Driver8
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Visited the Hancocks Saturday. With the heavy rains earlier in the week, this was a wet, sometimes muddy journey. The several crossings of the North Branch were all easily managed. I tried to avoid the first two via a herd path, which soon fizzled out. Ended up finding the brook again about halfway between these two crossings and crossing there, which involved getting the feet wet. Freed me from that point forward not to worry about wet shoes, socks and feet - the socks and shoes dried pretty well along the way, anyhow.
Interesting observations from the hike:
1. There was extensive plastic orange trail maintenance flagging of the Hancock Notch and Cedar Brook Trails and of the Loop trail about halfway up to the loop's split between the two peaks. Above this point, on the ridge walk at least, it was clear that a lot of work had been done, in terms of clearing and cleaning the footbed and of what must be a perennial task, clearing blowdowns. This ongoing effort to improve the trail is welcome, as it is in very rough condition in many spots, notably with steps washed out, long boggy and ponded stretches.
2. In addition to flagging along the trails, there was flagging on the right side of the brook between the first and second crossings on the Cedar Brook Trail. My guess is that the plan is to re-route the trail in this section to avoid some or all of the brook crossings. I did not follow along these flags to see where they led. But on my return trip, I did have to slog through, or around, some really awful trail near the southernmost North Branch crossing. I'm all for the re-route, as it would be good riddance to see this stuff west of the brook bypassed. Yuck!
3. I chose to summit the south peak first. I had stopped by Mountain Wanderer on the way to the hike to pick Steve Smith's brain and get a fuller sense of the two steeps to and from the peaks. When I mentioned the counter-clockwise plan, he encouraged the opposite, noting that it would cut out an unpleasant hundred foot up after the descent from the main peak. He also advised that the north steep was even fiercer and rougher than the south, for those, like me, concerned about a tricky descent. I mulled this as I hiked and, at the split, finalized my original plan. It allowed me to break up the climb to the mountain's highest point into pieces.
Climbing South Hancock, an arduous effort for me, I often considered calling it a day once I hit that summit. Heartened by the emerging views of the main peak on my frequent rest stops, and, higher up, of the pretty views to the Franconia peaks and neighbors, I made it to the first summit of the day, albeit at 4:55 pm - I'd started just after noon. Any doubt I had of completing the loop then evaporated. My legs would hear nothing of stopping now - they sprung into further action - let's go get the big one!
After a quick visit to the overlook just below south summit and a bit of eye-roving SSW wondering if any good views lay nearby in that direction, I continued along the loop. I soon found another item of interest.
4. Can a brother, or a sister, get a view to the northeast on this mountain, for goodness' sake? Steve had regretfully advised that it is very hard to get much of a view to the northeast from anywhere on Hancock near the trail. He was right. But I can be hard-headed when presented with that sort of obstacle. I will look to see where it can be overcome, and how much. I found some "scores" along the way on this front, and eyeballed some other spots which showed some promise.
First score: just at the first significant pitch off South's summit, heading CCW, you get a nice, framed view of the main body of Carrigain. This is obvious to any hiker on a clear day. Quite dramatic and pretty. This is a score in itself, as the overlook just below south summit gives only a through-the-trees view to big C. But this was not the big score. That came, in my reflection that this opening was of a pretty good size. Could we see Washington, I wondered? Hmmm. You can. Step back and right a few steps from the top of this pitch, on the right (southeastward) bank of the trail. You get, from this spot, a very nice look at Washington's big cone and of Boott Spur jutting out to its right. That was a win for the team. Not a full northern Presi look, but at least something to the northeast, something quite good.
OK! That was a nice find. Anything else out there? I can't report seeing much else, though I did, descending from the Middle Peak, grab at least one more look at Washington through the trees. But I did see a couple of promising spots near the trail which would merit exploration, given the time. I didn't have the time Saturday, but on a return trip, I'd like to check these out:
a. Descending off Middle peak, there's a flat, muddy col with a small boardwalk, which traverses the trail at maybe a NE-SW angle. To my eye, it looked like if one followed the drainage to the NE from there 100 to 200 yards, the woods were fairly thin, such that some kind of view towards Crawford Notch and some points east and west of that line could be gotten.
b. Near the lowest col, the last one before the 300'+ ascent to the main peak, the woods to the NE of the trail again looked somewhat promisingly thin, with thin forest cover.
c. On the first hundred feet of climb up the main cone from that col, prior to the very dense clumps of fir, there looked to be some spots where, in winter, you could get good views to the northeast with the leaves down.
