| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Hancock, South Hancock, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 7, 2012 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Close to full, but still a few spaces. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Blue, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All had complete or nearly complete ice bridges. That said, parts of the ice bridges were weak and thus breakable. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Hancock Notch Trail looks like it's received some TLC in the past year. Cut out one minor sapling leaner. Two stepover chainsaw blowdowns on Hancock Loop Trail, about halfway between Cedar Brook and the loop split. Very brushy in places between the peaks. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
A whole bunch of happy labs (redundant?) seemed to be enjoying themselves. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Should call this a WINO 4K hike - Winter In Name Only.
Generally an ice base. A trace to an inch of sticky snow fell overnight, making for easier travel. Very little snowpack down low. Snowpack was closer to 6" around Cedar Brook and upwards of 12" in some places along the ridge.
While the blue ice is certainly plentiful (some in the lower elevations was slushing up in the afternoon), the dusting of sticky snow allowed me to bareboot all but the steep portion of the descent. For that, Microspikes were adequate. Otherwise, they were a liability due to sticky snow snowballing.
No snowshoes needed for this hike until at least the next snowstorm. The ridge is very well packed by boot traffic. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21 at franklinwebpublishing dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2012-01-07 |
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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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