Well things didn’t look normal around the pool this Feb, and as the snow pack in the yard reached level with the top of the pool the end of March it was obvious. “Houston We Have A 24′ Problem”
Our pool had a large block of ice in it an no water. I could see air between the ice and the pool wall, this wasn’t normal. As I walked around to the back side I could see there had been a massive failure. I called the insurance company to report a claim hoping they would cover the loss. I also took some pictures to show the damage.

An adjuster came out took one look and said oh yeah it’s gone. Explained that hundreds had failed due to the record snowfall this past winter and said he would be in touch. As it turned out Liberty Mutual would cover it and wrote us a check for replacement.

I priced pools and installers and thought installation should be way less than $1000.00-1650.00. So i started disassembling mine studying how it went together and studying other peoples installs on the net. It looked doable, the ground work was done, why not do it ourselves?

So I purchased some stone dust from down the road and prepared the ground work. I actually filled in the center couple inches since one installer thought it was simply way deep and could have contributed to my initial failure. I also brought a lot of stone dust into the pool edges to build up a large cove at the base of the wall as shown in the instructions. My original installation didn’t have nearly enough based on what I read. Other than that same pool, same location.

We had the assistance of Shane, Rose, Buck on install day. I placed the track and we started unfurling the wall. This is tricky and it’s best to have more than 4 people. I made several dead men hooks with stakes to hold the wall as we went and these worked awesome. In general we followed the directions and all went well I won’t go through all the steps here in this forum but it’s safe to say follow the instructions even if they seem wrong. Emily showed up later in the afternoon and was a huge help getting the uprights and caps in place. It all looked good, except for one minor problem, the skimmer hole landed under the edge of a post. There was no way to move the wall at this point, it must have slid back as we worked it in. I decided I would re-cut the opening since I really had no other options and I wasn’t taking it apart.

We filled the pool about 6 inches and ordered water from a local trucker a couple days later. In the meantime I took some sheet metal and made a sandwich plate shifting and cutting the skimmer hole over in the clear area. I taped my bolts as was done with the wall joint and that all went very well, actually this work stiffened the skimmer area considerably. At this point we could top off the pool which took another 6 hours by hose. – BTW Don’t cut you’re liner until it’s nearly full with water and the liner stretched or you risk losing it.

I think it was later the next day that Shane and Sean had a cribbage game and the looser had to jump in the pool. Based on the pool thermometer the water temp was 57 degrees …ouch. So needless to say the person below was the looser and credited with christening the pool. Last time it was Alex and Christy this time Shane, Hopefully there won’t be another “next time pool christening” for a long time. At least Shane christened it in style.

Well Rose & I awoke later than we wanted but got on the road by 7:00 to a perfect crisp blue new england sky. I like to be on the trail earlier in hopes of getting better views before clouds or storms arrive.

Our goal for today was to Summit Mt Chocorua via the Champney Falls Trail which departs from the Kancamagus Highway. The estimated round trip for the day is 7.5 miles. We also wanted to take our dog Teah with us on her first hike. Since she doesn’t care for most people or dogs we were in for an exciting day, but we figured a socializing experience would be great for her.

We arrived at the trail head and got underway around 9-9:30am, the parking area actually had a couple parking spaces which was surprising considering it was a holiday weekend. After placing Teah’s pack of water on her I felt it was best for me to carry her pack in mine versus her carrying it for her first adventure. I could see the weight slightly affected her gait and we hadn’t been able to train with it prior, so better safe than sorry. Certainly with the pack on she would be less likely to bounce at other dogs. (Dog Gear harnesses, hiking and such www.ruffwear.com)

We got underway, the trail grade was very easy and somewhat follows a stream which provides a great ambient sound of falling water in the forest for about the first half hour. We met several people on the trail and as we stopped for snacks and water met even more (it was busy). The Chapmney Falls loop joins to the right at 1.5 miles in and rejoins about a half mile further along. Rose and I decided not to go to the falls if time permitted on the return we would swing into them. At this point the grade became steeper but still a very manageable easy to walk. A couple miles in we started to get great views back across the valley and of Mt Washington. After a while we came out onto a ledge that provided wonderful views back across the valley and took a break. I noticed at this point that we had lost most of our company on the trail . I fully expected our companions to be coming by and they never came. I suspected we missed our turn somehow and ended up on the Sisters Loop Trail. Rose, Teah and I enjoyed the solitude, treated Rose’s heal blister and moved on. At this point we were close to a summit and when we crested what a site! Views in all directions and an incredible unique view of Chocorua’s rocky summit cone. It’s hard to see in this photo, but in the larger version you can see all the people around on the rocks. (check out the album link at bottom or article)

We admired the view and worked our way down the side to the column between Chocorua and the Sisters. The trail markings were difficult to see and the trail was a bit tricky and could be difficult in rainy weather since it was all rock with a couple of big steps
. We rejoined the original trail and made way for the summit. There were loads of people on the summit and lots and lots of dogs. Loads of people, lots of them, everywhere! I was amazed…Teah did well and handled the dogs and the terrain in stride. I’m not sure if Teah was getting better with people and dogs or I was getting numb from controlling her but things seemed to be improving steadily throughout the day as she had more contacts.We had lunch, took some pictures and hung around a while before starting down. Teah had decided that she had enough of the hiking experience and was starting to lag. I could tell she was likely getting sore feet from the rocks since she did fine on dirt but wanted nothing to do with the rocky areas.The hike down other than Teah slowing us went without issue and was wonderful. It was nice to have the valley views all the way and certainly going straight down the Champney Falls trail saved us a few miles from zipping back up and around the sisters loop once again.

We made the parking lot around 4:30pm and found that the place was packed, cars were lined up along the road in both directions. We were amazed by the numbers of people just heading up the trail so late in the day, with no supplies or even water. We didn’t swing into the falls on our return due to concern with Teah’s paws. She was being a good sport but we didn’t want to push her anymore than we already had so we left that for a future trip.

Today’s hike was an excellent day in the woods and a route I would highly recommend to anyone. I estimate the trip ended up being roughly 10.25 miles with the Sisters Loop without it the guide books say it.s about 7.2 mi. The picture below is Mt Chocorua and the Sisters taken at Chocorua Lake just off of Rt 16.

Although not officially a 4000 footer, Mt Chocorua does have a lot of elevation gain so standard precautions must be made for weather, water and supplies. Here is a link to all the Photos from the Day

It was an excellent day and a wonderful hike.! Thanks Rose…Love You!