Hiking in the White Mountains: Cedar Brook Trail

Showing posts with label Cedar Brook Trail. Show all posts

Mount Hancock and South Hancock (#1 & #2)

Date of Hike: 12/23/09

Hancock Notch Trail: 1.8 miles
Cedar Brook Trail: .7 miles
Hancock Loop Trail: 4.8 miles
Cedar Brook Trail: .7 miles
Hancock Notch Trail: 1.8 miles
Total Miles: 9.8 (2,650 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- Left RI at 4:30am, on trail at 7:30am, finsihed at 11:45am
- Weather at trailhead was 5 degrees, and stayed around 5 degrees for much of hike, back at car it was a balmy 12 degrees! There was no wind to speak of for all of the hike. Cloud cover swamped higher summits. Decent view of the backside of the Bonds and the Scar Ridge
- Trail conditons had a hard-packed snow shoe trail that I barebooted with no post-holeing for all of hike
- Descending South Hancock the trail is to smooth making for perfect butt sliding conditions if careful! Crampons and microspikes could have been used here to be on safe side
- All water crossing on the Cedar Brook trail are 90% snow bridged

Pictures: Click here for all Pictures

Mount Hancock Summit

Hancock Loop Trail

Frozen over water crossing on Cedar Brook Trail

Osceola's from Hancock Trailhead

From Dawn till Dusk (Mount Zealand and Hale from the Kanc)

Date of hike: 10/17/09

Hancock Notch Trail: 1.8 miles / Cedar Brook Trail: 6.1 miles / East Side Trail: .9 miles / Thoreau Falls Trail: 5.1 miles / Ethan Pond Trail: .8 miles / Zeacliff Trail: 1.4 miles / Twinway: 4.7 miles / Lend-A-Hand Trail: 2.7 miles / Hale Brook Trail: 2.3 miles
Total Miles: 25.7 (5,300 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- Left RI at 4am with Dad and my dog Mr. Smackers. They dropped me off at the Hancock Notch trailhead on the Kanc at 6:45am and picked me up at the Hale Brook trailhead on Zealand Road at 5:30pm
- Temps were in the low 20's to high 30's, no wind, clear skies, few inches of snow on trail above 3,000 feet, and ice in places. Some mud, and wet spots hidden by snow cover and leaves, no traction required on any trails
- First 15 miles were relatively flat with not many views, very cold and my fingers didn't warm up until about 10 miles in
- Walked over to the old site of the suspension bridge connecting the East Side trail to the Wilderness trail, the cable is on the ground and the wood from the bridge is under tarps off to the side of the trail.
- Thoreau Falls Bridge is cool as it was last time I was here and looking and kind of crooked with a good view of one of the Bonds
- Got lost on Thoreau Falls trail, about 2.5 miles in the trail is not blazed at all and care needs to be taken to not get lost when the trail narrows and starts climbing the short steep section along the river. I ended up a tenth of a mile to the west in a small flooded beaver pond and then to a river bank. I then backtracked and headed east and stumbled upon the trail in a few minutes. This didn't seem to phase me last time on this trail, maybe cause I was hiking from the other direction!
- Ethan Pond Trail always has beautiful views and is nice and level from Thoreau Falls to Zeacliff trail junctions
- Zeacliff trail is wild, steep, and has great views of Mount Bond and Carrigain Notch
- Only saw two hikers all the way until the Twinway, then I ran into a bunch, a few people were wearing microspikes on the Twinway although they weren't needed
- Views from twinway of Washington and the Presidential Ranger were crystal clear and awesome!
- Stopped in at Zealand Hut and the falls for the first time since I was a kid.
- Lend-A-Hand trail has some very well placed bogs and with all the snow it made for a soft cushiony walk for a few tenths of a mile
- The snow was a constant from Zeacliff all the way until the last 1.5 miles of Hale Brook trail. It was well packed down but made for some slippery spots. Had two falls, a face first on the Twinway and a minor fall on Lend-A-Hand where there is an outlook
- My dad and Smackers were walking up Hale Brook as I descended. Ran into them a little over a half mile from the trailhead.
- Ice cold Yuengling's I won from a bet with Johnny 5 waiting in the car!
- This hike kicked my A$$, should have been done the opposite way to get all the elevation gain out of the way early in the day when fresh. Early in the morning at the Cedar Brook/Hancock Loop junction I really contemplated running up and doing the Hancock loop thank god I didn't!

Pictures: Click here to view all pictures

East Side Trail

Thoreau Falls Bridge

Looking north on the Twinway

Presidential Range

Mount Washington

Twinway

Zealand Notch to Carrigain Notch

Mr. Smackers!

