backpack left at parking lot when I left around 4pm 
 
Comments
Comments: Mount Chocura, First Sister, Middle Sister, Third Sister, Blue Mountain

What a wonderful day! Not knowing much about this particular area I just picked the hike based on it's nice looking "loop" feature and it did not disappoint. Started up Carter Ledge first before heading over to Chocorua which was the best way to do it for sure based on the amazing views in that direction. Conditions consisted mostly of a small layer of soft ice on top of a few inches of powder with another layer or not underneath(depended on the exposure, elevation etc.).
Only used my trail crampons(but microspikes would have been fine) until below Nickerson ledge where I switched to snowshoes as the fresh snow got a little bit more deep. It was clear I was the first person on the trail after leaving Piper Trail in a few days but luckily the past set of prints appeared to be snowshoes so conditions were not bad and easy to follow the trail. As I got over Nickerson ledge the snow got a bit deeper and went between 3-6" of loose snow under a small ice layer to 1-2.5ft of powder with a small rime layer depending on the exposure. The steep sections of Carter Ridge Trail proved to be difficult due to all the loose snow and sometimes very hard under layer of ice but nothing a bit of determination could not handle.

As things got more exposed the previous set of tracks more or less disappeared and I ended up following the "spirit" of the trail as I hadn't been here in the summer. All in wall it was pretty easy to find my way from Carter Ledge to the third sister. The last bit up the third sister was quite tough though with slow going at times due to the drifts or hard ice layer underneath. Anything that was on the windward side was hard enough that I did not break through though.

After hitting the first sister I ran into another group and the trail to Chocora was well tramped out and could have been done without snowshoes but I kept mine on to help maintain the trail. Heading down from the Chocura to Liberty Cabin the trail 100% disappeared and I guessed the way until I hit tree line again and found the trail markers. Again, no tracks to follow. Tracing my way around Chocura to Liberty turned to be fairly time consuming between the deep snow and steep angle on the side of the slope.

Reaching Liberty Cabin there was a snowmobile track down until the Liberty Trail breaks off again so things were well packed(to my disappointment!) After and until the Weetamoo trail I had to contend with some light postholing but nothing too severe since at these elevations things were quite solid and so not much damage was done. I also took a quick side trip down hammond trail to check out Bald Mountain for fun, nice view and worth the extra 1 mile.

Shortly after heading down Weetamoo I ran into another hiker doing a loop lower down, it was nice to have another set of tracks to follow at that point although being lower there wasn't much trail breaking to do anyways. There on it was a pretty easy walk out with a hard base despite the few inches of loose snow and ice from the storm the day before.

All around an amazing day, honestly a great balance between breaking some trail but not killing myself in 3ft of powder! Really glad I went ahead and did this loop, will be coming back in the future for sure.  
Name
Name: Ian 
E-Mail
E-Mail:  
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2021-03-01 
Link
Link: https:// 
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