CMC
CMC basecamp, near the shore of Lake Chocorua, photo by Howard Mathews
On July 17, 1908, Hutchie Page called the first meeting of the Chocorua Mountain Club. Its mission statement, written that same year, said “The objects of the Club are to explore and to make paths and camps in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for the convenience of visitors; furthermore, to acquire by purchase or gifts such tracts of land, with or with or without buildings, for the purpose of improving and preserving the natural resources of the White Mountains.” At its peak in 1923, there were 418 members (dues were 50 cents a year for active members). Over the years, little or no land was bought, only a few camps built, but many hours spent on trail maintenance and, increasingly, erosion control. The CMC is still active, and has a splendid dinner each year celebrating the big trail clearning day — which comes between the end of mud season and the beginning of black flies, usually in the second weekend in May.
