BIGEarl
Well-known member
November 27, 2011: The Hancocks
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail
Summits: North Hancock, South Hancock
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Our second half of a back-to-back weekend was a hike to The Hancocks. After our experience on Mt. Cabot on Saturday we decided to leave the snowshoes behind. That turned out to be a good decision. Our planned time back at the Park & Ride lot after the hike controlled our morning meet time. We worked with a drive time plus hike time total of thirteen hours and hit that within a few minutes.
At the Hancock Notch trailhead there were several other vehicles in the lot (three, possibly four). Again, the forecast had predicted partly sunny conditions after the morning fog cleared out. In general terms, partly sunny never arrived. We saw a little sun but not enough to worry about sunscreen.
This was a very similar hike to our previous day on Cabot. Hancock Notch Trail is extremely wet and muddy. There are a few mud pits that are difficult to work around but appear to be bottomless. Work the edges of all pits or pay the price. It was clear some people decided straight across was the best approach and they left deep tracks on the way.
After reaching the Cedar Brook Trail junction and making the turn, conditions remained generally unchanged. There were a couple extended sections of deep mud and deep water on the trail. We were always able to work the edges and stay out of the really messy stuff. All crossings along the way were easy to get past.
We reached the junction with Hancock Loop Trail, made the turn, and headed for the real climb for this hike. As we have done in most of our hikes in the area, we went for North Hancock first – in other words we hiked the loop going clockwise. As we left the Cedar Brook – Hancock Loop junction, I made the comment to Sue this one was going to be more work than usual. I burned up more on Cabot than I realized and was dragging on this hike. I knew the climb to North Hancock was going to take a little extra time.
Soon after leaving the trails junction we made the final crossing and started our climb to the loop split. The snow conditions started to change. The snow was still wet but not slushy. There was less water and mud on the trail as well. The conditions generally improved. Roughly half-way to the loop split we met another hiker, and then on our way to North Hancock we met five others. With many more stops than usual we slowly made our way to North Hancock. The climb wasn’t difficult, just steep and I needed a few more breaks than usual. Finally, we found ourselves above Arrow Slide and working our way across to the summit.
Sue hit the summit first (I needed to make a quick stop). By the time I caught up Sue had her pack on the side of the trail and another summit snowman was under construction. Sue first built the snowman at the viewpoint a short distance from the actual summit. After a few pictures Sue decided she wanted to leave her work at the summit sign post. She picked up the little man and brought him to the summit. Sue dropped him a couple times along the way but he recovered quickly.
With the snowman break out of the way we were off to South Hancock. The extended stop on North Hancock left both of us quite chilled and we needed to generate some heat. It didn’t take long. Roughly half way to South Hancock and we were again up to temperature. One very nice detail concerning trail conditions is the mud pits between North Hancock and South Hancock are solid. We were able to just walk across everything. As I mentioned earlier, I was running very low on gas and the small climbs and PUDs along the way between the peaks required brief stops. Eventually we were on the final approach to South Hancock.
At South Hancock two others with a pair of dogs came up from behind us hiking the same route. They headed to the viewpoint near the summit, and we got the usual summit pictures and started our exit hike.
Up to this point we were bare-booting the hike. Considering the trail conditions and steepness of the trail, Sue made the decision to go with MicroSpikes for the descent from South Hancock. It was a very good decision. We were able to generally walk down from South Hancock with very little slipping along the way. In a relatively short time we were standing at the loop split. We continued with MicroSpikes until roughly half-way to the Cedar Brook Trail junction. At that point the amount of exposed rocks increased and MicroSpikes weren’t providing enough added benefit to offset the needless wear from the exposed rocks. We retired the MicroSpikes for the remainder of the hike.
We completed the sloppy hike back to the trailhead with no surprises along the way. A short distance from the trailhead we had the headlights out. Our vehicle was the last one left at the lot. We quickly packed and took off. After a quick stop at Lincoln Woods to change into dry clothes we were on the highway south. We managed to hit the Park & Ride within ten minutes of the planned time – not bad.
