HANCOCK NOTCH: 1/12/10

Continuing with the Hancock theme from last week's hike, today I took a solo snowshoe hike to Hancock Notch, one of the least-traveled of the backcountry notches in the Whites. The photo below, taken from an off-trail ledge on Owl's Cliff, shows Hancock Notch as seen from the east. It is formed by Mt. Huntington on the L and the bold southern spur of South Hancock, dubbed "Juno Peak" by Hancock afficiniado Guy Waterman, on the R. Mt. Hitchcock is seen through the notch. This pass is unusual for its very wide, flat floor - perhaps a mile across.



The first 1.8 mile section of the Hancock Notch Trail was a smooth snowy highway packed by Hancock peakbaggers, with a quarter-inch of new snow on top. I barebooted for 0.6 mile to the first stream crossing, then put snowshoes on for the rest of the day.



At the Cedar Brook Trail junction, I continued straight on the Hancock Notch Trail, breaking trail through about a foot of fine powder atop an old snowshoe track.



The middle part of this section follows a relocation made about ten years ago, upslope to the north. Where it comes back to the old route near the brook draining the notch, the older trail looks more obvious than the newer route.

Old route, looking west...


Newer route, looking NW...


A beautiful snowy corridor led up to the flat floor of the notch.

Much of the trail was bordered by dense snow-packed young conifers, but nearing the height-of-land there were some fine open spruce groves.

At the west end of the notch, a small open bog a short distance south of the trail provided an interesting view up to the talus slopes and ledges on the steep N face of Mt. Huntington.


From the bog I wandered through open woods along the south edge of the flat floor of the notch. Back in the comfort of home I had considered the idea of whacking up to the talus, which I had done a couple of times in summer, to see its unique view of the Hancocks. But the wall of small snow-covered conifers seen up the slope, and memories of thick scrub and deep boulder holes (now hidden by two feet of unconsolidated snow) approaching the talus, quickly dissuaded me of the notion.

I returned to the trail near the east end of the notch, where an open spot right on the trail gave a different angle on the talus and cliffs.

This was my turn-around point. To the E the Hancock Notch Trail is badly overgrown and difficult to follow. In December a snowshoer attempting an east-to-west traverse of the trail lost the route and spent an unplanned night out, triggering a Fish & Game rescue mission.

I headed back W across the broad floor along a lovely stretch of trail. Though it's less than three miles from the road, Hancock Notch gives you a real "out there" feeling.


On the way back, the partly sunny skies prompted me to make a side trip up the Cedar Brook Trail for a return visit to the large open bog John Compton and I visited last week. I hoped the views of the Hancocks would be clearer today. Along the way was this pretty spot on the North Fork of Hancock Branch.


Heading out into the bog, I saw that our tracks from last week had been almost completely obscured by windblown snow. The temperature this afternoon had dropped from about 20 degrees at the start to 10 degrees at the bog.


The views did not disappoint. The Hancocks spread wide above the bog.


A zoom on the wild-looking Juno Peak. When I did a Google on this name, it came up with an interesting trip report by veteran bushwhacker Roy Schwieker, who has explored most every nook and cranny of the Whites and farther afield. Roy and his friend "The Peakmaster" made the thick, steep, difficult ascent of Juno Peak in 2005, starting from the Hancock Notch Trail; the report appeared on Views from the Top.

South Hancock, an impressive peak from this angle.

And North Hancock, with its whitened Arrow Slide.

As I headed back out on the trails, there were no other hiker tracks anywhere along the route. I had the entire Hancock area to myself on this brisk January day.

LAFAYETTE BROOK: 1/7/10

Looking for an afternoon of off-trail snowshoeing with some good trail-breaking, I opted for a favorite short trip to some small ledges overlooking the Lafayette Brook valley at the north end of Franconia Notch. The sun had made a rare appearance down in Lincoln, but up here all was still grey and would remain so, extinguishing any hope of enjoying the unique view of Mt. Lafayette from the ledges. I went ahead with the trip anyway, parking at the bottom of the access road at Exit 34C leading down to the Hugh Gallen Memorial and the Lafayette Brook bridge. (Thanks to John Compton for the tip on this road being plowed this winter.) Some snowmobiles went by as I crossed the bridge on the recreation trail. They might have wondered where this fellow with the huge pack was heading.

All the trees up here were fantastically caked with snow. There was about two feet of unconsolidated powder, making for some slow trail-breaking through the somewhat brushy woods.



There was wintry beauty overhead.


It took nearly two hours to climb and then descend to an open ledge with a view up the Lafayette Brook valley. The clouds were at about the 3200-foot level, rendering the upper slopes invisible.


The hardwoods across the valley, at the base of the backside of Eagle Cliff, were draped in white. There is said to some old-growth hardwood in the lower valley here, which is part of the National Forest's Lafayette Brook Scenic Area.


