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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Northwest Hancock, North Hancock, South Hancock , NH
Trails
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, bushwhack, herd paths, Hancock Loop Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, August 11, 2018
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Hancock trailhead park lot on Rt 112  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: no issues 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes:  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: tough bushwhack for dogs the route we took 
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: sunglasses on the bootleg trail - Hancock Ridge 
 
Comments
Comments: Northwest Hancock is on the NH Fire Tower List and NH Trailwrights 72 List. North & South Hancock are on the NH 4000-Footer List. We start this hike off on Hancock Notch Trail for 1.8 miles, then jump onto Cedar Brook Trail followed it for roughly 2 miles and just over 2800 feet of elevation where the trail turns hard east and crosses Cedar Brook we started bushwhacking northeast heading towards the Hancock Ridge.

For the first few hundred yards or so the woods were not so bad. Well that didn’t last too long as we hit walls of thick spruce, lots of blow downs, steep climbs, dropped down to cross drainage, keep climbing turning more north and finial after 2 hours we hit the ridge at 3800 feet. Boy that was nasty and certainly eat up a lot of energy pushing through! It was not good line!

Once on the ridge things got much better picking up bootleg trails on and off to the former fire tower site, artifacts and recognized high point of Northwest Hancock.

After signing in we set off southeast towards North Hancock following the ridge on those on again off again bootleg trails and some bushwhacking and popped out onto the Handcock Loop Trail turning southwest to hit the summit of North Hancock for a late lunch.

After that well warranted 10-minute break we set off on Handcock Loop Trail towards South Hancock, back down to Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Notch Trail and after 11 tough hours we were back at out truck!

Another great adventure with my beautiful bride!

 
Name
Name: Brian Bond 
E-Mail
E-Mail: brianbond@comcast.net 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2018-08-12 
Link
Link: https:// 
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