Outdoor Diversion: Bushwhack to Northwest Hancock

Summits: Northwest Hancock (4,020'), Mount Hancock (4,420')
Trail route: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Bushwhack to Northwest Hancock and Mount Hancock, Hancock Loop Trail
Trail conditions: Dry trails to wet trails with some muddy, lots of gnarly bushwhacking and a challenging slide
Weather: Warm, slightly humid temps, one downpour then sunshine and partly cloudy
Total miles: 12
Total time: 10:30

I was invited to a different kind of hiking adventure today. Robin is doing the Trailwrights 72 list and on that list is a hike to the remote summit of Northwest Hancock deep in the Pemigewasset Wilderness. This requires a bushwhack through dense woods and our route would also take us up a very loose and very unstable slide. Also joining in on this hike was Amy, Jim, Larry, Scott and Lisa. I had a feeling this was going to be a tough hike.

It was a pleasant hike along the Hancock Notch Trail. We turned onto the Cedar Brook Trail and it was obvious that there was not much foot traffic through here. We hiked through a beautiful forest and it wasn't long before the trail turned very wet with some very slippery rocks that required us to slow down a bit. There were also sections of deep mud. We kept checking our GPS track and began looking for a path of least resistance to start our bushwhack up to the slide.

We came to a water crossing and turned around to backtrack a short distance. We picked a spot and started our bushwhack to the slide. It was tough going with thick scrub and trees as well as a fair amount of blowdowns to get through. We moved up and to the left. The slide was never in sight. Keeping a keen eye to the left of us we started to see what might be an opening in the forest. Sure enough it was the slide we were looking for. We had come out onto it far up the slide. It was nice to be out in the open but only for a moment.

As we started up the slide we found it was very loose and quite hazardous. Every step had to be carefully placed in order to not dislodge a large rock or rocks and send them careening down the slide into one of us. The loose soil was also a problem as it would cause us to slide backwards. It was a tiring process. At one point a snake crawled out from the rocks between my feet.

Off in the distance I could see what looked like rain on the way. When we reached the top of the slide there was one more obstacle to overcome and that was getting out of the slide. The dirt bank was eroded and very loose. This required pulling ourselves up with roots and trees. In the meantime it had started to sprinkle.

Once we all got up into the woods that dark cloud that we had been watching let loose with a downpour. We went from wet to soaked as we pushed up through the bushwhack to the summit. There was a slight trail as we got closer to the summit. We reached the top of Northwest Hancock and took a well-deserved break. We signed the register and got some photos. It was then time to start our hike to Mount Hancock so we turned south and started the bushwhack across the ridge.

We managed to follow our track back from where we came up from the slide and we had all agreed to not go back down the slide. It was a slow but steady bushwhack to Mount Hancock. We came out onto the Hancock Loop Trail on the summit of Mount Hancock and it felt good to be on an open, beaten trail. We went to the outlook and took a short break. Jim and I needed to empty our hiking boots of twigs and spruce needles. It was then a steep descent from the summit and back out to the parking lot.

I consider this hike to be one of the toughest hikes that I have ever done...maybe not the toughest but close. A combination of a very slippery Cedar Brook Trail, a tough bushwhack up to the very loose Cedar Brook Slide, a sudden downpour, a very wet bushwhack to the summit of Northwest Hancock and a further bushwhack over to Mount Hancock (North Peak) as well as being sick two days before made it a very challenging day for me.

I appreciate Robin inviting me to go along on this hike/bushwhack. It was definitely a different kind of hiking adventure. We had a great hiking group and as tough as it was we still had a lot of fun!

Enjoy the photos!