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It
was slow going making my way down the steep trail in my crampons.
Hoping to make better time, I decided to take them off, strap my
poles to my pack, and try a sitting glissade using my ice axe to
control my speed. Bad idea! In my crampons, I hadn't realized
just how hard and slick the surface of the snow really was. I simply
couldn't dig the pick of the ice axe in deep enough to gain
purchase. I almost slid out of control a couple of times, grabbing
wildly at nearby tree trunks to keep from hurtling down the
mountain.
Carefully,
I worked my way off the trail and onto the slightly softer snow in
the woods. There I managed to put my crampons back on. Starting
back down again, more carefully this time, I was much more attentive
to the dangers of a steep slippery descent. Of course, during all of
this, Muffin just stayed off the trail completely, picking her way
down among the thick spruce woods.
Finally,
we reached the loop junction, the trail leveled off, and the going
got much easier. We traced our way back over the Hancock Loop, Cedar
Brook, and Hancock Notch Trails. Our tracks had melted somewhat in
the warmth of the afternoon, but we had no trouble finding our way. At
last, we crossed a small snow bridge over a brook, and we were home
free.
It
was good to sit back down in the car after nine hours, almost ten
miles, and some 2700 feet of elevation gain. I stopped at the Seven
Seas restaurant in Lincoln to pick up fish and chips for supper
(with extra fries for Muffin), then headed back south down I-93,
tired, but with a feeling of accomplishment. |
Looking
back at North Hancock from an open area on South Hancock. The north branch
of the Hancock Loop ascends to the summit just to the right of the
large slide visible in this photo. |
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