October 23, 2008 Hike #1
The weather forecast looked beautiful, so I decided to take a day off from work. I met Ed at the Hancock Trailhead along with Bruce, Vinnie, and Bill. We left at 8:30. The streams were low which was good. As we worked our way up to a higher elevation, look what we found.
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Ed had run into snow a couple weeks ago on Franconia Ridge,
but this was the first snow of the season for me.
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As we made the steep climb up to North Hancock, Bill took the lead. He is a strong hiker.
I kept up with him most of the way, but he lost me near the top.
The view from the outlook at North Hancock would be by far the best view of the day, so we took a long break here. Here's a view of the Osceolas.
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Scar Ridge
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We then had some company.
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We took turns feeding the Gray Jays trail mix. First Bill
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Then Vinnie
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And then myself
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Bruce on North Hancock
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Ed grabs a snack
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Well, there is South Hancock. Let's go get it.
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Here's our group on the summit of South Hancock.
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I received an Ed Hawkins handshake on each summit.
I've now received a handshake on 35 of the 48 summits.
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Here's a view from the lookout on South Hancock
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I descended the trail from South Hancock using my Stabilicers. Once we got to the bottom of the steep section Ed said that I could go. He knows me and knew I wanted to squeeze in another hike. I hightailed it out of there and got back to my truck about 2:30.
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