M O U N T   C H O C O R U A

White Mountain National Forest
Southern New Hampshire

Oooo la la! There's a bit of mountain love going on here!

One last glimpse at Mount Chocorua before we reenter the scrub forest. Geeze, the fog is pretty bad right now, I can no longer make out the peak. Shrouded in fog now, the mountain is also shrouded in legend. Did you know there are many legends about this mountain? Yes, and the most popular involves fox poison, a dead child, revenge, and a leap to sudden death. How so you ask? Well, let me tell you a little tale.

In the mid-1700s a Penacook Indian chief by the name of Chocorua entrusted the care of his son to a local white family, the Campbells. While on a journey to visit long banished family members living in Quebec, Chocorua's son accidentally swallowed, of all things, fox poison. Upon Chocorua's return he learned of his son's death and went into a rage. He killed Cornelius Campbell's wife and children to avenge his son's death, believing they had murdered him. When Cornelius learned of the horrific events that had befallen his family, he rounded up a group of men and chased Chocorua to the summit of the mountain. Trapped at the top, Chocorua leapt to his death, but not before uttering a curse upon the white settlers. The curse was blamed for unexplained deaths to cattle in neighboring towns.

The story is only a tale, and probably a tall one at that, but it's a fact that there indeed once lived a Penacook chief by the name of Chocorua. Other peaks in the area have been named after Penacook chiefs: Passaconaway, Paugus, Wonalancet, and Kancamagus.

We decide to mix things up a bit and descend the mountain by a different route. We'll hike Middle Sister Trail for a little while then jump on the Carter Ledge Trail. Carter Ledge Trail will take us back to a lower portion of Piper Trail, the trail we ascended the mountain on. From there it'll be a straight shot to the finish line.

We're hiking on Middle Sister Trail right now. From here we get a good over-the-shoulder view of fog covered Mount Chocorua. Swinging our attention forward, in the distance atop Middle Sister we see some sort of observation outpost.