WeRmudfun
New member
OK maybe we didn’t wade all the way to the top, but there was a lot of water. 
It poured the night before and even though all the weather forecasts for Sunday said it was going to rain on the Hancock’s, we decided to take the chance anyway. This was going to give the pup (Ms. Brandi) her 9th and 10th 4K Footers.
The drive up RT 93 looked promising until we turned on to the Kancamagus Highway, then there were dark clouds looming over the area. We got to the parking lot and there were other cars there, which meant we were not the only ones taking a chance. We started hiking at 9:30AM, very late for us, but we wanted to give the rain time to leave. We headed down the Hancock Notch Trail. The trail itself is relatively mild without much elevation gain. About a mile and a half in the trail takes a right to a rock staircase that starts some up. The trail was covered with water in places and the water crossing became interesting as you had to use a wide stance to get across without getting too wet. The trekking poles became our best friends by the end of the day and helped us stay dry crossing the water.
When we got to the Cedar Brook Trail that’s when the trail got a little rougher with boulders, roots and some elevation. We ran into a group of people who appeared to be lost when they got to the water crossing, they had been walking along the water looking for the trail. This is not the first time we heard of people loosing the trail at this crossing, they followed us to the correct location where we showed them where it was on the other side of the crossing. Cedar Brook Trail looked truly like a brook in places, it was just going to be one of those days, we figured! Oh and did we mention the mud sucking areas? Lol
The Hancock Loop Trail was at least a little drier, but that is also where you’ll encounter the majority of the UP. For some reason the last time we hiked the Hancock’s, they just seemed steeper, maybe it was because it was our first time then. Don’t get me wrong, we still found them to be steep, but not like we remembered it. The scree was slippery but manageable although it seemed to take for ever to go the .7 miles. We got to the summit and went over to the outlook. The views were acceptable for the day we were expecting, we really didn’t expect any at all. We were surprised that it wasn’t raining, thank you Mother Nature.
The hike over to South Peak was uneventful and pleasant. We met some other hikers at the summit and talked for a bit. Brandi got a little more socialization in. We do have to say that out of all the activities that we do, we find people who hike are by far the friendliest. The hike back down was time consuming due to the loose scree, erosion and oh..our knees.
Over all the hike was great, we enjoyed it even though we didn’t bring scuba gear! Lol Actually the hike back out had a bit less water on the trails, it was starting to recede to a reasonable level.
We did post a video of our day’s adventure for anyone who might be interested in seeing it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5O4KVOEkIQ
It poured the night before and even though all the weather forecasts for Sunday said it was going to rain on the Hancock’s, we decided to take the chance anyway. This was going to give the pup (Ms. Brandi) her 9th and 10th 4K Footers.
The drive up RT 93 looked promising until we turned on to the Kancamagus Highway, then there were dark clouds looming over the area. We got to the parking lot and there were other cars there, which meant we were not the only ones taking a chance. We started hiking at 9:30AM, very late for us, but we wanted to give the rain time to leave. We headed down the Hancock Notch Trail. The trail itself is relatively mild without much elevation gain. About a mile and a half in the trail takes a right to a rock staircase that starts some up. The trail was covered with water in places and the water crossing became interesting as you had to use a wide stance to get across without getting too wet. The trekking poles became our best friends by the end of the day and helped us stay dry crossing the water.
When we got to the Cedar Brook Trail that’s when the trail got a little rougher with boulders, roots and some elevation. We ran into a group of people who appeared to be lost when they got to the water crossing, they had been walking along the water looking for the trail. This is not the first time we heard of people loosing the trail at this crossing, they followed us to the correct location where we showed them where it was on the other side of the crossing. Cedar Brook Trail looked truly like a brook in places, it was just going to be one of those days, we figured! Oh and did we mention the mud sucking areas? Lol
The Hancock Loop Trail was at least a little drier, but that is also where you’ll encounter the majority of the UP. For some reason the last time we hiked the Hancock’s, they just seemed steeper, maybe it was because it was our first time then. Don’t get me wrong, we still found them to be steep, but not like we remembered it. The scree was slippery but manageable although it seemed to take for ever to go the .7 miles. We got to the summit and went over to the outlook. The views were acceptable for the day we were expecting, we really didn’t expect any at all. We were surprised that it wasn’t raining, thank you Mother Nature.
The hike over to South Peak was uneventful and pleasant. We met some other hikers at the summit and talked for a bit. Brandi got a little more socialization in. We do have to say that out of all the activities that we do, we find people who hike are by far the friendliest. The hike back down was time consuming due to the loose scree, erosion and oh..our knees.
Over all the hike was great, we enjoyed it even though we didn’t bring scuba gear! Lol Actually the hike back out had a bit less water on the trails, it was starting to recede to a reasonable level.
We did post a video of our day’s adventure for anyone who might be interested in seeing it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5O4KVOEkIQ
