Barbarossa
Active member
Dr Wu, el-bagr, and I met up at Lincoln Woods yesterday morning. We left my van as a car spot, just in case we were feeling extra ambitious. We drove up to the Hancock trailhead on the Kancamagus hairpin and headed in. Fortunately for me, they were patient and didn't leave me behind. At the Hancock Loop Trail we headed for N Hancock for a short ways, then traversed through the woods over to the Arrow Silde.
Arrow was steep and rocky, interspersed with sections of slab. Most of the slab was dry, which made for better footing. Near the top of the slide where the chutes diverge, we went to left at the chute marked by the cairn.
When we went into the woods, we were very close to the summit of N Hancock, so off we went. After a little bit of blowdown-surfing followed by 'open' woods, we found the trail and took a break at the overlook.
After looking around, we took a bearing and headed down the ridge to NW Hancock. It started as fairly open woods, but we whacked through a full variety of vegetation. Some blowdowns we spotted by the patches of sunlight, others we went over. I don't thick we got more than 50 yards of thick stuff at a time.
The summit bump of NW was pretty obvious, so once we were in the vicinity we didn't have to search around. The register said that a rock nearby had good views. We found the rock, but the entry was from 1974. Trees grow a lot in 31 years! We are headed back up next month with a chainsaw.
Heading down, we skirted the side of the ridge, descending slowly. We came out on the West Slide about 2/3 of the way up. el-bagr could give a better estimate, as he scrambled to the top while Wu and I rested. el-bagr hikes just a little bit slower than a deer.
The West Slide was not as steep and was rather sandy. At the bottom of the slide a stream emerged from the rock. I filled a bottle, since I was empty. (5L day) When the stream bed got narrow, we went back to the woods and crashed through some relatively open woods back to the Cedar Brook Trail, which we followed back to height of land, then out to the car.
Dr Wu and el-bagr took a lot of pictures, which I hope they will link here.
Arrow was steep and rocky, interspersed with sections of slab. Most of the slab was dry, which made for better footing. Near the top of the slide where the chutes diverge, we went to left at the chute marked by the cairn.
When we went into the woods, we were very close to the summit of N Hancock, so off we went. After a little bit of blowdown-surfing followed by 'open' woods, we found the trail and took a break at the overlook.
After looking around, we took a bearing and headed down the ridge to NW Hancock. It started as fairly open woods, but we whacked through a full variety of vegetation. Some blowdowns we spotted by the patches of sunlight, others we went over. I don't thick we got more than 50 yards of thick stuff at a time.
The summit bump of NW was pretty obvious, so once we were in the vicinity we didn't have to search around. The register said that a rock nearby had good views. We found the rock, but the entry was from 1974. Trees grow a lot in 31 years! We are headed back up next month with a chainsaw.
Heading down, we skirted the side of the ridge, descending slowly. We came out on the West Slide about 2/3 of the way up. el-bagr could give a better estimate, as he scrambled to the top while Wu and I rested. el-bagr hikes just a little bit slower than a deer.
The West Slide was not as steep and was rather sandy. At the bottom of the slide a stream emerged from the rock. I filled a bottle, since I was empty. (5L day) When the stream bed got narrow, we went back to the woods and crashed through some relatively open woods back to the Cedar Brook Trail, which we followed back to height of land, then out to the car.
Dr Wu and el-bagr took a lot of pictures, which I hope they will link here.