When I spoke with Steve to follow up on the hike, he confirmed c, and advised that with the snowpack of late winter, there often are good views to be found north and eastward from atop the pack on and near the main summit. Sounds like fun.
After walking the beautiful ridge and taking in the nice view near the main summit, the descent that followed was was daunting, but I'd been warned both by Steve and by fellow hikers encountered on the day. The good thing was the continual presence of lots of good hand-hold trees all along the "trail", which was imo more like a slide than a trail for its upper half, once the steeps began below a short side-hill. I would not want to be near that trail right after a big, big rain like in a tropical storm, as it would not surprise me to see this area slide like the neighboring Arrow has already done, and another smaller slide south of it on the same wall. Extensive and careful trail-building efforts - rock steps, wooden fence-post cross steps - have been foiled to the tune of 1/3 to 1/2 on this trail simply because the terrain is too steep and too loose for anything to hold for long absent any stabilizing vegetation. The south peak ascent is steep and often loose - reminded me of the long haul from Shining Rock to Little Haystack on FWT - but the north is moreso.
Even so, and even though I got a late start on the descent, an hour and a half after starting, at about 8 pm, after a lot of care and attention to most every step and hand-hold, I was to the base, which, due to the week's rains, was a healthily flowing stream into a cool, broad, flat, small pond. Beautiful in the late evening shade and low light. I took a break and washed up a bit, then climbed out of the low spot back to the loop split - Steve was right, it was an annoyance, but better that, for me, this time, than having climbed about 1000' in about 0.6 at the heart of the clockwise climb to North peak.
From the loop junction, it was a long, sore and tired, but very satisfied hike out, the last 2/3 of it using the trusty headlamp to welcome effect. Over 11 hours after the start, I got back to my car, mission accomplished.
One last note:
5. Bugs. I was menaced by bugs, steadily though not ferociously, pretty well all the way up to the loop split. Numerous descending hikers I met complained that the bugs made staying long for the views on either summit intolerable. I was lucky with my late hike in this - neither wind nor bugs at either summit. No bugs on South around 5 pm, and none, either, on North around 6:30. Nice luck! Also, was quite enjoyable to have Hancock's ridge all to myself. A rare and fun thing for a pretty summer day. I've now summited 14 unique White 4K's, 6 of them with no wind when I was at the high point. This was a hard one for me, after which I feel ready to take on more big hauls - maybe Wildcats and Carter Dome next. ...
Picture album from the hike: https://www.facebook.com/Arkie.in.C...084.1073741850.1321623751&type=1¬if_t=like
Interesting observations from the hike:
1. There was extensive plastic orange trail maintenance flagging of the Hancock Notch and Cedar Brook Trails and of the Loop trail about halfway up to the loop's split between the two peaks. Above this point, on the ridge walk at least, it was clear that a lot of work had been done, in terms of clearing and cleaning the footbed and of what must be a perennial task, clearing blowdowns. This ongoing effort to improve the trail is welcome, as it is in very rough condition in many spots, notably with steps washed out, long boggy and ponded stretches.
2. In addition to flagging along the trails, there was flagging on the right side of the brook between the first and second crossings on the Cedar Brook Trail. My guess is that the plan is to re-route the trail in this section to avoid some or all of the brook crossings. I did not follow along these flags to see where they led. But on my return trip, I did have to slog through, or around, some really awful trail near the southernmost North Branch crossing. I'm all for the re-route, as it would be good riddance to see this stuff west of the brook bypassed. Yuck!
3. I chose to summit the south peak first. I had stopped by Mountain Wanderer on the way to the hike to pick Steve Smith's brain and get a fuller sense of the two steeps to and from the peaks. When I mentioned the counter-clockwise plan, he encouraged the opposite, noting that it would cut out an unpleasant hundred foot up after the descent from the main peak. He also advised that the north steep was even fiercer and rougher than the south, for those, like me, concerned about a tricky descent. I mulled this as I hiked and, at the split, finalized my original plan. It allowed me to break up the climb to the mountain's highest point into pieces.
Climbing South Hancock, an arduous effort for me, I often considered calling it a day once I hit that summit. Heartened by the emerging views of the main peak on my frequent rest stops, and, higher up, of the pretty views to the Franconia peaks and neighbors, I made it to the first summit of the day, albeit at 4:55 pm - I'd started just after noon. Any doubt I had of completing the loop then evaporated. My legs would hear nothing of stopping now - they sprung into further action - let's go get the big one!
After a quick visit to the overlook just below south summit and a bit of eye-roving SSW wondering if any good views lay nearby in that direction, I continued along the loop. I soon found another item of interest.
