Hancock Notch Trail
On Sunday July 30 we did a 9.3 mile hike we had both wanted to do for many years.
We spotted cars, one at the hairpin turn on the Kanc, the other at our start, the Sawyer River Trail, a ways down and east from the height of land on the Kanc.
By starting at the Sawyer end, we would make our first river crossing, this one over the Swift River, only .3 miles in. If we were able to easily cross here, we figured we’d be good for the crossings to come later. Plenty of dry rocks made this crossing an easy one.
The first 2.6 miles are flat and pleasant—old railroad grade. By chance I had just finished reading the book “Our Mountain Trips” (a journal of camping and tramping trip reports from the first part of the century—available at Mountain Wanderer book store in Lincoln, NH) and recalled one journal entry of a trip taken in 1904 by Walter H. James and two companions. The three struck out along this same section of trail, heading to Carrigain Mountain. They “…walked the ties of the abandoned lumber railroad for many a weary mile. The timber had been cut far back on either side, and the scenery was more or less desolate.” (Note: At that time, the Sawyer River RR was still active further up the tracks, near the logging town of Livermore.)
Though we walked the same abandoned railroad, the passing of a century had changed the scenery back to a lush and green woodland. A few shredded ties remain, but most are only suggested by the hollowed impressions left in the ground at regular intervals.
One thing that has not changed is the wetness through the beaver meadows, fed by Meadow Brook. This trail is shared in the winter with snowmobiles, and the clubs that maintain this trail have done a fine job keeping up the bridges across the deepest holes of water. Passing over some of them, you’ll notice large old log timbers in the mud below, I suspect from bridges that once supported the logging trains.
Along this stretch, and later along the Hancock Notch trail, mud is a frequent condition. We made use of some old railroad rails, laid along one stretch of mud, to keep our feet above the muck. The views here, from the pale pink of Meadow Sweet mixed with the wisps of Hare’s Tail besides us, to that of Carrigain looming ahead of us, made the wallowing worth while.
At a large four-way intersection we turned left onto Hancock Notch Trail—lots of flat, dry trail walking through the woods, with the river near by. Along here we saw two people—and not another soul the remainder of the day.
There is some recent logging activity near by, and the path of slash cuts through the trail at one point. Also, someone has recently walked the entire trail and cleared blow downs. And there are fairly fresh yellow blazes from the junction of Sawyer River and Hancock Notch to the height of land.
Continuing on, as the trail begins to ascend some, the ‘road’ lessens and becomes more trail like. We made 4 or 5 more crossings (only 2-3 of consequence, but easy). Several rivulets intermingle with the trail, and some of the rock and slab were so slippery with moss that they redefined the word slime.
The trail, through relocation, veers from the original track in order to skirt a bog, and later a marshy area. Both were nice breaks in the scenery, and the second, which is near the height of land, gave us views of the talus slopes on Huntington.
We topped out at the height of land, a large flat and fairly open area, after a modest and gradual climb. A green wooden sign, nailed to a tree, says “Pemi---Saco.” I thought it designated the separation of the water sheds. Perhaps, John thought, it represents the line between the two ranger districts. Perhaps it’s both.
Continuing on, the trail quickly becomes heavily grown in. Easy to follow in bare ground, but a whole lot harder when snow covered and blocked by bent over evergreens (as we experienced it last October when we came up this side to do Huntington, only to be turned back by a tangled wall of trees). Just as quickly though, it opens up, and it’s an easy stroll on down, to the junction with Cedar Brook trail and back to the hairpin turn on the Kanc.
Pictures can be seen here: http://community.webshots.com/album/552798670TFuHFt
On Sunday July 30 we did a 9.3 mile hike we had both wanted to do for many years.
We spotted cars, one at the hairpin turn on the Kanc, the other at our start, the Sawyer River Trail, a ways down and east from the height of land on the Kanc.
By starting at the Sawyer end, we would make our first river crossing, this one over the Swift River, only .3 miles in. If we were able to easily cross here, we figured we’d be good for the crossings to come later. Plenty of dry rocks made this crossing an easy one.
The first 2.6 miles are flat and pleasant—old railroad grade. By chance I had just finished reading the book “Our Mountain Trips” (a journal of camping and tramping trip reports from the first part of the century—available at Mountain Wanderer book store in Lincoln, NH) and recalled one journal entry of a trip taken in 1904 by Walter H. James and two companions. The three struck out along this same section of trail, heading to Carrigain Mountain. They “…walked the ties of the abandoned lumber railroad for many a weary mile. The timber had been cut far back on either side, and the scenery was more or less desolate.” (Note: At that time, the Sawyer River RR was still active further up the tracks, near the logging town of Livermore.)
Though we walked the same abandoned railroad, the passing of a century had changed the scenery back to a lush and green woodland. A few shredded ties remain, but most are only suggested by the hollowed impressions left in the ground at regular intervals.
One thing that has not changed is the wetness through the beaver meadows, fed by Meadow Brook. This trail is shared in the winter with snowmobiles, and the clubs that maintain this trail have done a fine job keeping up the bridges across the deepest holes of water. Passing over some of them, you’ll notice large old log timbers in the mud below, I suspect from bridges that once supported the logging trains.
Along this stretch, and later along the Hancock Notch trail, mud is a frequent condition. We made use of some old railroad rails, laid along one stretch of mud, to keep our feet above the muck. The views here, from the pale pink of Meadow Sweet mixed with the wisps of Hare’s Tail besides us, to that of Carrigain looming ahead of us, made the wallowing worth while.
At a large four-way intersection we turned left onto Hancock Notch Trail—lots of flat, dry trail walking through the woods, with the river near by. Along here we saw two people—and not another soul the remainder of the day.
There is some recent logging activity near by, and the path of slash cuts through the trail at one point. Also, someone has recently walked the entire trail and cleared blow downs. And there are fairly fresh yellow blazes from the junction of Sawyer River and Hancock Notch to the height of land.
Continuing on, as the trail begins to ascend some, the ‘road’ lessens and becomes more trail like. We made 4 or 5 more crossings (only 2-3 of consequence, but easy). Several rivulets intermingle with the trail, and some of the rock and slab were so slippery with moss that they redefined the word slime.
The trail, through relocation, veers from the original track in order to skirt a bog, and later a marshy area. Both were nice breaks in the scenery, and the second, which is near the height of land, gave us views of the talus slopes on Huntington.
We topped out at the height of land, a large flat and fairly open area, after a modest and gradual climb. A green wooden sign, nailed to a tree, says “Pemi---Saco.” I thought it designated the separation of the water sheds. Perhaps, John thought, it represents the line between the two ranger districts. Perhaps it’s both.
Continuing on, the trail quickly becomes heavily grown in. Easy to follow in bare ground, but a whole lot harder when snow covered and blocked by bent over evergreens (as we experienced it last October when we came up this side to do Huntington, only to be turned back by a tangled wall of trees). Just as quickly though, it opens up, and it’s an easy stroll on down, to the junction with Cedar Brook trail and back to the hairpin turn on the Kanc.
Pictures can be seen here: http://community.webshots.com/album/552798670TFuHFt
