| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Northwest Hancock, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, July 20, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All crossings easily managed |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Cedar Brook Trail could use some brushing here and there. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Though Max has bushwhacked with us in the past, he's made it clear he doesn't like the experience (too much vegetation constantly smacking him in the face).We left him at home today. |
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 | Bugs: |
Skeeters on Cedar Brook Trail. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
This was our second attempt of Northwest Hancock, and this time we got it.
The first time (two weeks ago), we started from the summit of Hancock. I dropped us down too far to the north and we ended up in the wrong spot...had to bail. This time, we went straight up from Cedar Brook Trail.
We followed a brook that crosses Cedar Brook Trail (there will be photos and a map on my blog sometime this week). There's a slide past the brook, but we didn't take it. The girls wanted to take a more direct, beeline approach from the brook. We followed the brook until it branched (a tenth of a mile or two into the woods). We followed the left branch up for about a tenth of a mile, then we headed northeast. Not far from the upper portions of that left branch there is a now-dry stream (used to feed into the brook). We walked along that for a tenth (or two?) of a mile until the path became too cluttered with blowdowns. From there, we went straight up to the ridge, in a general east-northeast direction. We came up onto the narrow part of the ridge, to the right of the false summit. From there, it was a relatively easy whack up and over the little bumps until we reached the summit. Happy to say I figured out how to open the canister (just unscrew the bottom...no futzing with the screws needed) so this time we signed our names (we just took a photo of us with the canister on West Osceola).
We went down almost exactly the way we went up. Never hit the slide. Two hours of whacking up and two hours of whacking back down (from where we left Cedar Brook Trail).
The 'whack was 50% open-ish woods and 50% crazy-thick-jumbled-mess.
The girls are happy and proud of themselves, and both said they want to do more bushwhacking. Though we had a good day today, I still prefer trails, so we'll see.
Congrats to Alex, she has four more Trailwrights peaks to go.
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 | Name: |
TrishAlexSage |
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 | E-Mail: |
patriciaellisherr@post.harvard.edu |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-07-20 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.trishalexsage.com |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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