We headed out the morning on October 24th in some chilly conditions. For the first time of the season, we had tucked micro-spikes into our packs. Better to have them and not need them, especially with the steep sections that these mountains have. (spoiler: we did not need them.)
For anyone who has not done this trail before, it goes a little something like this:
-Enjoy a lovely walk along the Hancock Notch trail, in the Fall it is nice and quiet and peaceful (in the summer it is a zoo.) It is also pretty flat. Plenty of little brook crossing.
-Bang a left onto Cedar Brook Trail, also not horribly uphill, although you will gain some elevation. If you have been walking shoulder to shoulder with people casually stretching their legs, you will begin to lose them here. You'll also have more water to deal with! (the water was basically IN the trail last fall)
-Arrive at the Hancock Loop Trail, and choose which way you want to do it (we have gone both counter, and clockwise. We prefer clockwise. But it is 6 of one....
(if you go to the North Peak first, the trail sneakily dips for a moment before the climb begins. It's only about 0.7 miles- but you gain some serious vert!)
-GO UP UP UP UP!!! From either side you have over half a mile of serious, non relenting climbing. Not too many big rocks, but plenty of roots and crappy footing to contend with. Very critical to have traction through here if it is even remotely slick.
.....And then......
-Get a great view
After catching your breath for a moment, enjoy the walk to South Peak. It's about 1.4 miles of pretty easy terrain with a few pointless ups and downs.
The overlook at South Peak can either be terribly windy, or is where you will find shelter. In this day, it was "warm" and windless, and we were able to take in another lovely view.
We had the place to ourselves, which certainly is the upside of non summer season hiking. We found that after mid October, the crowds lessened significantly. (that being said- the leaf peepers were out in FORCE, and parking at the lot for this hike was tricky. We happened across a spot when some backpackers came off the hill in a large group.)
We took a few minutes to soak it in. We knew that this was going to be the final hike before my surgery, and we didn't have any idea when I would feel up to getting back out on the hill again.
This was a really fantastic hike to bring us to the end of October. Unlike some of the extremely long haul days we had recently had, this one felt easy and fun. The weather was on our side, and both of us were feeling the positive effects of a season of hiking. The only issue I was still dealing with at that point (other than a 6 pound fibroid) was some residual foot pain that had plagued me all month. I hoped that would vanish while I was forced to rest during November.
It was days like this that had caused me to put off surgery for so long. The days where I felt crappy were relatively few, and I was so accustomed to the side effects of the fibroid (needing to pee constantly, heaviness, period problems, etc) that I hardly thought of it anymore. On this particular day, I definitely hoped that I would find myself back on my feet and in good form ASAP, and with no ill effects of complications.
So on this day we checked these peaks off for October, for Fall, and for round 2 of the 48. A successful day!!
Stats:
Miles: 9.8
Elevation: 2855
Time: 4:34:08
Fun: 9
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