Middle Sister via Carter Ledge & Middle Sister Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Middle Sister via Carter Ledge & Middle Sister Trails (White Mountain National Forest)

Hike Type: -o- Loop

Distance: 8.69 miles

Elevation: 2,713 feet

My Time: 4 hours, 54 minutes (4 hours, 16 minutes moving)

Book Time: 5 hours, 42 minutes

Parking: Parking for only 4 non-camper cars at White Ledge Campground.
Hiking Challenges: Terrifying 25

The Hike 

Yesterday I made a couple phone calls to local mechanics, and they universally said "nope" and to contact the dealership... I spent some time digging through my files, found the warranty I was more or less bamboozled into buying, and found that all the buzzwords in the diagnosis were in the warranty. Christien came over and we paraded over to Parkway Honda, I dropped off my car and we waited... Robert, my service technician, eventually came up to me, knelt by my bedside, and showed me an email with highlights and circles. Honda recalled the failed part of my motor literally yesterday morning, and the fix would be totally free! I was SHOCKED. And so happy to finally catch a win. They said they'll call me early next week as they're just waiting for the parts and tools. Fine! We drove back to my place, and then I hopped in Christien's car and we went over to his place. He offered to let me borrow his car to go for a hike tomorrow (which is today, now), and I reluctantly took him up on it.

Now, it's the next morning, and I have my sights set on the damned Carter Ledge Trail! I famously hiked it years ago, not realizing it was on the Terrifying 25, and had a bad freeze at the sketchiest spot. To qualify for the Terrifying 25 list, I needed to hike the whole trail, so I started my day up at 5:15am and out at 5:30am for the White Ledge Campground. I christened the New Hampshire welcome center off of I-95 and managed to soak my shorts in someone's pee... That was a huge bummer. I later christened the Circle K in Ossipee, and eventually made it to the campground at 8:15am! The hiker parking is super limited. It can be found on the right after entering the campground, going straight past the little kiosk, and before the campsites in an open area. 

My original thought was to hike White Ledge first, but there was weather coming this afternoon, so I opted to get the sketchy part of the hike over with - time to go!

[8:24am - Start of Hike]

The hike starts by backtracking on the campground access road and turning right at the kiosk. I hiked past a few campsites, only one of which was occupied, and the trail starts at the far end of the little loop road at a clear sign.

[8:26am - Carter Ledge Trail]

I hiked past the sign and immediately caught a bunch of spider webs - the perils of weekday summer hiking! The yellow blazes were bright and clear and I couldn't help but think about how pretty this deciduous forest would be in a couple of weeks! The Carter Ledge Trail wiggled around some boulders and over some relatively fresh-looking bear poop before entering a darker pine forest. The grades were mostly easy with some short moderate pitches, and while it was nice out, it was humid in the woods. 

The trail crossed over some dry drainage beds, and I passed a White Mountain National Forest survey monument about 0.5 miles from the car. My legs were feeling unreasonably tired. Maybe because I have four liters of water? It was also humid, and I also had a LOT to eat and drink last night at Maggiano's... Who knows!

I followed a delightfully flat stretch at 0.88 miles from the start, and I realized that I left my bonus breakfast sandwich in the car! Sad! The trail steepened up to the junction with the Middle Sister Trail, which marked the start of my lollipop loop.

[8:51am - Carter Ledge Trail/Middle Sister Trail]

I drank some water at the junction and got my first bug bite du jour, but only because I was standing still. I was DRENCHED in sweat (per usual). 1.0 miles to the Nickerson Ledge junction!

The relatively gentle ramble continued for a while while the Carter Ledge Trail crossed over a bunch of dry, mossy stream beds. The trail naturally moderated again and I was feeling HEAVY. I passed a decently sized blowdown around 1.5 miles that was fully blocking the trail, and I slowly made my way into a younger birch forest. There was finally a breeze and little walking break up here before climbing back into a coniferous forest and flattening out on a wonderful, soft trail. There were blue skies ahead through the trees and a bunch of crazy squirrels.

This next bit was pretty easy and full of a few ups and downs, it felt reminiscent of the area where I had already been near the Nickerson Ledge Trail junction...

