grouseking
Well-known member
Yes, heavy metal. But I'll get into that later. After I woke up this morning, I checked the radar and saw a large area of heavy rain/thunderstorms in upstate NY (adirondacks) heading southeast. I couldn't tell if it was going to hit the Whites, but I was nervous because I don't like lightning...period. But I decided to just go for it...so off we went to the Hancock Notch trailhead to tackle the Hancocks. We arrived at 9:00am and were off a few minutes later.
I was worried about my foot thanks to a pervious freak injury and a painful hike last Tuesday. That one was flat, so I was concerned to say the least. But all ended up being fine and it doesn't even hurt now.
We made good time on the old rainroad trail and made it to Cedar Brook junc in less than 45 minutes. The forest is incredibly green this time of year, and thanks to the extra rain it is more vibrant. Suddenly, the sun came out as the clouds melted away. Guess I didn't have to worry about the thunder. Stream crossings were pretty easy despite the healthy flow of water heading down the channels. Most were easy rock hops, and I got the top of my boots wet a couple times. The boggy areas between Cedar Bk junc and the Hancock trail are wonderful, despite the bugs. Many wildflowers and pitcher plants dotted the lanscape. I was taking it all in, and we still made it to the Hancock trail in less than one hour.
After one more major stream crossing, we started gaining elevation a bit more. It wasn't all that steep, but very noticeable considering the cake walk we had just experienced. Most of the trail has quite eroded, as there were exposed roots all over. Rocks were actually few and far between on the trail, and throughout most of the hike, which surprised me, and made me happy. Soon we were at the Hancock Loop trail, where we decided to ascend North Hancock first.
Here is where the heavy metal comes in. As soon as we headed up the north loop, we suddenly heard loud heavy metal music playing. It was easily on the highest volume setting. I think it was System of a Down, or Slipknot...whatever it was it was terrible sounding and in my opinion, completely unacceptable. It would be one thing if the guy was wearing headphones (which in my opinion is still dumb, and dangerous but thats another story), but the music was seriously louder than I have ever heard before at any major party. I hope I never come across that again on the trails. For awhile there I was wondering if my trip was going to be ruined because someone couldn't use headphones. But anyways, to make a long story short, my dad went up to the guy, made a sarcastic remark about not being able to afford headphones, and the guy turned it off. Thank god, because the music echoed in the valley worse than the motorcycles going thru the Whites this weekend.
Back to the report: The trail got really steep and I, as usual slowed down, but took it all in and enjoyed the occasional glimpses of Scar Ridge and the Osceolas, for example. After a long hard climb, I arrived at the summit of North Hancock...number 19. The views were pretty nice and I tried to relax for awhile, but the bugs were terrible. Still we spent a healthy 20 min at the viewpoint before heading over to South Hancock. The trail through here was great. Green, moss, cool, water, bogs and grouse describe the trail perfectly. ( I didn't see the grouse, but clearly heard it) As we neared South Hancock, a few views toward Franconia Ridge opened up. I also got sone nice shots of the big bad Arrow Slide. I was on South Hancock at 1:00pm...number 20! The view from the downlook wasn't very open, but still quite unique in its own right. I'll come back in winter when there is 5 feet of snow so I can see over some of the trees. We couldn't spend too long on top because the bugs were ridiculous, so we crammed some food down and headed down the trail.
Man it was steep! But I did well and was at the bottom of the loop in 25 min or so. The foot was fine, and was becoming less and less worried. The trip out was nice....a mix of clouds and sun, some water filtering, playing a little leapfrog with different hiking groups and then the final few feet out to the trailhead, where we were greeted by what seemed like 500 motorcycles and their incredibly loud engines.
The hike was very enjoyable thanks to the scenery and awesome weather. And of course, it was very interesting because of the loud music from the boom box on the guys backpack.
I still can't believe it, but all was good in the end! Here are the pics
The Hancocks
grouseking
I was worried about my foot thanks to a pervious freak injury and a painful hike last Tuesday. That one was flat, so I was concerned to say the least. But all ended up being fine and it doesn't even hurt now.
We made good time on the old rainroad trail and made it to Cedar Brook junc in less than 45 minutes. The forest is incredibly green this time of year, and thanks to the extra rain it is more vibrant. Suddenly, the sun came out as the clouds melted away. Guess I didn't have to worry about the thunder. Stream crossings were pretty easy despite the healthy flow of water heading down the channels. Most were easy rock hops, and I got the top of my boots wet a couple times. The boggy areas between Cedar Bk junc and the Hancock trail are wonderful, despite the bugs. Many wildflowers and pitcher plants dotted the lanscape. I was taking it all in, and we still made it to the Hancock trail in less than one hour.
After one more major stream crossing, we started gaining elevation a bit more. It wasn't all that steep, but very noticeable considering the cake walk we had just experienced. Most of the trail has quite eroded, as there were exposed roots all over. Rocks were actually few and far between on the trail, and throughout most of the hike, which surprised me, and made me happy. Soon we were at the Hancock Loop trail, where we decided to ascend North Hancock first.
Here is where the heavy metal comes in. As soon as we headed up the north loop, we suddenly heard loud heavy metal music playing. It was easily on the highest volume setting. I think it was System of a Down, or Slipknot...whatever it was it was terrible sounding and in my opinion, completely unacceptable. It would be one thing if the guy was wearing headphones (which in my opinion is still dumb, and dangerous but thats another story), but the music was seriously louder than I have ever heard before at any major party. I hope I never come across that again on the trails. For awhile there I was wondering if my trip was going to be ruined because someone couldn't use headphones. But anyways, to make a long story short, my dad went up to the guy, made a sarcastic remark about not being able to afford headphones, and the guy turned it off. Thank god, because the music echoed in the valley worse than the motorcycles going thru the Whites this weekend.
Back to the report: The trail got really steep and I, as usual slowed down, but took it all in and enjoyed the occasional glimpses of Scar Ridge and the Osceolas, for example. After a long hard climb, I arrived at the summit of North Hancock...number 19. The views were pretty nice and I tried to relax for awhile, but the bugs were terrible. Still we spent a healthy 20 min at the viewpoint before heading over to South Hancock. The trail through here was great. Green, moss, cool, water, bogs and grouse describe the trail perfectly. ( I didn't see the grouse, but clearly heard it) As we neared South Hancock, a few views toward Franconia Ridge opened up. I also got sone nice shots of the big bad Arrow Slide. I was on South Hancock at 1:00pm...number 20! The view from the downlook wasn't very open, but still quite unique in its own right. I'll come back in winter when there is 5 feet of snow so I can see over some of the trees. We couldn't spend too long on top because the bugs were ridiculous, so we crammed some food down and headed down the trail.
Man it was steep! But I did well and was at the bottom of the loop in 25 min or so. The foot was fine, and was becoming less and less worried. The trip out was nice....a mix of clouds and sun, some water filtering, playing a little leapfrog with different hiking groups and then the final few feet out to the trailhead, where we were greeted by what seemed like 500 motorcycles and their incredibly loud engines.
The hike was very enjoyable thanks to the scenery and awesome weather. And of course, it was very interesting because of the loud music from the boom box on the guys backpack.
I still can't believe it, but all was good in the end! Here are the picsThe Hancocks
grouseking
