chocura trip report

“Chocura was my first mountain as a 5 year old. 3500 feet. Bare rock summit. From RT 16 north (in New hamphshire) it looks like the matterhorn. Sharp peak.


Went up with a friend and his kid (age 9). And my two boys (ages 6 and 10).


1. New hampshire state campground on a 95 degree day. the lake (white lake campground) was chock full of huge pasty white mullet headed tattooed ugly people.

Golly . ..americans are ugly when they are close to naked. Fat and ugly.


2. Sleeping a a cabin tent with 5 (even if 3 of them are small) in heat and humidity doesn't allow for much sleeping.

3. NH has gotten a lot of rain. The mosquitos on the first 1.5 miles of the trail were incredible. I haven't seen or felt mosquitos that bad since I was in Denali park 12 years ago (this week!).

3. We made the decision to turn around at mile 3.2 . . .only .2 from the junction of another way down, and only .4 from the summit.

4. Lighting storm. Thunder and. At mle 3 the Brook Trail come out of the woods onto the bald rocky summit cone. All exposed ledges. It just made NO sense to continue with the kids (or with anyone I suppose). My friend and I wondered if we owuld have gone on if we had been by ourselves. The short answer was . . ..we would have been on top 45 minutes earlier and avoided them altogether.


5. By and large the kids did great. My two have done a fair amount of hiking, including Cardigan a couple of years ago. Theyare used to being on woods trails for a couple/few hours at a time. So while the 6 year old had occaisional "my legs are tired" comments (when the trail got steep). . ..it never amounted to a serious protest. the 10 year old did me proud. He led the whole way up and down. Never complained once. Was enthusiastic. Had fun. Carried his own pack (32 oz nalgene, sweatshirt, rain jacket, snacks, flshlight).

He was jsut great.


My friends son hasn't done as much hiking and went along accordingly. A little more complaining. A little more "are we there yet, do we have to do this, can't we turn around, this is too long" sort of stuff. My friend managed him pretty well and he did fine considering.

6. It was f-ing hot and humid. It was 87 at 10 am. and the air was saturated.

My big guy drank a full 32 oz nalgene plus some of mine.

My little guy and I polished off my 96 oz hyro-bladder plus a 32 oz nalgene (all a 50/50 mix of gatorade and water).




7. It was fun playing on the rock slides and swimming holes at the lower falls of the swift river on the Kanc.

8. Dinner on the dock in Meredith NH,right on the North western tip of Winnepeasuake.



Good trip all the way around.

Mosquitos, lighting and oppressive heat and humidity notwithstanding.

My wife and I are doing the Southern Presidentials with the boys in July . ..after how well they did on this trip . .. I think they'll do great.”

“Glad you had fun.

1. It gets 95* in NH?
2. You have tattooed people with mullets in the NE? Say it ain't so. I thought my home state of 'Bama cornered the market.”

“Oh . . .


and BEAR sighting.


Saw a black bear from Route 16 on the way back to camp after dinner in N. Conway.

Crossing a grassy slope on a road side gravel pit.

I spotted him from the passenger seat. My friend pulled a U-turn and we all got a prety good look at him from 75 yards as he ambled into the woods.

Pretty good sized.”

“DH --

the campgroud was SO quiet and peacefull as we were setting up camp. I couldn't understand it.

then we got down to the lake for a swim.



the first two women we saw were amazing (in the obese sense) and sumburned . . .and tattooed. . . . .


And it just got worse.


I know I sound like a snob . .so be it. Its not hard to see what the medical reports about the health and size of the average american are about when you are at a beach like that.

It was just gross. Standing in water up to their waists (like water buffalo taking the wieght off), bad tattooes . . .drinking bad canned beer.”

“the is Chocura from Chocura Lake (where we swam after coming down).

”

“Chocorua's probably my favorita mountain i've ever hiked, and i've hiked quite a few around here considering I live a decent ten minutes from the trail head of chocorua. Over al I think i've stood on the summit atleast 8 times, half being in the winter, which in my opinion is far more beutiful then in summer. Lee, if you really want a nice recreational hike for the family, try going up Chapney Falls in mid March, in snowshoes that is. It's a perfect hike, and not that dangerous on a nice day.”