Hiking to Celebrate July 4th

For the July 4th holiday we celebrated with two hikes in the Sandwich Range in the southern part of the White Mountains (NH).

On the first day it was forecast to be blisteringly hot, so we were on the trail by 6am!  We hiked the Carter Ledge Trail ("Terrifying 25") to the top of Middle Sister ("52 WAV"), and then returned by the Middle Sister Trail.  We were lucky to have the summit to ourselves for over an hour before we saw any other hikers.  Zealand was able to navigate the rocky ledges without any problem and we were back at the car by 1pm.  This was a good thing because the temperatures reached over 100F by mid-afternoon and we were happy to be able to rest-up in the shade.

On the second day it had cooled down to the 80s, so we decided to tackle Mt Chocorua ("52 WAV") via the Brook Trail ("Terrifying 25").  Again, the rock ledges were a lot of fun and Zealand took them in his stride.  We saw many other people at the summit but still found a quiet spot out of the wind to take a nap.  The views were spectacular and we could see many miles in each direction.  On the way down we followed the Liberty Trail and explored the Jim Liberty Shelter as we passed by.

Day 1:

Day 2: