Chocorua mtn - Champney Falls trail

 Today was Chocorua mountain via the Champney Falls trail off of route 112. More of an adventure than we thought! It was about 40 degrees at the base and 30 at the top. Spring water levels making stream crossings tough. We made it over one tricky crossing only to find the trail crossed the same stream again a quarter mile away. The second crossing would have involved wet feet so we back tracked to first crossing and then bushwhacked to avoid the crossings. All of this took some time and we still ended up with wet feet from all the wet snow. The trail was a mix of packed snow, ice, and rock. One long section of ice closer to the top. Very nice waterfalls near the trail on the way up and a lot of them. A clear day with nice views of Mt Washington and the surrounding mountains. About 8 miles round trip. A lot of effort with today's conditions!

The mountain from a distance:

Start of the hike:

NH - Mostly Rain

 A rainy, foggy day clearing sort of right around sunset. 

Starks Hill Trails

 A return to Starks Hill Trails in Fryeburg ME for x country skiing. With rain in the forecast for tomorrow we figured we better get out. The area was mostly groomed this time. They do a great job and have the right equipment. Where there was ungroomed snow it was still nice powder so it never got above freezing here the last few days. The area is about 3 miles of skiing to go around the outer loop. There are a number of other trails in the middle so you can go on multiple loops using different trails. This is a weekend only place but good for that as there are few people. A cloudy day but a nice one with temperatures in the high 20's and little wind.