Chocorua

​In June of 2014, I drove to New Hampshire to visit old friends and do some camping. On June 27th I climbed Mount Chocorua and made a fantastic discovery: I am incredibly out of shape! My calves hurt for days after. I was slow and passed by virtually everybody, but I wasn’t the slowest on the mountain. I did pass a slug going the same way. There was a lot to see on the way up, such as lichen-encrusted rocks and trees.

​The purple areas on this rotting log are smooth and hard, while all around it is chipping away. It makes quite a design, doesn’t it?

​This tree seems to have been temporarily confused about which way was up:

​The mountain is rather steep most of the way up – much worse than Mount Monadnock – especially at the top where smooth rock curves down to become immense cliffs on two sides. Adding to the psychological intimidation, even after walking forever to reach the tree line, one can look to the left and see the top and just how far it is. The trail never seems to end. Being mostly bare rock on top, the trail is easy to lose and I ended up climbing straight up a wall for the last fifteen feet. The photographs do not at all do the view justice. In my peripheral vision, I could see that the nearest trees I could see were still very distant, giving the feeling that the view wrapped around underneath my feet and I was floating in the sky. It was a bit like standing in an OMNI theater.

The White Mountains are beautiful in the summer. Please comment.