As is my tradition now, I took advantage of a three day weekend, using the middle day with less traffic for a hike. It was a perfect Sunday, sunny and warm, though the bugs are out - boo. After a lot of pondering about options, I decided on Chocoura again, this time up the other side of the mountain. It's a little shorter, less steep, and there's a waterfall. Really great hike, two thumbs up, definitely recommend!
For whatever reason, I woke up at 6:15 am. I lay in bed for about 10 minutes, but then I was ready to go. I was out the door and on the road by 7. I've been listening to this podcast - the humberman lab, and I listened to an episode about sleep for the ride up. His episodes are really long. This one took the entire trip up, but super interesting. So, I got there in no time.
I guess the hiking season is underway, because when I arrived at 9:30 there were two park rangers with a table set up, making sure that people have water I'm sure, and pointing out that you can go down the wrong side. That would really suck.
I headed off right around 9:30 - it was a nice day in the woods, the trail is pretty consistently up hill, but it's one of those trails were the elevation gain is spread out though the entire hike, so it wasn't too bad. At 1.4 miles I debated if I should go to the waterfall on the way up, or if I would really be up for stopping on the way down. I decided to try to make sure to stop on the way down - I was in the groove, and didn't want to stop. One of the amazing things about this trail is that it has SWITCHBACKS! Really good ones, where you are going up hill, but at a nice steady pace, not a NH killer one. There was also some nice slabby rock, and some of the trail was just dirt instead of a pile of rocks.
When Champney Falls trail intersected with Piper I thought it was going to be super uphill, but there was actually a pretty flat section before it came out of the tree line. Then there was a false peak which made me sad, and some more uphill on all kinds of rock. I was really hungry by this point, and dying to get to the top. A lot of people were saying it was hard to find the trail, but I didn't actually think it was. There were yellow blazes and cairns. You just had to look for them. Making sure to follow them I was able to go up the top on the best spot. I tagged the top, admired the view, and then found a windy ledge away from the bugs.
I brought three mini whole wheat bagels with cheddar cheese and avocado and they were delicious! I ate two at the top and saved one for the falls on the way down. I also had an orange - I've been on a big orange kick lately, and it really hit the spot at the top, juicy and sweet. I sat up top and admired the view - you can see a lot of the White Mountains, and I felt good about myself that I have climbed all of the tallest ones. There were a lot of people up top, even one guy reading the Wall Street Journal. Weirdo.
After a bit I headed back down. I did a good job with trusting my feet on the rocks and with the switchbacks I was able to make really good time. I actually completed the hike in less than book time. Partly I think because all the swimming has helped with my aerobic fitness, and partly because I was moving so fast on the downhill.
When I got to the turnoff for the falls I was excited to see them - a little part of me wanted to go for a swim, but then I would have had wet feet after, and that's no fun on a hike, so I just dunked my hand in the water. It was a little buggy looking anyhow. The last mile or so was just like walking on a road, super easy. I got back to my car and was so sweaty and gross. Fortunately I had packed wipes and a clean outfit, which I went into the disgusting bathroom to change into.
It was only like 2:30, and I was so close to the LL Bean outlet that I decided to go there for a short bit of shopping. I got a new bean bag for winter swimming - it's big enough to hold a coat. On the drive back I stopped at a supermarket and bought an egg salad sandwich and some popcorn and I got home at around 6. Excellent hike, would definitely do again!
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