| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Hancock, South Hancock, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, March 19, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Hairpin parking lot. Plenty of parking at 4pm on a Wednesday. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Lower crossings all open, easy rock hops. Upper are partly bridged and little trickier but still no problem keeping feet dry. The waterfall crossing is a little scary, still completely bridged but thinning fast. Diurnal melting was noticeable - streams were a little higher on the way out than in. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
A few blowdowns/leaners/etc on the ridge...hard to tell where the trail is supposed to be...just like everywhere else up high. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a mangled beer can on the descent from South...would have ruined someone's day and caused a few stitches if they'd been butt sliding over it. Yikes. |
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 | Comments: |
Overall, ok conditions for a warm afternoon. Trail was getting soft- I started just before 4pm on a 50+ degree day, and we aren't far from messy spring postholing into streaming water trails. An early start on a cold morning would be better, but it's not bad yet. Get it soon if you need it for March! A couple times the trail broke under me but I never went through. I wore spikes up to Hancock summit, threw on running snowshoes for the ridge, spikes back on for the descent and out. Weird conditions, as everywhere- there's kind of a monorail forming in spots but it seems like trails never got consolidated/packed out enough for it to be very stable for long. As noted above, the waterfall crossing is a little tense. I poked at it to make sure I wasn't going to bust through and then held my breath and ran across. |
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 | Name: |
woodsyjess |
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 | E-Mail: |
woodsyjess@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-03-20 |
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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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