Anyone been through Hancock Notch recently?

[adamiata]

I'm looking at doing a hike in the near future through Hancock Notch. I'll be traveling from Sawyer River Rd. to the Cedar Brook Trail. I know this route recieves very little traffic, at least the part that doesn't lead directly to the Hancocks.

I'm wondering what kind of shape the trail might be in. Had anyone been through in the last year or so? Is the trail easy to lose or a blodown chocked mess? How's the footing?

 

[grouseking]

Well, I haven't been on recently, but back in 2004 I took a hike thru there in the pouring rain. We lost the trail many times up by the notch...def tough to follow. As for the conditions....I cant speak for the trail but I assume many blowdowns. Here is a picture of where the Hancock Notch trail branches away from Cedar Brook trail taken Saturday...many blowdowns . Sounds like a fantastic trip. Despite the conditions, I really enjoyed Hancock Notch.

grouseking

 

[kltilton]

Adam,

I ran through there last summer. The blowdons weren't too bad, but things may have changed this winter. I came in from the Sawyer River side and didn't quite make it to the height of land. There is a lot of rock hopping near the stream bed, and some deep mud in spots. A very interesting part of the White Mountains though.

 

[J&J]

At the tail end of October 2005 we were going to do a bushwhack from Hancock Notch to Huntington. This was the week of the heavy wet snows in late October. Well we never even made it to Hancock Notch.

We got in maybe a half mile or so (if even that far) towards Hancock Notch from the Cedar Brook junction and it was like a war zone. Trees down and trees leaning everywhere. We couldn't even find the trail between the snow and the trees and we were a group of 10! It was very slow going. That's when we turned back.

I don't know if they've had any crews in there this year to clean it up. This trail (Hancock Notch proper) doesn't receive much maintenance normally so maybe nothing has changed since last October.

If you decide to brave it, please post a trail conditions report. Thanks!

 

[grouseking]

At the tail end of October 2005 we were going to do a bushwhack from Hancock Notch to Huntington. This was the week of the heavy wet snows in late October. Well we never even made it to Hancock Notch.

We got in maybe a half mile or so (if even that far) towards Hancock Notch from the Cedar Brook junction and it was like a war zone. Trees down and trees leaning everywhere. We couldn't even find the trail between the snow and the trees and we were a group of 10! It was very slow going. That's when we turned back.

I don't know if they've had any crews in there this year to clean it up. This trail (Hancock Notch proper) doesn't receive much maintenance normally so maybe nothing has changed since last October.

If you decide to brave it, please post a trail conditions report. Thanks!

That is exactly what I had figured. From the pic I took at the Cedar junction there were 4 blowdowns within the first 100 feet. I can only imagine what it was/is like further up. That only adds to the wilderness experience obviously, and if you don't mind bushwhacking all over the place, then this might be the trip for you!

grouseking

 

[adamiata]

I'm planning on doing Hancock Notch Trail as part of a much longer dayhike exploring lesser used areas of the Pemi, but if it's in rough shape it kind of throws a monkey wrench in my plans. I may jet up to Sawyer River Rd. after work sometime this week to scout Hancock Notch and Cedar Brook Trails. I'll post my findings and possibly a trip report when I do the big hike.

 

[RoySwkr]

I was on the Cedar Brook side a couple years ago, the blowdowns were OK then but it was getting very overgrown. The original trail was a muddy woods road but there are now several relocations to the L, probably how people get lost.

And this isn't even a Wilderness area

 

[DougPaul]

I skied Cedar Brook Tr all the way down to East Side Rd/Tr (Pemi) a year and a half ago. Easy to follow, except for a short spot at the height of land. Pretty clear, but I don't know what has happened since.

FWIW, ski route is hairpin loop on the Kanc to Lincoln Woods.

Also skied Hancock Notch, but that was ~30 yrs ago.

Doug

 

[adamiata]

I ran the lower half of Hancock Notch Trail from Sawyer River Rd. yesterday after work to scout it out. Surprisingly, there were very few blowdowns. Even more surprising was the fact that it appears someone has been through with an axe recently. There were several blowdowns that had been freshly chopped up, and some large branches that had been cut still had green leaves. Its anyone's guess though as to the condition of the upper half of the trail. Who knows how far the mystery chopper went.

Otherwise the trail appeared little used, sometimes narrowing down to one step above a herd path. I saw only a few boot tracks which were not fresh. There were far more moose and deer tracks. The bed of the trail was mostly in decent shape. There were a few rocky eroded areas and some sloppy muddy parts, but largely much better than I expected. I made the mistake of misplacing a foot and sank into the mud halfway to my knee in one place. Streams crossings were all easy rock hops.

I don't think I'll be hiking the trail in its entirety this weekend due to the weather forecast, but I'll update this thread when I do.