On Saturday November 19th 2022, my hiking partner Deb and I decided our objective would be the Hancock mountains off Hwy 112. We were initially considering a different objective but the ice and snow conditions made us change our minds. The Hancocks would fit the bill for today.

We ate our continental breakfast at 7AM and drove through Lincoln to the Kancamagus Highway to the hairpin turn where the parking lot for the Hancocks are. The weather for today was supposed to be sunny and clear; much different than yesterday's clouds. I started my watch at 7:49AM.

We crossed the highway and put on our microspikes right away. We hiked in a seemingly flat snow covered well trod and broken path for the first hour or so until the grade rose every so slightly. Traffic on the trails today was noticeably busier than yesterday and we seemed to bump into people every half hour or so. 

We hit the beginning of the Hancock loop in just about an hour and a half after starting our hike. We met a couple coming down already with their energetic dog. Deciding to go towards Mount Hancock or the north and highest summit first we initially downclimbed before hitting a steep 1000ft steep climb straight up that made us feel like our hearts were pounding out of our chests. The hiker in front of me was not wearing microspikes and made a bit of mess of the trail. Instead of nice snow steps. there were snow smears making me have to re-step out the staircase up. We hit the summit about 2.5 hours in. Initially when you finish the ascent you hit the junction with the ridge trail. If you turn left, less than a minute of walking will take you to a nice lookout. The Gray Jays showed up here instantly and Deb got a great photo of one flying by me on the summit (see above). 

We didn't take a break here as we were pretty warm from the ascent and wanted to keep walking along the ridge to dry out our thermo-regulating garments (OR Refuge Air Jacket) and get back to being warm and dry. The ridge trail was covered with loads of rime ice and snow and on this sunny clear day was quite stunning. 

We climbed up over the Middle Hancock bump and passed a few people going the opposite direction. We got to the South Hancock summit where a few other people were lingering at the sunny lookout point. Standing in the direct sun was instantly warming and so we went over to the lookout to join in and have some tea and a bite to eat. Two young guys were there and we exchanged hiking stories and tried to identify peaks in the distance. The Gray Jays were also hovering here and one time when I pointed to one of the peaks with a pepperette in my hand it swooped down and tried to steal the food! It was unsuccessful but it sure made us eager to pack up and move on. We descended down the South Hancock trail (which is steep in places but not as steep as the ascent we came up) and joined back onto the trail we came in on. 

We kept seeing many parties coming in after us including solo and small groups. One small group of youngsters had only running shoes and city clothes on which was concerning. I didn't say anything at the time, but I wish I did now. Only a day later a 19 year old girl Emily Soreto attempted to hike Lafayette Mountain and perished wearing only running shoes and not having proper winter hiking gear. I think our hiking community needs to do a better job at education, and I need to speak up more when on trail. It is so easy in the winter to get into trouble.

We finished the hike on the flat snowy path and were eager for xc ski season to begin. Winter has just arrived, and there is more hiking and skiing to be had. With these 4 summits bagged this trip, I am up to 73/115 for my NE list. Getting there!

Stats:
Time: 6 hours 20 mins
Distance: 16km
​Elevation: 3000ft

I took advantage of a rare school board holiday to head down to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. After a 6 hour long drive, we settled into our hotel looking out a snow covered mountains ready to be hiked. On Friday November 18th, 2022, we decided our objective for the day would be the North and South Kinsman mountains. 

Our free continental breakfast at the hotel didn't open up on this day until 8AM so we waited around for it to open and finally got into the car around 8:15AM. We drove the short distance up Hwy 3 to the I-93 to the Basin parking lot and walked through a tunnel under the highway to start our hike.

The hike begins in a maze of trails at the bottom which could be quite confusing at first. Without a mistake we found the correct trail and started hiking up the Basin-Cascade trail which joins onto the Cascade Brook Trail. This section of trail was absolutely beautiful. Several waterfalls and moving water made me want to stop and take a photo of every one! It would be a perfect short hike for the aspiring photographer or even a great place to spend an afternoon on a hot summer day. Today was not the best trail conditions, as the trail was covered by snow, and iced over puddles were not supporting our weight leading to many soakers. Good thing we put on our gaiters as we luckily didn't get wet. We crossed the brook a few times but before we did we put on our microspikes as there was more grip on the ice and snow covered rocks with them on. We never took them off for the rest of the day! Up on the Cascade Brook and Kinsman Pond Trails I was the first to break since the snowfall two days before. We were delighted to see fresh tracks of pine martens, hare, squirrels and even a bear track on the way up!

Continuing on to the Kinsman Pond trail, we were still breaking trail and hopping on boulders on what the trail was apparently created on....an old stream bed. The snow, water and ice created very moist conditions on this day and required full concentration for each step. We were moving slower than normal, and I realized that this trail would be much better suited for summer travel. We reached the Kinsman Pond and finally caught a glimpse of the summit of North Kinsman. The pond was iced over and the snow depths rose to over ankle depth. Temperatures dropped here so we took a moment to put on heavier mittens and pull up our hoods. We reached the Kinsman campsite and made a left turn to head up to the Kinsman ridge trail.

Here we finally caught up to footprints and noticed that two people were ahead of us on the trail. We turned a corner and found a fellow hiker who had come up from the opposite side than we did and startled him to the point he shouted out loud! He was standing on the North Kinsman summit. I am glad he was there, as I don't think I would have realized it was the summit. It was a snow covered chunk of rock. If you downclimb a couple of steps from here it leads to a nice lookout. We were getting some glimpses of views of the Franconia ridge in the distance but the summits today were mainly obscured. We decided to keep going on to the South Summmit.

Off we went to South, which includes downclimbing a couple hundred feet and then climbing back up to the summit. The South summit is somewhat confusing as there are two locations: The lookout point at the highest point and then a large open area with a rock cairn a few minutes further and slightly below it. Luckily my hiking partner remembered the cairn so we hit both spots in order to make it official. Here again the views were not ideal and we didn't waste too much time before turning around and heading back along the ridge to the North summit. 

On the way back we met two fast-moving 30-something guys that were heading to the South summit. In what seemed like no time at all, they were back behind us so we asked which summit they went to and it was only the lookout they reached. My hiking partner Deb turned them around and sent them back to the cairn in order to make it official. We stopped for lunch on the North Kinsman summit lookout where it was snowing lightly and we were mainly in a cloud. After our break we descended back down but instead of taking the Kinsman Pond trail we took the Fishin' Jimmy Trail. This trail was much easier going as it wasn't a boulder ridden and did not involve creek crossings like the Kinsman Pond Trail does. It also has more infrastructure (boardwalks, etc) as it is part of the Appalachian Trail system. The two guys we saw up on the ridge caught up to us again and blew by us mentioning that they would be finishing their NH 48 on Carragain the next day. 

We reached the Lonesome Lake Hut to see that it was open and functional and met a father and daughter duo outside working on some map and compass skills. We were chatting with the at the corner of our right turn and missed it initially as we were distracted with our conversation. We realized our mistake quickly and turned around and got back on path breaking trail on the connector back to the Cascade Brook Trail and Basin Cascade Trail. 

Just before we finished we lost daylight and had to don our headlamps in order to cross the last brook and head down to the parking lot. We got to the tunnel, took off our microspikes and gave each other a high-five. It felt great to be back in the White Mountains after a 3 year hiatus! 

Stats: 
Time: 8:42 hrs
Distance: 20km
​Elevation: 4000ft