NH_Mtn_Hiker
New member
I left the parking lot at 7:45am on the Signal Ridge Trail. The temperature was in the high 30's and the skies were partly cloudy above 5,000', rather comfortable weather for a moderate dayhike. 
At 8:20 I turned right onto the Carrigain Notch Trail. The brook crossings were surprisingly easy dispite the previous days rain. As I made my way up to the height of land I heard hounds barking to my left perhaps a quater mile from the trail. I suspect there was a bear hunter on the side of Signal Ridge using dogs to track and corner/tree a bear so he could walk up and shoot it. Sounds sporting doesn't it.
The Carrigain Notch Trail east of the height of land had numerous blowdowns. I cleared many of the easier ones. Just beyond the turn off for the Vose Spur whack are 3 nasty ones in a little cluster. (somebody please bring a saw.) The trail west of the Wilderness boundary had next to no blowdowns. At about 10:30 I reached the Desolation Trail...The fun was about to start.
I started up the Desolation Trail, walked across the rotten bog bridges, the ones that roll sideways when you step on them because the ends have rotted off., then up the moderate slope. I passed the point where Dr. Wu and I attempted our first bushwhack of the Captain from ...an unsuccessful attempt, and continued on. I was surprised at the overall condition of the trail. I'd heard horror stories about how rough this trail was, but all I'd seen thus far was moderate grades, a nice footbed, almost no blowdowns, and some nice views through the trees of the eastern Pemi. Then the nice trail turned into The Trail from Hell. About a mile up the trail deteriorates abruptly then looks like a rock slide that somebody hit the pause button on. At 35-40 degrees, the trail is a mess of sharp edged rocks many of whick look as if they could continue falling at any moment. Added to that was thin layer of ice on the rocks and roots just to make the climb more interesting. Fortunately, this section of trail only last for about a tenth of a mile or so then continues much tamer to the summit which I reached at 12:20. On the upper section of the trail I met two guys headed down. They were unfamiliar with the trail, so I informed them of what lie below...and they continued on down. (Darwinism at work)
After lunch at the summit I chatted briefly with the Ranger then headed down the Signal Ridge Trail at about 12:50. I passed a campsite shortly after leaving the summit and then realized I was off the trail...oh well. I proceded down the SW ridge of Carrigain towards the little bump known as The Captain. Note: When whacking between Carrigain and the Captain, stay to the east side of the ridge crest, or you'llll beee sorryyy. (It gets rather thick on the west side) After reaching the summit of the Captain, I signed the register and headed off for the Hancock's.
I reached the col between the Captain and the Hancock ridge at 3:30. I still had about 2 miles of difficult bushwhacking ahead of me and the sun was quickly descending from it's own peak. If I didn't reach Middle Hancock in the next 3 1/2 hours I'd be whacking in the dark. I studied the side of the ridge for the quickest route to the top and settled on heading straight for this point. The slope appeared less steep than it did on either side and more importantly there didn't appear to be any cliffs in the way, something that the NE side of the Hancock's has no shortage of. As I headed uphill I started running into obstacles. There were huge boulders everywhere. Weaving my way through them was very tedious. An additional part of the problem was that there was about a foot of moss covering the rocks in places hiding holes and crevices making it a rather treacherous climb. After about 30 minutes I had only moved about a tenth of a mile up the mountain. As this rate I'd be whacking all night, I needed a faster way up the mountain...I needed to cheat!
I traversed the slope looking for my cheat tool, it only took a minute to find one. I looked up the slope and there was a whole row of them...moose tracks. I followed the moose tracks uphill, the tracks weaved between the boulders, crevices, and blowdowns. 45 minutes later I was on the ridgetop. Them mooses are great bushwhackers. The top of the ridge varied between open woods, thick spruce, and blowdown patches. I picked up the pace through the open woods and lowered my head and bulled through the thick stuff arriving at the Hancock Loop Trail about 10 feet from Middle Hancock at 6:20pm. In less than an hour it would be dark. Though I was relieved I wouldn't be bushwhacking in the dark...there was still over 12 miles of trail between me and my car.