4. Can a brother, or a sister, get a view to the northeast on this mountain, for goodness' sake? Steve had regretfully advised that it is very hard to get much of a view to the northeast from anywhere on Hancock near the trail. He was right. But I can be hard-headed when presented with that sort of obstacle. I will look to see where it can be overcome, and how much. I found some "scores" along the way on this front, and eyeballed some other spots which showed some promise.
First score: just at the first significant pitch off South's summit, heading CCW, you get a nice, framed view of the main body of Carrigain. This is obvious to any hiker on a clear day. Quite dramatic and pretty. This is a score in itself, as the overlook just below south summit gives only a through-the-trees view to big C. But this was not the big score. That came, in my reflection that this opening was of a pretty good size. Could we see Washington, I wondered? Hmmm. You can. Step back and right a few steps from the top of this pitch, on the right (southeastward) bank of the trail. You get, from this spot, a very nice look at Washington's big cone and of Boott Spur jutting out to its right. That was a win for the team. Not a full northern Presi look, but at least something to the northeast, something quite good.
OK! That was a nice find. Anything else out there? I can't report seeing much else, though I did, descending from the Middle Peak, grab at least one more look at Washington through the trees. But I did see a couple of promising spots near the trail which would merit exploration, given the time. I didn't have the time Saturday, but on a return trip, I'd like to check these out:
a. Descending off Middle peak, there's a flat, muddy col with a small boardwalk, which traverses the trail at maybe a NE-SW angle. To my eye, it looked like if one followed the drainage to the NE from there 100 to 200 yards, the woods were fairly thin, such that some kind of view towards Crawford Notch and some points east and west of that line could be gotten.
b. Near the lowest col, the last one before the 300'+ ascent to the main peak, the woods to the NE of the trail again looked somewhat promisingly thin, with thin forest cover.
c. On the first hundred feet of climb up the main cone from that col, prior to the very dense clumps of fir, there looked to be some spots where, in winter, you could get good views to the northeast with the leaves down.
When I spoke with Steve to follow up on the hike, he confirmed c, and advised that with the snowpack of late winter, there often are good views to be found north and eastward from atop the pack on and near the main summit. Sounds like fun.
After walking the beautiful ridge and taking in the nice view near the main summit, the descent that followed was was daunting, but I'd been warned both by Steve and by fellow hikers encountered on the day. The good thing was the continual presence of lots of good hand-hold trees all along the "trail", which was imo more like a slide than a trail for its upper half, once the steeps began below a short side-hill. I would not want to be near that trail right after a big, big rain like in a tropical storm, as it would not surprise me to see this area slide like the neighboring Arrow has already done, and another smaller slide south of it on the same wall. Extensive and careful trail-building efforts - rock steps, wooden fence-post cross steps - have been foiled to the tune of 1/3 to 1/2 on this trail simply because the terrain is too steep and too loose for anything to hold for long absent any stabilizing vegetation. The south peak ascent is steep and often loose - reminded me of the long haul from Shining Rock to Little Haystack on FWT - but the north is moreso.
Even so, and even though I got a late start on the descent, an hour and a half after starting, at about 8 pm, after a lot of care and attention to most every step and hand-hold, I was to the base, which, due to the week's rains, was a healthily flowing stream into a cool, broad, flat, small pond. Beautiful in the late evening shade and low light. I took a break and washed up a bit, then climbed out of the low spot back to the loop split - Steve was right, it was an annoyance, but better that, for me, this time, than having climbed about 1000' in about 0.6 at the heart of the clockwise climb to North peak.
From the loop junction, it was a long, sore and tired, but very satisfied hike out, the last 2/3 of it using the trusty headlamp to welcome effect. Over 11 hours after the start, I got back to my car, mission accomplished.
One last note:
5. Bugs. I was menaced by bugs, steadily though not ferociously, pretty well all the way up to the loop split. Numerous descending hikers I met complained that the bugs made staying long for the views on either summit intolerable. I was lucky with my late hike in this - neither wind nor bugs at either summit. No bugs on South around 5 pm, and none, either, on North around 6:30. Nice luck! Also, was quite enjoyable to have Hancock's ridge all to myself. A rare and fun thing for a pretty summer day. I've now summited 14 unique White 4K's, 6 of them with no wind when I was at the high point. This was a hard one for me, after which I feel ready to take on more big hauls - maybe Wildcats and Carter Dome next. ...
Picture album from the hike: https://www.facebook.com/Arkie.in.C...084.1073741850.1321623751&type=1¬if_t=like
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