Jason Berard
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2006
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I planned on doing this hike on the 1st, but the weather had other ideas, so when sunday's forecast looked good, I called up a couple friends, and off we went to the hairpin turn on the Kanc. Greg, myself, and WSC started up the frozen slush trail at 8:30 am, and got our first view of the slide (the yellow line is our route up) as we neared the junction with the hancock loop trail. At the fork we went left towards N. Hancock and started our short bushwack from the bottom of the gully to the base of the slide a short distance from there.
The slide looked good...dry with little snow or ice. We agreed we'd give it a go, and bail off through the woods to the loop trail if need be. We began picking our way up the slide and made steady progress. The views began to open up to our south
as we gained elevation. At this point, the "soil" was saturated and unstable, and we all began dislodging pebbles, stones, and rocks. We kept our distance from each other, which was good for me because I was bringing up the rear
. I could see now how ice might actually be of benefit on this slide!
About 2/3 of the way up, the pitch gets steeper, and looking down , and
up the slide , we could see how steep it really was. When we got near the top the soil was really loose, and Damian had a close call when the patch he was standing on gave way. Greg caught him, but his pole went skittering 25 ft down the slide. After catching our breath, Damian retrieved it,and we finished the top of the slide and headed through the wall of conifers and blowdowns.
We quickly found the blue flagged trees and followed them to the trail. This was info I had also found in a previous trip report, and was spot on! Thanks!
At the top we ate lunch, and took a break. The views over S. Hancock , and to the west towards franconia ridge were breathtaking. We headed off towards South Hancock and met a few hikers who warned us the trail off S. Hancock was icy. We thanked them, and were on our way. When we were nearly to the summit, we could see what we climbed earlier . We hit the summit, and headed down the s. Hancock trail. It wasn't long before we saw what the hiker's earlier meant. we started losing our footing on the icy trail, and switched to crampons. That helped, and we made better time after that. Even so, we did the last 3 miles out in the dark with our headlamps.
All in all, a great hike! We didn't expect that the slide would be less icy than the trail, but I'll take it! The views, considering these summits are wooded, were tremendous! Beyond the peaks in the pictures, we saw Carrigain, Washington, Owl's Head, Garfield, and Chocorua, among others.
The slide looked good...dry with little snow or ice. We agreed we'd give it a go, and bail off through the woods to the loop trail if need be. We began picking our way up the slide and made steady progress. The views began to open up to our south
as we gained elevation. At this point, the "soil" was saturated and unstable, and we all began dislodging pebbles, stones, and rocks. We kept our distance from each other, which was good for me because I was bringing up the rear
. I could see now how ice might actually be of benefit on this slide!About 2/3 of the way up, the pitch gets steeper, and looking down , and
up the slide , we could see how steep it really was. When we got near the top the soil was really loose, and Damian had a close call when the patch he was standing on gave way. Greg caught him, but his pole went skittering 25 ft down the slide. After catching our breath, Damian retrieved it,and we finished the top of the slide and headed through the wall of conifers and blowdowns.
We quickly found the blue flagged trees and followed them to the trail. This was info I had also found in a previous trip report, and was spot on! Thanks!
At the top we ate lunch, and took a break. The views over S. Hancock , and to the west towards franconia ridge were breathtaking. We headed off towards South Hancock and met a few hikers who warned us the trail off S. Hancock was icy. We thanked them, and were on our way. When we were nearly to the summit, we could see what we climbed earlier . We hit the summit, and headed down the s. Hancock trail. It wasn't long before we saw what the hiker's earlier meant. we started losing our footing on the icy trail, and switched to crampons. That helped, and we made better time after that. Even so, we did the last 3 miles out in the dark with our headlamps.
All in all, a great hike! We didn't expect that the slide would be less icy than the trail, but I'll take it! The views, considering these summits are wooded, were tremendous! Beyond the peaks in the pictures, we saw Carrigain, Washington, Owl's Head, Garfield, and Chocorua, among others.
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