Chocorua solo

Journal

Hiked Mt. Chocorua again today, solo this time. Knocked off the Sisters from my 52 with a view list. In such a good head space after the hike. Pauline played tourist in Conway while I was hiking. About an inch of snow, had a couple slips, but didn't fall on my ass. I wanted to see how my knee would hold up, and it did quite well. Felt a bit of pain 3/4 of the way down, but still made really good time. Took 5 hours up, over the sisters, and back down. I was heading down from the eastern peak using what looked like the trail (no other hikers used the trail on the snow), but it was a rather precarious slope. I decided to take out my compass and map (okay I was using my GPS, but its compass is useless, hence using a real compass) and they indicated I should have been looking a little behind and to the left of me. Sure enough, the trail was hidden in the snow, just over a rock, and in some bushes. Awesome day.

For gear, I had brought, but didn't use my down jacket and fleece, and only wore my LL Bean long sleeve shirt for a short distance. But I am glad I had brought them just the same. With my knee, I could have been slown down to a very slow walk, and it would have been a challenge to keep warm going slow. I also had 2 headlamps, since I thought I would likely be hiking out in the dark, but I managed to make it back a little before it did. The trail was getting hard to see, but still light out. I had been thinking about at least getting my headlamps out, but didn't.

Brought: Patagonia capaline (worn) EMS pants (worn), Marmot rain jacket (worn), LL Bean gloves (worn), bigger puffy, fleece, LL Bean long sleeve, emergency blanket, go bag, 2 headlamps.

Wish I brought: None.