That’s it for November. Next week we’ll be working the December list.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail
Summits: North Hancock, South Hancock
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
Our second half of a back-to-back weekend was a hike to The Hancocks. After our experience on Mt. Cabot on Saturday we decided to leave the snowshoes behind. That turned out to be a good decision. Our planned time back at the Park & Ride lot after the hike controlled our morning meet time. We worked with a drive time plus hike time total of thirteen hours and hit that within a few minutes.
At the Hancock Notch trailhead there were several other vehicles in the lot (three, possibly four). Again, the forecast had predicted partly sunny conditions after the morning fog cleared out. In general terms, partly sunny never arrived. We saw a little sun but not enough to worry about sunscreen.
This was a very similar hike to our previous day on Cabot. Hancock Notch Trail is extremely wet and muddy. There are a few mud pits that are difficult to work around but appear to be bottomless. Work the edges of all pits or pay the price. It was clear some people decided straight across was the best approach and they left deep tracks on the way.
After reaching the Cedar Brook Trail junction and making the turn, conditions remained generally unchanged. There were a couple extended sections of deep mud and deep water on the trail. We were always able to work the edges and stay out of the really messy stuff. All crossings along the way were easy to get past.
We reached the junction with Hancock Loop Trail, made the turn, and headed for the real climb for this hike. As we have done in most of our hikes in the area, we went for North Hancock first – in other words we hiked the loop going clockwise. As we left the Cedar Brook – Hancock Loop junction, I made the comment to Sue this one was going to be more work than usual. I burned up more on Cabot than I realized and was dragging on this hike. I knew the climb to North Hancock was going to take a little extra time.
Soon after leaving the trails junction we made the final crossing and started our climb to the loop split. The snow conditions started to change. The snow was still wet but not slushy. There was less water and mud on the trail as well. The conditions generally improved. Roughly half-way to the loop split we met another hiker, and then on our way to North Hancock we met five others. With many more stops than usual we slowly made our way to North Hancock. The climb wasn’t difficult, just steep and I needed a few more breaks than usual. Finally, we found ourselves above Arrow Slide and working our way across to the summit.
Sue hit the summit first (I needed to make a quick stop). By the time I caught up Sue had her pack on the side of the trail and another summit snowman was under construction. Sue first built the snowman at the viewpoint a short distance from the actual summit. After a few pictures Sue decided she wanted to leave her work at the summit sign post. She picked up the little man and brought him to the summit. Sue dropped him a couple times along the way but he recovered quickly.
With the snowman break out of the way we were off to South Hancock. The extended stop on North Hancock left both of us quite chilled and we needed to generate some heat. It didn’t take long. Roughly half way to South Hancock and we were again up to temperature. One very nice detail concerning trail conditions is the mud pits between North Hancock and South Hancock are solid. We were able to just walk across everything. As I mentioned earlier, I was running very low on gas and the small climbs and PUDs along the way between the peaks required brief stops. Eventually we were on the final approach to South Hancock.
At South Hancock two others with a pair of dogs came up from behind us hiking the same route. They headed to the viewpoint near the summit, and we got the usual summit pictures and started our exit hike.
Up to this point we were bare-booting the hike. Considering the trail conditions and steepness of the trail, Sue made the decision to go with MicroSpikes for the descent from South Hancock. It was a very good decision. We were able to generally walk down from South Hancock with very little slipping along the way. In a relatively short time we were standing at the loop split. We continued with MicroSpikes until roughly half-way to the Cedar Brook Trail junction. At that point the amount of exposed rocks increased and MicroSpikes weren’t providing enough added benefit to offset the needless wear from the exposed rocks. We retired the MicroSpikes for the remainder of the hike.
We completed the sloppy hike back to the trailhead with no surprises along the way. A short distance from the trailhead we had the headlights out. Our vehicle was the last one left at the lot. We quickly packed and took off. After a quick stop at Lincoln Woods to change into dry clothes we were on the highway south. We managed to hit the Park & Ride within ten minutes of the planned time – not bad.
That’s it for November. Next week we’ll be working the December list.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
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