[9:16am - Carter Ledge Trail/Nickerson Ledge Trail]

...and it was! The junction was just a couple minutes down the trail. The sign said 2.0 miles to Middle Sister and 3.1 to Mt. Chocorua. I was nervous but excited for my redemption of the ledge - and at worst, at least I knew the views would be beautiful!

The ramble continued after the trail sign and I soon caught the first tree views high up to the ridge of the Sisters. I tried to purposefully slow down as the trail began to steepen, which is where the fun began! I climbed steadily with rough, gravelley footing to a slab with the first view over to Chocorua.

There was a very short flat stretch before another super gravelley, eroded push straight up, followed by a flat, and then a "square wave wiggle." There were tree views to the ridge on the other side of the Piper Trail's drainage, and a few more scrambles led to a better view of Mt. Chocorua.

I climbed some more and saw a few more nice views, including one back to the Ossipees before dipping into the woods. I re-emerged onto semi-open slabs with a nice breeze. I was drenched in sweat, but the trail was momentarily easier, so I was accepting! The trail bed was alternating as a narrow footpath lined with berries to open slabs. The breeze was actually chilly becuase I was so wet! The views over to Chocorua were just insane.

I could now see the scrambles going up to Middle Sister, which also looked ridiculous. I think I said it last time, but Carter Ledge really is a destination of its own! At a sunny spot, I swapped my Nalgenes and applied some ointment on some problem areas... 

[9:51am - Summit of Carter Ledge]

After my ointment application, I scurried on up to the "summit" of Carter Ledge. There was a really wonderful view over to the Moats and Southern Presidentials - Mt. Washington was hiding up in a cloud. 

From the high point, the Carter Ledge Trail descended to sag where I saw my first frog of the day! Ratio is at 1:0!

There were a few blueberries at the base of the climb and my watch pinged 3.0 miles right at the start of the uphill! This was a wonderfully segmented hike. Some of the maples were starting to turn red, which gave me some hope, and then I steeply climbed up, and up, and up! Clouds were starting to roll in as I broke out into the open again - if worse comes to worse, I don't need Chocorua. I'll check the weather when I'm up on the ridge. 

[10:21am - "Terrifying" Scrambles]

Per usual, the climb alternated straight-up gravel or scrambles with short, flat stretches. The scrambles slightly reminded me of the Spellman Trail up Mt. Monadnock, which is one of my favorites! Soon, I found myself at that spot, and I made it over with absolutely no rpboem at all. I think the problem last time was that I just went and didn't think until my foot slipped a centimeter, which threw me off. The following scrambles were more difficult than that one, but they were just less exposed.

I continued hiking, eventually checking the weather and seeing I'm still looking good! I caught a nice view of the Piper Trail's drainage as the trail mellowed out for a moment. I took a pee break and wrung out my shirt before the next uphill, and then I worked my way up some really fun scrambles! I got some nice views towards the Conway area with the Moats, Kearsarge, and Cranmore.

[10:36am - Middle Sister Trail]

Oh, yay! I was delighted to run into the Middle Sister Trail. I turned left and minded the "watch the vegetation" sign and then ascended again. The trail was scrambly and decently eroded, but I caught a really nice view into Carter Notch, so I was pleased. The trail eventually flattened out and stayed rugged with many views.

[10:48am - Middle Sister Summit]

I hit the summit of Middle Sister right at 4.0 miles, and I forgot how neat the summit is! The old tower foundation is super neat and a sign on the door read:

"NOTICE

Ancient ruins, archeological resources, fossils, and historical remnants in the vicinity of this notice are fragile and irreplaceable.

The Antiques Act of 1906 and Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 protect them for the benefit of all Americans.

ENJOY

BUT DO NOT DESTROY YOUR AMERICAN HERITAGE.

DO NOT DIG, REMOVE, INJURE, OR DESTROY ANY HISOTIC OR PREHISTORIC OBJECTS, RUINS, OR SITES."

There were old cables laying around, no discs, but such a fantatsic view over to the Sandwich Range, Carter Notch, Crawford Notch, and the clouded Presidential Range. I wondered what the newer tower was for and took a nice sit, staring at Mt. Chocorua. The weather app still said no rain until 5:00pm, but it simply looked like it was on it's way, and I didn't want to play with Chocorua in the rain, so I decided I'll revist her another day. I also didn't think four liters of water was enough for how much I was sweating. I enjoyed my sit for a bit longer and then got ready for my trip down!

