Carter Ledge and Middle Sister Mtn., August 11, 2007

Our next hike is Carter Ledge / Middle Sister Mtn., Sue offers the following preview:

My plan is to park in the lot behind the little store above Chocorua and start up the Piper Trail. At 1.2 miles we will bear right at the Nickerson Ledge Trail. The Nickerson Ledge Trail heads uphill from the Piper Trail. It runs fairly level to the Carter Ledge Trail which we will pick up after another 0.8 mile. This section of the Carter Ledge Trail is rougher with ledge scrambling but offers great views. After 1.7 miles on the Carter Ledge Trail we will pick up the Middle Sister Trail and pass over each of the "Three Sisters". At the Third Sister we will continue down the Piper Trail and back to the trailhead. The hike is probably 8 miles in length. If it is rainy we probably want an alternative plan due to the ledges.

NEXT HIKE: August 11, Carter Ledge and Middle Sister Mtn.
MEETING SPOTS: Puffin Stop in Wakefield (junction of Rt. 16 and 109) at 8:00 a.m.
Behind Davies General Store on Rt. 16 at 9:00 a.m
HIKE LEADER: Sue Murphy

Sue took us on a spectacular hike on Saturday, here is her report:

What a beautiful day for a hike! There were 8 hikers and 2 dogs who happily headed up the Piper Trail at about 9:15. All of us chatting about the "perfect day for a hike!" At 1.2 miles we turned right and picked up the Nickerson Ledge Trail where we climbed 0.2 mile to the Nickerson ledge. It was there that Claudette announced the first (of several) "snack" breaks. We enjoyed the reprieve from climbing the steadily steep Nickerson Ledge Trail.

From there we continued on and picked up the Carter Ledge Trail. At the Carter Ledges Claudette insisted on another snack break (or was this lunch)? From there we had a spectacular view of Chocorua and the ridge from Blue Mtn. to Chocorua.

The troupe then continued on toward the ridge and Middle Sister Trail. When we reached the ledgy steep slope of Third Sister, Sure-footed Jack and Mountain-goat Diane were already there to help us with our footing and give encouragement to Midas (dog!) who was having a hard time on the steep ledges. We successfully crossed the ledgy summit of Third Sister after another brief snack break called by... Claudette, of course!

The summit of Middle Sister has the remains of some sort of structure and was a perfect place for... another break! This was a beautiful spot with 360-degree views. We finished our lunches and Claudette even got in a short nap on one of the rocks. We continued on down a small col and back up to First Sister and the junction of the Piper Trail. No one seemed too enthused about doing a quick run up Chocorua which was a mere .6 miles from the junction so we continued down the 2.8 miles of the Piper trail to the parking lot. It was a wonderful hike and all agreed a "repeater".

Members may see more photos in our online photo album.