I had supper at South Hancock and took a few minutes to de-pine needle myself. Then I was off to North Hancock. Along the way it got dark. I continued in the moonlight until about halfway down the North Link a cloud came along and swallowed up the moon...and soon that cloud would bring his friends. The hike from there to the Hancock Notch Trail was uneventful, as the brook crossings were all easy and the trail is very familiar to me. I did stop briefly on the Loop Trail to refill my hydration bladder and drop in a Katadyn tablet.
As I made the left turn onto the Hancock Notch Trail, heading for Sawyer River Road, I wondered what the trail would be like. Well here's what it is like: The only blazes I saw were a few old ax blazes on sections of trail that didn't require blazes. While the two ends of the trail are relatively open and easy to follow, much of the middle 2 miles is more like a bushwhack than a trail. In some places the spruce trees are so thick it might as well have been a bushwhack. At the brook crossings, the trail doesn't usually go straight across the brook, it enters the brook then goes downstream 10 or... 200 feet before emerging, sometimes on the same side as it went in on. Wherever there was a significant blowdown or mud hole, people have just bushwhacked around it. Some of the blowdowns appear to have been there for quite some time. Of course, it probably would have been easier to follow the trail in daylight, especially if it wasn't raining. The rain had started just after 10:00. As difficult as the trail was to follow, it wasn't until the end of the Hancock Notch Trail that I would lose the trail all together. The Hancock Notch Trail is a logging road where it meets the Sawyer River Trail, also a logging road, forming a 3-way intersection. The road coming in from the right is marked Sawyer River Trail (to the Kanc.), so naturally I took the road straight ahead going towards the Sawyer River Road. Over a mile up the road I came to a sign facing the other way, as I passed it I looked back, it read: Sawyer River Trail, with an arrow pointing to a trail entering the woods running in the direction I just came from. Apparently that 3-way intersection was a 4-way intersection. Oops. I'm glad that road didn't turn south towards the Kanc.
After reaching the Sawyer River Road I made the 2 mile road walk back to my car arriving at about Midnight, 17.25 hours after I started the 25.5 mile 5,800' elevation gain hike...Dispite the days minor hardships and other obstacles, I didn't feel too bad at the end of it. I could have hiked another 10-20 miles.
Pics are here.
At 8:20 I turned right onto the Carrigain Notch Trail. The brook crossings were surprisingly easy dispite the previous days rain. As I made my way up to the height of land I heard hounds barking to my left perhaps a quater mile from the trail. I suspect there was a bear hunter on the side of Signal Ridge using dogs to track and corner/tree a bear so he could walk up and shoot it. Sounds sporting doesn't it. The Carrigain Notch Trail east of the height of land had numerous blowdowns. I cleared many of the easier ones. Just beyond the turn off for the Vose Spur whack are 3 nasty ones in a little cluster. (somebody please bring a saw.) The trail west of the Wilderness boundary had next to no blowdowns. At about 10:30 I reached the Desolation Trail...The fun was about to start.
I started up the Desolation Trail, walked across the rotten bog bridges, the ones that roll sideways when you step on them because the ends have rotted off.
, then up the moderate slope. I passed the point where Dr. Wu and I attempted our first bushwhack of the Captain from ...an unsuccessful attempt, and continued on. I was surprised at the overall condition of the trail. I'd heard horror stories about how rough this trail was, but all I'd seen thus far was moderate grades, a nice footbed, almost no blowdowns, and some nice views through the trees of the eastern Pemi. Then the nice trail turned into The Trail from Hell. About a mile up the trail deteriorates abruptly then looks like a rock slide that somebody hit the pause button on. At 35-40 degrees, the trail is a mess of sharp edged rocks many of whick look as if they could continue falling at any moment. Added to that was thin layer of ice on the rocks and roots just to make the climb more interesting. Fortunately, this section of trail only last for about a tenth of a mile or so then continues much tamer to the summit which I reached at 12:20. On the upper section of the trail I met two guys headed down. They were unfamiliar with the trail, so I informed them of what lie below...and they continued on down. (Darwinism at work)After lunch at the summit I chatted briefly with the Ranger then headed down the Signal Ridge Trail at about 12:50. I passed a campsite shortly after leaving the summit and then realized I was off the trail...oh well. I proceded down the SW ridge of Carrigain towards the little bump known as The Captain. Note: When whacking between Carrigain and the Captain, stay to the east side of the ridge crest, or you'llll beee sorryyy.
