| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Middle Sister, Mt. Chocorua, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Piper Trail, Nickerson Ledge Trail, Carter Ledge Trail, Middle Sister Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, December 6, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lot was plowed, bathrooms stocked full of TP. I was able to use my allotted ration of "five squares a day" after a long ride and a lot of coffee. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No issues on any crossing, the one down low on Piper was solidly frozen, likely thanks to the -15 temps the day before |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
One blowdown of memory on Nickerson, but not really a large impediment. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Shelley did great although needed help on Carter Ledge in a few spots. In hindsight, we should not have done this with her with us on CL. For reference, this canine has a NH100W (single season). So use that as your guide. Not trying to say "we did it, no one else can/should" just saying it took the septuplet of us to help her out on about a handful of pitches. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
(Teal Goat, MattJim, SS, The Home Demon, Pretzel, Just_Steve, Monkey 'Malpa')A FINE day on the Sachem's crown. Snow has a consistency of a sugar/powder beach sand because it's been just so cold. It wont consolidate. I wore snowshoes from the car to the summit ledges, as did our septulet. We broke out Nickerson, Carter, and Middle Sister from Champney. Who would have thunk it? Spikes to the summit. I am not sure if we where on the trail, or if I have ever summited this peak from an actual trail, but we found a way on the westerly side of the cone. In the clouds, but it wanted to break. We where treated with a Brocken Spectre, which was pretty wild to have happen at 1:30 but I guess that's the low sun angle this time of year. Spikes back to the car, there where plenty of gremlins down low on the ascent and more had appeared on the way down (plus traffic had spread it out). There were two other guys who bare booted after us over to Middle Sister so that trail is probably post holed now as there was 1'-2' of powder + deeper drifting. I would assume this pair also went DOWN carter ledge, as they left before us in the morning, and they weren't there when we got back. I didn't see a press release, but going DOWN carter ledge.... in the winter.... not the smartest of itineraries, so I am guessing they are alive. |
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 | Name: |
The Teal Goat, The Home Demon & Legion |
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 | E-Mail: |
sea2thebiscuit@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-12-08 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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