9/21/99
Trip 13 Mount Hancock 4420’ and South Hancock 4319’

9.8 Miles 2650’ Elevation gain

Kevin, Judy and Jeannie

This being the thirteenth trip there had to be some bad luck involved, right? On the first attempt we camped at Hancock Campground. Within an hour of setting up the camper it began to rain. Hurricane Floyd had hit, we camped in the rain for 51 hours straight. Needless to say we didn’t make the climb on that trip. Two weeks later we started out again, this time with Jeannie.We started out on the trail thinking we knew where we were going, after all I had studied the maps 2 weeks ago. Well, when we came to Cedar Brook Trail where we should have turned we blew right by it and kept going on the Hancock Notch Trail.. About 2 miles along this we realized we should be climbing by now and that we must have made a mistake, so we turned around. Back at Cedar brook trail we waited for Jude who told us just keep going and she would follow if she could. Soon Jeannie and I met an older couple who gave us the advice of climbing Mt. Hancock first and come down South Hancock, so we followed their advice. It is a very steep 7/10ths of a mile and I had to stop to catch my breath several times. Stopping to eat at the summit we thought we were seeing a ghost as out of the mist Judy walked, demanding food. We thought that we had left her behind again and we were hurrying to get around the loop to get back to her, but she was only about 10 minutes behind us. The views on this summit are limited, and there were virtually none this day due to the weather. We climbed down to the col between peaks and up to the summit of South Hancock, which affords no views at all, then down the steep trail back to the Cedar Brook Trail, then back out by the Hancock Notch trail.We figured we added as much as 4 miles to our trip, making it more like 13.8 miles. Dumb mistake.

Mistakes on this trip.) Pretty obvious we should have studied the map again after 2 weeks. I forgot a very important turn and it added a lot to the trip, making it much longer and harder than it should have been. Carry a map with you! Then you can check if there is any doubt. K(20) J(18)