(It gets rather thick on the west side) After reaching the summit of the Captain, I signed the register and headed off for the Hancock's.I reached the col between the Captain and the Hancock ridge at 3:30. I still had about 2 miles of difficult bushwhacking ahead of me and the sun was quickly descending from it's own peak. If I didn't reach Middle Hancock in the next 3 1/2 hours I'd be whacking in the dark. I studied the side of the ridge for the quickest route to the top and settled on heading straight for this point. The slope appeared less steep than it did on either side and more importantly there didn't appear to be any cliffs in the way, something that the NE side of the Hancock's has no shortage of. As I headed uphill I started running into obstacles. There were huge boulders everywhere. Weaving my way through them was very tedious. An additional part of the problem was that there was about a foot of moss covering the rocks in places hiding holes and crevices making it a rather treacherous climb. After about 30 minutes I had only moved about a tenth of a mile up the mountain. As this rate I'd be whacking all night, I needed a faster way up the mountain...I needed to cheat!
I traversed the slope looking for my cheat tool, it only took a minute to find one. I looked up the slope and there was a whole row of them...moose tracks. I followed the moose tracks uphill, the tracks weaved between the boulders, crevices, and blowdowns. 45 minutes later I was on the ridgetop. Them mooses are great bushwhackers. The top of the ridge varied between open woods, thick spruce, and blowdown patches. I picked up the pace through the open woods and lowered my head and bulled through the thick stuff arriving at the Hancock Loop Trail about 10 feet from Middle Hancock at 6:20pm. In less than an hour it would be dark. Though I was relieved I wouldn't be bushwhacking in the dark...there was still over 12 miles of trail between me and my car.
I had supper at South Hancock and took a few minutes to de-pine needle myself. Then I was off to North Hancock. Along the way it got dark. I continued in the moonlight until about halfway down the North Link a cloud came along and swallowed up the moon...and soon that cloud would bring his friends.
The hike from there to the Hancock Notch Trail was uneventful, as the brook crossings were all easy and the trail is very familiar to me. I did stop briefly on the Loop Trail to refill my hydration bladder and drop in a Katadyn tablet.As I made the left turn onto the Hancock Notch Trail, heading for Sawyer River Road, I wondered what the trail would be like. Well here's what it is like: The only blazes I saw were a few old ax blazes on sections of trail that didn't require blazes. While the two ends of the trail are relatively open and easy to follow, much of the middle 2 miles is more like a bushwhack than a trail. In some places the spruce trees are so thick it might as well have been a bushwhack. At the brook crossings, the trail doesn't usually go straight across the brook, it enters the brook then goes downstream 10 or... 200 feet before emerging, sometimes on the same side as it went in on. Wherever there was a significant blowdown or mud hole, people have just bushwhacked around it. Some of the blowdowns appear to have been there for quite some time. Of course, it probably would have been easier to follow the trail in daylight, especially if it wasn't raining. The rain had started just after 10:00. As difficult as the trail was to follow, it wasn't until the end of the Hancock Notch Trail that I would lose the trail all together. The Hancock Notch Trail is a logging road where it meets the Sawyer River Trail, also a logging road, forming a 3-way intersection. The road coming in from the right is marked Sawyer River Trail (to the Kanc.), so naturally I took the road straight ahead going towards the Sawyer River Road. Over a mile up the road I came to a sign facing the other way, as I passed it I looked back, it read: Sawyer River Trail, with an arrow pointing to a trail entering the woods running in the direction I just came from. Apparently that 3-way intersection was a 4-way intersection. Oops. I'm glad that road didn't turn south towards the Kanc.
After reaching the Sawyer River Road I made the 2 mile road walk back to my car arriving at about Midnight, 17.25 hours after I started the 25.5 mile 5,800' elevation gain hike...Dispite the days minor hardships and other obstacles, I didn't feel too bad at the end of it. I could have hiked another 10-20 miles.
Pics are here.
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