Hiked by: Tim and Valerie on October 14, 2006. Hancock Notch Trail to Cedar Brook Trail to Hancock Loop Trail (South to North) then back.
Conditions: WOW! Who would have thought that we'd still be having such gorgeous weather this late into the season?? It was 28 degF with perfectly blue skies when we left the Hancock Overlook parking lot. There were two cars there before us. We crossed Rt 112 without any difficulty (it was about 7:50AM) and headed into the woods. The first few miles of this trip are really pleasant. Slow, gradual uphill at most. In many portions, simply flat. There was one property of the trail that was challenging for Valerie - stream crossings - and lots of them. In all, about 15 (double-counting the ones that we had to do in each direction). She got her practice in, and didn't end up wet, so it was a successful day from that standpoint.
After about the third or fourth stream crossing, we stopped to remove a layer of clothing. We were moving quickly enough through the woods that we were starting to get too warm. A couple, whom we had met in the parking lot earlier, caught up and passed us while we were stopped. We continued up the trail, crossing and re-crossing streams. It was all very pleasant through the entire portions on the Hancock Notch and Cedar Brook trails. Once we turned onto the Hancock Loop Trail, the trip started to get a little more rocky and gain a little more height, but still not bad.
THEN, we hit the junction for the loop. The couple who had passed us earlier were taking a short break there before the final ascent to the top. 0.7 miles to the North Peak, 0.5 miles to the South Peak, 1.4 miles between the peaks. Both ascents sound *miserable* in the guidebooks. We had all decided we were taking the southern route up, so the other couple led the way and we followed. It was do-able, but we both agreed it was the steepest portion of trail we'd been on in NH (Tim said, with the exception of small portions of Lion's Head on Mt Washington). We chatted with the other couple for the first few minutes up - she had already bagged all the 4K's, and he husband (perhaps our assumption, not sure they ever said that) was now working on them, so she got to do them for a second time. Anyways, we stayed a few yards behind them, all the way to the summit. It was a long half-mile mentally, but not that bad physically.
The summit was nicely wooded with some big stones that you could sit on for a break. Off to the side was a trail to an outlook. We went down there and sat for a snack, took some pictures. Then it was time to head over to the north peak. The trail between the two wasn't bad from an elevation standpoint, but there were some very nasty mud holes along the trail. We took advantage of the fact that it was still a little frozen around the edges, and we could find enough logs and/or rocks to keep our boots "above water level". I'm sure that people who came later in the day had it much worse. Our trekking poles were sinking into it about 6-8 inches. Yuck.
It still didn't take too long to get to the north peak. More wind now, as the sun had risen higher. There were quite a few people on the summit. Everyone was huddled around the junction with the trail from the northern ascent. No views really from there. We went off to find the outlook, took some pictures facing off to the south, ate again, then started down via the northern route.
Scree: A slope of loose rock debris at the base of a steep incline or cliff. -- American Heritage Dictionary
No disrespect meant to anyone who has ever done maintenance on this trail. It's obvious by the logs embedded in the earth, and the stone steps put into place where possible, that people have really done everything that they can, but this is really a scree with trail markers on it. :-) The first half-mile down was very, very slow. We debated quite a bit during the trip down whether it would be easier to come up this way rather than down. The people coming up didn't look like they were having much fun either.
Once we got back to the trail junction for the loop, then we were on familiar (and relatively flat) landscape for the next 3.5 miles out. No problems. Lots of people (many just out for a short walk to nowhere) were on the trail. Remnants of leaf-peepers looking at remnants of a very colorful autumn.
Someone in one of the guidebooks had suggested that the crossing of Rt 112 was the most dangerous part of the trip. We can attest to this as we were almost hit by a truck going about 50 on the hairpin turn. Hikers beware. Your legs don't want to move that fast after such a long hike, but they'll do it if you tell them to!
Back to the car at 3pm. 9.6 miles in just about 7 hours, including stops on both summits. This was definitely easier than any other 9.5-10 miles hike that we've done this year. The parking lot at 3pm is overflowing with tourists. Dozens of cars in the lot and flowing over to the sides of the road.