The clouds lifted enough to reveal a view of "Sleeping Chief Ledge," so named by fellow bushwhacker Chris Whiton for its appearance when seen from the Lafayette Brook bridge. It's an interesting off-trail destination.


The ledge from which the preceding photos were taken.

The steep slope of open woods behind the ledge. Above here the growth was quite scrubby.

Farther up the slope I visited another open spot that on a clear day provides a dramatic view of Lafayette's bare crest rising at the head of the valley.

Not a breath of wind stirred this day, preserving the remarkable coating on the trees.


On the slope to the north of the ledges I snowshoed down through some fine birch glades. This was one of several areas burned by forest fires in the White Mountains in 1903.


No real views today, but a rewarding exploration nonetheless.

SNOWSHOEING IN HANCOCK COUNTRY: 1/5/10

For my first hike of the new decade, I joined John Compton for a leisurely trek into the snowy forests at the base of Mt. Hancock. As John noted in an internet report, on this cloudy day with comfortable temperatures (mid-20s) and no wind, the purpose of our journey was " mainly for the pure joy of being out in the woods on a winter day."

With over a foot of newly fallen snow in the woods, we were pleased to see a couple of cars at the Hancock Overlook parking area. We would not have to break the new snow from the start! After we crossed the Kancamagus Highway at the hairpin turn and dipped into the woods, we found a nice, softly-packed track that was ideal for snowshoeing.



The first 1.4 miles of the Hancock Notch Trail mostly follows the bed of a J.E. Henry logging railroad from the 1890s.


At about 1.5 miles, where the trail (now off the RR bed) runs along a high bank above the North Fork of Hancock Branch, we got a ghostly glimpse of the high, wild tip of South Hancock over the trees.



At the junction with Cedar Brook Trail, we noted that there was an older track leading ahead towards Hancock Notch. We turned left here on Cedar Brook Trail, continuing on the well-packed route trodden out by Hancock peakbaggers.

The five crossings of the North Fork were all easily doable. The second one was in midwinter form, with the brook completely buried.


We soon veered off trail into open spruce woods for a short bushwhack to a bog I had visited three winters ago. Deep snow and prolonged cold are prerequistites for going to this type of place, both to protect the snowshoer from an unplanned dunk and to prevent undue damage to bog vegetation.

We encountered deep, soft snow as we approached the bog.

It was soon in sight, with a low spur of Mt. Hitchcock beyond.

It's a large opening, partly visible from the summit outlook on North Hancock.

A big old, weathered trunk on the bog.


The bog has some unusual views. Cloud-veiled South Hancock is on the L, and its southern spur, called "Juno Peak" by Guy Waterman, overhangs Hancock Notch on the R.

To the SE is the mass of Mt. Huntington, with its talus slopes overlooking the other side of Hancock Notch.

We returned to the trail and followed the broken track to the junction with the Hancock Loop Trail. Here, as expected, the broken track turned right onto the loop trail.

Ahead, the Cedar Brook Trail was a deep, unbroken blanket of snow, with no old track beneath. From here north, this trail receives little use, especially in winter.


Our goal was to reach the high, remote, boggy saddle (3100 ft.) between Mt. Hancock and Mt. Hitchcock. In the time-honored tradition of snowshoeing, we rotated trail-breaking duties through the two feet of powder.


The snow deepened as we ascended.

At one spot a huge clump of snow attached to a bent-over spruce blocked the trail. It took a few minutes to knock enough snow off to make a passage.


There was some serious snow depth here.

It was slow going as we approached the height-of-land amidst a winter wonderland forest.



Near the high point we entered the Pemi Wilderness. It had taken nearly an hour to break out 0.6 mile of trail.


We continued down about 0.1 mile on the north side to our turn-around point at a semi-open spot on the trail. At one spot we got a miniscule glimpse of part of a ridge out in the Pemi. From here the trail continues 4 miles down the Cedar Brook valley to meet the East Side Trail. No way we were going to break trail that far today!

A small bog beside the trail at our turn-around point.

We took a break here for some refreshments and to absorb the wintry remoteness of the place.
We also marveled at the fact that a couple of weeks earlier, epic bushwhacker J.R. Stockwell had launched a solo off-trail ascent of North Hancock from the trail somewhere in this vicinity. Presumably Guy Waterman used a similar route during his four-points-of-the-compass-in-winter tour through the 4000-footers. Wow!

Heading back up to the pass, we had a nice partly broken track to follow.

The trail makes a little jog to skirt around this small bog.


We made a brief excursion off-trail to poke around another mini-bog.

The skies had cleared somewhat, so on our return trip we made a repeat side excursion out to the large bog to catch the slightly improved view of Hancock.

Interesting lighting on Mt. Huntington.


The sharp peak of South Hancock briefly emerged from its filmy shroud.


We obtained a peek at the whitened Arrow Slide, but North Hancock was solidly socked in.


Here's a full view of the Hancocks from the bog, taken on a visit in April 2007.


Sunset light on the trail sign as we emerged after a satisfying deep-winter snowshoe ramble.