A slide that would be new to me seemed like a good choice for yet another warm, humid day (though not as oppressive as the day before). A relatively small slide on the steep south face of North Hancock beckoned. It's located just 0.1 mile west of the prominent and well-known Arrow Slide. I refer to it as the "Little Arrow" Slide. In this view from Mt. Osceola it is seen below and left of the Arrow Slide. It turned out to be an impressive little slide, steep and rather sketchy and offering a fine view.
The grade of the 1890s J.E. Henry logging railroad leading into the valley of the North Fork of Hancock Branch provides comfortable walking for the first 1.5 miles of the Hancock Notch Trail.
At 1.3 miles a high bank offer a view of a southern spur of Mt. Hitchcock.
A ledgy section of the North Fork next to the Cedar Brook Trail.
A familiar junction for peakbaggers.
Parts of the Hancock Loop Trail are pretty beat up from hiker traffic and epic rainstorms.
A glimpse of the Arrow Slide as the trail drops down before starting the steep climb to North Hancock.
The brookbed at the bottom of this pitch is usually dry.
I left the trail here and headed west, soon crossing the runout of the Arrow Slide.
I continued across until I reached the track of the Little Arrow Slide.
Following this track enabled me to climb a narrow seam between two nightmarish blowdown areas.
The woods beside the obstructed lower part of the track weren't great, but by Hancock standards they weren't bad.
Where the track opened up, I hopped on board.
First views looking back: Mt. Huntington and East Osceola.
Looking slide-y.
The open slide ahead.
Looks steep and loose.
Some steep, dry granite slabs to scramble up. Measured on the Lidar map on the NH Granit website, Little Arrow comes in at a rather steep 35 degrees.
An excellent view down the North Fork valley to Mt. Osceola and Scar Ridge. Surprisingly, it was clear enough to see Mt. Ascutney and Stratton Mountain, far off in southern Vermont.
Down-look.
The footing was sketchy on the loose rock.
Looking up towards the top of the slide. Little Arrow could be a century or more old, as it is seen on a 1939 aerial photo.
South Hancock looms close at hand.
Zoom on Osceola, with its several northern slides revealed.
The larger of two white pines seen on this slide, at an elevation of 3680 ft. The other pine was seedling size. Also of note was a singing Fox Sparrow heard down by the loop junction and up near the slide. In the last two decades this species has expanded its breeding range south from Canada into the White Mountains.
Looking down from the spot where I lounged for quite a while, despite an abundance of red ants.
Eventually I continued up almost to the top of the slide. I never considered proceeding another 700 ft. up to the summit of North Hancock, as there is extremely steep, cliff-dotted terrain above.
I figured that the descent of the slide would be quite tricky with the loose footing, so I took to the woods. As I expected, they were awful.
One look to the left dissuaded me from the notion of contouring a quarter-mile across the slope to the track of the Arrow Slide and the Hancock Loop Trail beyond.
The woods were so bad up here I headed right back to the slide.
As luck would have it, I came back at a spot with a nice ant-free rock seat, so I decided to stay a while and spent another hour taking it in. That's Mt. Cardigan seen through the gap between Mt. Osceola and Scar Ridge.
There's an impressive slab on the other (western) side of the slide, so I scooted carefully across for a closer look.
Looking back at the slabs on the eastern side.
A wider view of South Hancock here.
It's steep, and layered.
Looking up the slab.
Another angle.
Farewell to the slide. I descended the track to the point where I could exit into reasonable woods.
Evening in a spruce grove along the Cedar Brook Trail.
Alpenglow on Mt. Osceola, from the Hancock Overlook.
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