Ahhhhh!!!  It simply doesn't get any better than it did this weekend!  Bright blue sunny skies, 76.2 degrees, and clean refreshing crisp air with a slight breeze...  a perfect day for a hike in the Whites!

Wanting to hike a 4000 Footer or two, yet also desiring a long isolated and quiet hike is quiet a hard blend to achieve.  Because of the popularity the Four Thousand Foot Club has created, the 4000 Footers are generally quite busy hikes on the weekends.  However, I choose my Saturday afternoon hike wisely as throughout my 7 Hour 10 Mile tramp through the woods and peaks, I encountered less than 10 hikers total!

 
The Osceolas from the Hancock Outlook parking lot.

No animals made their presence known to me, except the chirping birds and a few frogs.  Eventually, I came to the North Fork which I thought was the first of many water crossings.  A trail seemed visible on the other bank, so I crossed the stream and fould a few illegal camp sites set up right next to the stream.  I re-crossed the Brook and found the trail again.

Eventually, the Hancock Notch Trail intercepts the Cedar Brook Trail, which I turned left on to.  Still following an old Railroad bed, the trail makes 5 stream crossings of Cedar Brook en route to the Hancock Loop Trail.  The stream crossings are usually difficult in High Water; but the water was at normal levels and I had little difficulty crossing them.  The difficulty was deciding when to cross as blazes were not apparent, and people had made new paths by bushwhacking along the bank to find better crossing points.

 
 The first of five major crossings of Cedar Brook.

I eventually found my way across the crossing and made a right onto the Hancock Loop trail.  After having to bushwhack for a final crossing of Cedar Brook, a short climb brought me to an amazing little unnamed cascade.  This amazing small waterfall was the highlight of my trip!  This is saying a lot considering I normally find the summit views to be the best part of a hike!

I sat down and thrust my hands into the clean, clear, crisply cold water.  Refreshing!  I wished I had a filtration system or Iodine Tablets so that I might have imbibed the essence of the stream.  In leaving the cascade, I was delighted in the notion that I would return to it after climbing the peaks.

The first signs of monotony came after departing the stream.  The trail finally began it's first significant ascent after almost 3 miles of hiking.  The trail climbed at an easy and consistent pace along the west flank of South Hancock.  Finally, through the trees I could make out North Hancock; the first peak I could clearly see since leaving the trailhead.  Soon after, the trail forks and I opted to take a left for the ascent of North Hancock.

The ascent of North Hancock is very steep.  The bottom half of the ascent steeply climbs a combination of rock and root fairly similar to climbing East Osceola from the Greeley Trail.  About halfway up, footing becomes difficult as big rocks and root transcends into wet small pebbles.  Trail erosion was becoming a problem here it seemed; as I tried to step on more solid ground without widening the trail.

 
A Cascade near the beginning of the Hancock Loop Trail.

 
Another shot of my favorite part of this hike. 

 
The Osceolas from the North Hancock Outlook.

 
Mount Carrigan from between some trees near South Hancock.

Upon reaching the wooded and viewless summit, I opted to take lunch down an Outlook Path.  As I came around the bend, I stammered out a silent colloquialism referring to "Excrement Held in High Religious Regard."  Several times I continued to mouth that saying as the view of the Sandwich Range set in.  A 200 degree panoramic view from Moosilauke and Loon Mtn. in the west to Passaconaway and Chocorua in the east, the entire Sandwhich Range and Kancamagus Highway area and beyond opened up in a phenomenal vista.  After recovering from stunned immobility, I finally sat down and had a delicious summit lunch.

After lunch, I packed up and started along the tree enclosed ridge towards South Hancock.  The ridge trail was very interesting, with many twists and bends and ups and downs; however, no view to speak of.  At a col between the peaks, a particularly nasty 15 foot stretch of unpleasant looking mud disrupted my progress.  With careful footing on rock and branches, I managed a clean and dry crossing of this obstacle.

South Hancock also is a viewless summit; however, a small outlook to the east is available after a steep 25 foot descent on an Outlook Path.  The outlook, while not as impressive as North Hancock's, was well worth a snack to take it all in.

The descent was steep but uneventful.  The path down from South Hancock offered much better footing then North Hancock, however was just as steep.  The trail eventually meets back with the initial split in the loop.  Feeling quite content with Bagging two 4000 Footers, I began the long trek back to the trailhead.

Making another long stop at my favorite part of the hike, I again splashed my hands into the small waterfall, and splashed a refreshing handful of water onto my face and over my hair.  Ahhhh, such a fine day!

 
North Hancock as seen from the descent of South Hancock.

The remainder of the hike out was an incredibly boring process of one foot in front of the other.  There was no loop option available to return to the trailhead by, so I sucked it up and returned via the same trail I came in by.  Nothing bores me more than a Round Trip on the same trail!  The descent and return trip through the woods is the most mentally fatiguing part of the hike; having to see the same sights and the same trail twice through does not help.

Back at the parking lot, I quickly changed into dry, clean clothes.  I sat on my car and some rocks and took in some sun and the Osceolas before calling it a day.  Stopping at The Mountain Wanderer Book and Map Store in Lincoln on my way home, I picked up some choice reading material.  Do be sure to check them out if you are in the area.  A fine day... this is the reason that I hike.

 
One more shot of those cascades.