Middle Sister

Trail: Piper Trail, Middle Sister Trail, Carter Ledge Trail, Nickerson Ledge Trail

Conditions: Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“Party of 4 up Chocorua via Piper, across the Sisters & down via Carter & Nickerson Ledge. Piper was moderately packed but the base was soft and there was minor drifting and postholing through it; we started in spikes but switched to snowshoes within 0.5mi. Passed other hikers barebooting and two folks coming down part of Piper in fat tire bikes. The summit cone slabs were a mix of ice, hardpack, drifts of varying depth, postholes through drifts. Ice wasn't bad except on the last scramble before the summit --crampons and/or an ax wouldn't be overkill on that sketchy spot (although I made it up in snowshoes and down in spikes). Middle Sister Trail, Carter Ledge, and Nickerson weren't broken out--any previous work there was thoroughly drifted in but there was a noticeable trough in some places. Some of the drifts on the sisters and upper Carter were mighty. Snow was alternately powder and sastrugi. All of the ledges were deep snow ramps which we butt-slid down or skied down on our snowshoes. No exposed ice. Despite our work, I wouldn't call it "broken out" given the snow depth and loose powder conditions, and wouldn't advise ascending via Carter Ledge unless you enjoy two steps forward- one step back shuffle. Nickerson steeps were sun-crusted and not as deep as Carter. Snow squalls all day with no accumulation. Where was the predicted sun?”

Trail: Champney Falls Trail, Champney Falls Cutoff, Middle Sister Trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“In actuality, Middle Sister was not broken out, but it definitely makes sense that it was reported to be. Let me start at the beginning. We planned to hike for sunrise, and wore snow shoes door-to-door. The Champney Falls Trail up to the first falls spur is well packed with minimal post holes. Between there and Champney Falls Cutoff it is softer, and there are more post holes. Champney Falls Cutoff was completely drifted over. I thought, “It’s only 0.3 miles, how bad could this be?” Ummm…. The first .2 miles were knee-deep powdery snow, which was relatively straightforward. Then we got to that awesome ledgy area with the great views … and with drifted snow it looked a lot like the Jefferson snowfield. That is one of my least favorite things. I sucked it up and went across, but knew that I would not be returning that way! After that, I came across a very obstructing blowdown and that’s where the wheels fell off the bus because I got a wee bit wet crawling under it. Ok time for a clothing swap! With Echo and I in dry clothes we turned right uphill to meet with the Middle Sister Trail. At this point I was breaking chest deep snow, wondering if I had accidentally been transported to the Carter Moriah Trail (I had not), and questioning my life choices. Why is this so hard? Umm, Echo kept standing on the back of my snow shoes. Thanks, Echo!! We finally got to the Middle Sister Trail, hoping to see beautiful snowshoe tracks … and there was a single set of drifted over snowshoe tracks. OMG. We followed them, more or less, and attempted to reach the Middle Sister summit, but 50 yards below it, when I could see the remnants of the tower base, it all seemed to be just a big wall of snow in front of me. Looming like a monster and very much resembling that bad stuff that the Avalanche Center keeps posting about. Umm, nope. There were no snowshoe tracks, at this point, and I couldn’t figure out how to climb that looney tunes mess safely so we turned around. We definitely missed sunrise, and I was kind of bummed, but we did get some great views from First Sister on the way back. We followed that one set of snowshoe tracks as best as possible, down the Middle Sister Trail toward Champney Falls Trail, but found ourselves in really deep snow multiple times. Like chest deep. Were these drifts or spruce traps? I don’t know. I did a lot of laughing, Echo did a lot of barking, eventually we got where we needed to go. About 50 yards from the Champney Falls Trail junction, all of a sudden there was a beautiful snowshoe trench … with really deep postholes. I believe this is why it was reported that Middle Sister was broken out; it totally looks like it from that junction. Well, it’s broken out now! LOL. Thinking about Middle Sister for sunrise? My advice is to wait until summer! This will be my last NETC post. I was really distressed by the mean Potty Mouth People last week (so distressed that I couldn’t even write a trail report about that hike). I am switching to IG-only trail reports, so I will see you guys over there. Bikecamphikegirl- out.”

Trail: Carter Ledge Trail, Middle Sister Trail, Piper Trail

Conditions: Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“I went up the trail today and found some aged boot tracks. The first half of the trail was no issue. I was in microspikes, but snowshoes would have been more appropriate. There is an amazing vista point about half-way up, and this is where I switched to snowshoes. The tracks were more scarce due to increased snow cover, and it was hard to follow. I ended up bushwhacking a handful of times, and I fell into snow up to my waist on a few occasions. The Three Sistsers Trail is also pretty rough and hard to follow until you get to the Piper Trail Junction. I absolutely recommend snowshoes. It's doable, but it is just so untraveled in winter that I had to break most of the trail, which is mostly steep ascents, making it tiring. Bring a friend in case you need to break trail. The terrifying 25 steepness was no issue. A couple scrambles were steep, but very managable.”