| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Hancock, South Hancock, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, March 20, 2015 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Lot was fairly well plowed and had room for quite a few cars. Was only car there AM and only 1 car when I left. Trail heads in general on the Kanc had no cars driving up AM and only a few heading out in afternooon. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All well bridged but holes are starting to poke through an a few of the small brooks were open down to water. Very easy crossings though. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Generally decent shape. Older yellow blazes somewhat spaced out but well above snow pack and were enough to keep on track. There was one large duck under on Cedar Brook (between first set of river crossings and second set of crossings) that I had to kneel to get under. There were several duck unders approaching and along the ridge that were no big deal. One small step over leaving South Hancock summit heading to North Hancock. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Some steep areas but overall dogs should be fine. |
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 | Bugs: |
none |
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 | Lost and Found: |
There was a small camoflauged box tied to tree right near South Hancock summit trail signs. Almost looked like the type of box hiking clubs keep peakbagger sign off sheets in so I left it alone. |
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 | Comments: |
Great conditions today. Hancock Notch and Cedar Brook trails both a packed powder track with a little fluff on it in spots. Fine bare boot or in spikes. At roughly 3000' on Hancock Loop trail powder gets much more loose and the drifts start. Switched to snow shoes here (which were the way to go all the way around loop and back to here). I went up South first. There were a lot of large, firm and akwardly sidehill drifts for about 2/10ths of a mile after split. The trail was tricky to follow in this area. No evidence of track for stretches. As trail continued to swing right and get steep the track was reasonably firm and easy to see rest of way to summit. Leaving summit toward North there were again tricky drifts that were rock hard and obscured the track in spots. The cols on both sides of Middle Hancock were fluffier and also had numerous areas where the track vanished for awhile. I followed a rabbit track that pretty much must have followed the trail turn for turn because the track and blazes reappeared every time I went with the rabbit. Climbing out of col to North the track becomes very obvious and quite a bit fluffier and loose. North summit still had a lot of snow on the trees. Descent down North back to split was very powdery (perfect glissading or sledding conditions) all the way down. A few very large confusing drifts at end before trail crosses river and climbs to split. Only other issue of note is to watch for sticks to poke eyes, face and neck. Snow pack was very deep and you're walking well up in the trees, even in many lower sections of the trail. I had summits to myself and only ran in to one bare booter down on Loop trail before split. Drifts were the kind of snow that will take some traffic to break down due to the firmness of the snow. Should be a fast and phenomenal walk at the end of the weekend. |
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 | Name: |
DayTrip |
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 | E-Mail: |
bblanchette0709@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2015-03-20 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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