[11:08am - Middle Sister Trail]

I had a medium tricky time following blazes as I backtracked down the Middle Sister Trail, and it was steeper than I realized as I descended down to the Carter Ledge Trail junction! I also had missed a small, dead bird that was absolutely covered in flies - so badly that they were under its wings, making it look like it was twitching. 

[11:18am - Middle Sister Trail/Carter Ledge Trail] 

I passed the junction with the Carter Ledge Trail and continued to scramble on down. I drank some Gatorade that I brought with myself and continued to plumble down the trail. This trail appeared VERY less traveled - it literally had moss on the trail! Once the scrambles were over, the trail continued to plummet, but thankfully with decent footing. I was back to caching endless spider webs as the narrow trail scratched me up. At least the moss was pretty!

There were a couple of cairns in a slightly more open area that had a peek-a-view of Bear Mountain (of Bear Notch Road), Mt. Field, and Mt. Carrigain on the right. The Middle Sister Trail eventually opened up onto a big slab with standing views all around from the Moats to Passaconaway. The cloud ceiling looked lower and the clouds thicker - I felt very correct in my call to skip Chocorua. 

The trail resumed it's scratchy and webby character as it descended steeply with an eroded footbed. The trail wasn't great at all, but I was enjoying the quiet! I entered a younger forest area that was pretty and spooky before the trail mellowed out with ferns and flowers, eventually reaching the col between the Sisters and Blue Mountain.

[11:53am - Middle Sister Trail/Col]

The col was beautiful and the grade was gentle in here. I saw the first rays of sunlight in a while while in here. The trail rose and fell many times through many webs, but the breeze made up for it. There was a small dried up bog down on the left, and the trail eventually turned right to start descending out of the col.

It was wonderfully windy here as the trail followed a drainage that looked like it was raging after the last storm, but was mostly dry now. The trail again was eroded after a bit and the footing was generally awful for a bit. 

In an area with massive boulders, the trail left the drainage bed and the grade mellowed before rejoining and leaving the drainage again. Eventually, the trail turned to the to follow the contour and was much gentler now. Some flies were awake and annoying, but I was more concerned with the spiders. I swear I almost broke my hand smacking a spider that was on my shoulder!

The trail mellowed out, turning into a gentle roller coaster with rolling ups and downs. I crossed another dry stream bed and hit at least 500 more webs - I was really at my limit. I eventually found a stick to swat around to at least protect my head (and it was lighter than my poles so hopefully I wouldn't have my Redinton situation come back). There was a short, moderate descent to another flat area, where I managed to kick a rack onto my leg? Which hurt like hell! I was taking a beating on this one!

I heard the quietest whisper of a truck far away on NH-16 as I crossed yet another dry drainage, and if I stopped to take a note or have a sip of water, the mosquitos would find me! I kept daydreaming of being back on the Carter Ledge Trail so I could stop worrying about webs! 

[12:50pm - Carter Ledge Trail]

I was absolutely DELIGHTED to make it back to the Carter Ledge Trail, which I pinged right around 7.5 miles. I crossed some red-blazed land boundary, maybe a border before it was all the WMNF? I truly have no idea. The land boundary monument was soon after with scary acorns falling off the trees above (or being thrown at me by squirrels, who's to say). NH-16 was now super loud and I could hear it through the trees!

[1:14pm - End of Trail]

[1:17pm - End of Hike]

I had a short walk from the end of the trail back to the car. I wasn't sure about hiking White Ledge, but there was a family at the trailhead talking about the hike they just did over the ledge, which near guaranteed that there wouldn't be any spiderwebs, so I thought about it for a minutes, and then I said FINEEEEEEE. I did sit and have my sandwich first, and then I exploded my Fresca all over Christien's car... Nice!

Step-by-Step

- Start hike by turning left onto campground road from hiker parking area.

- At jct., turn right.

- Continue onto yellow-blazed Carter Ledge Trail.

- At terminus, turn left onto yellow-blazed Middle Sister Trail.

- Summit Middle Sister, then turn around.

- Hike Middle Sister Trail to it's terminus.

- At terminus, continue left onto Carter Ledge Trail.

- At end of trail, continue left on road.

- At jct., turn left to return to car.

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