Mount Hancock, South Hancock

Date of Hike: 7/3/09

Hancock Notch Trail: 1.8 miles
Cedar Brook Trail: .7 miles
Hancock Loop Trail: 4.8
Cedar Brook Trail: .7 miles
Hancock Notch Trail: 1.8 miles
Total Miles: 9.8 (2,650 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- Hiked with my brother Joe-Ben and his friend Chris Walusiak
- Left RI at 5:30 am on trail at 8:30am
- All trails were a muddy, soaked mess, resembling more of a stream than a trail
- Cedar Brook Trail was in bad shape and we had trouble locating the trail near the crossings
- Four brook crossings had boot high water, in which we removed our boots and just walked across
- Gray Jays out on the summit looking for handouts
- Finished hike at 4pm

Pictures: Click here to view all pictures

Joe-Ben and Chris W. remove boots

at one of the many Cedar Brook crossings

High water on the Hancock Loop Trail

Joe-Ben feeding Gray Jays on Mount Hancock Summit

Testing their balance

South Hancock (4,319 feet)

South Hancock from North Hancock's Summit

Mount Hancock and South Hancock are located just outside the boundry of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. The Hancock loop trail goes over both peaks and is very steep and has rough footing the half mile or so going up to each peak from the Hancock Loop Trail Split. There are no other trails that take you up the Hancocks but there is the "Arrow Slide" which is a steep open slide that is another way up to North Hancock. There are two outlooks near each summit that have decent views and usually there are Gray Jays at the summit which will eat trail mix right out of your hand!

Trails I've Hiked:

- Hancock Notch Trail/Cedar Brook Trail/Hancock Loop Trail: 4.9 miles, 2,650 elevation gain. The Hancock Notch Trailhead is located at the "Hair Pin" turn on the Kancamagus Highway. The Hancock Notch Trail to the Cedar Brook Trail has good footing and very easy grades. The Cedar Brook Trail has moderate grades and decent footing. There are several brook crossings on the Cedar Brook Trail that can be annoying when the water is running high, not dangerous but you're going to get your boots wet. The Hancock Loop trail has moderate grades until the trail junction split where you can go left for Hancock or right for South Hancock. From here the trail ascends rapidly over the next .5 miles with footing that is poor at best with exposed roots and loose rocks. Between summits the footing is better and the trail is pretty easy-going.

June 22nd, 2012: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

January 14th, 2012: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

December 22nd, 2011:Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

September 6th, 2010: The Arrow Slide

July 3rd, 2009: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trail

December 23rd, 2009: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trail

North Hancock (4,420 feet)

Mount Hancock and the Arrow Slide form East Osceola

North and South Hancock are located just outside the boundary of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. The Hancock loop trail goes over both peaks and is very steep and has rough footing the half mile or so going up to each peak from the Hancock Loop Trail Split. There are no other trails that take you up the Hancock's but there is the "Arrow Slide" which is a steep open slide that is another way up to North Hancock. There are two outlooks near each summit that have decent views and usually there are Gray Jays at the summit which will eat trail mix right out of your hand!

Trails I've Hiked:

- Hancock Notch Trail/Cedar Brook Trail/Hancock Loop Trail: 4.9 miles, 2,650 elevation gain. The Hancock Notch Trailhead is located at the "Hair Pin" turn on the Kancamagus Highway. The Hancock Notch Trail to the Cedar Brook Trail has good footing and very easy grades. The Cedar Brook Trail has moderate grades and decent footing. There are several brook crossings on the Cedar Brook Trail that can be annoying when the water is running high, not dangerous but you're going to get your boots wet. The Hancock Loop trail has moderate grades until the trail junction split where you can go left for Hancock or right for South Hancock. From here the trail ascends rapidly over the next .5 miles with footing that is poor at best with exposed roots and loose rocks. Between summits the footing is better and the trail is pretty easy-going.

Trip Reports:

May 19th, 2016: Up and down Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail North Link (RUN NH48)

February 7th, 2016: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

November 21st, 2015: Up and down Mount Osceola Trail, down Greeley Ponds Trail, up Kancamagus Highway and Hancock Notch Trail, up cedar Brook Trail, up and down Hancock Loop Trail, down Cedar Brook and Hancock Notch Trail, down Kancamagus Highway, up and down Greeley Ponds Trail, across Livermore Trail, up Tripoli Road

October 18th, 2015: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails (Run)

August 14th, 2015: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

April 26th, 2015: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

March 21st, 2015: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

January 25th, 2015: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

September 28th, 2014: Across Hancock Notch and Cedar Brook Trails, Up Hancock Loop Trail and Arrow Slide, bushwhack over to Northwest Hancock, down Cedar Brook Slide, out via Cedar Brook and Hancock Notch Trails

December 8th, 2013: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

September 23rd, 2013: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

July 3rd, 2013: Up and down Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, and Hancock Loop Trails

Pages

Mount Hancock and South Hancock (#1 & #2)

From Dawn till Dusk (Mount Zealand and Hale from the Kanc)

Mount Hancock, South Hancock

South Hancock (4,319 feet)

North Hancock (4,420 feet)

TrailsNH Search