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| The Flag on South Hancock |
I've known about Flags on the 48 for many years. It's an annual 9/11 remembrance hiking event organized by the New Hampshire hiking community in which American flags are raised on all 48 of the White Mountain high peaks. Although we almost always spend some time in New Hampshire in September, the timing never worked out that the event was happening while we were up there. So this year, the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I decided that the time had finally come to participate and made the last minute, seven-hour drive just to do so. The sign-up process was easy and I hooked up with the team tasked with Mount Suribachi-ing South Hancock. I hadn't been up the Hancocks lately, so I was very much looking forward to a return. I was a little nervy about hiking with strangers, but everyone in the group was kind and affable with not a wildcard in the bunch. The pleasant company, coupled with the beautiful weather, combined to make the day a memorable experience of patriotism, contemplation and remembrance for an event that changed the world forever.
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| View to South Hancock from North Hancock |
Our group met at the hairpin turn parking lot on the Kanc for briefing and gear distribution and hit the trail at 7:30 a.m. sharp. Not wanting to set too fast of a pace, I took up a position at the very rear of the group and had a good conversation with a nice guy from Massachusetts who was doing the 48 with his two kids and thought that this memorial hike would be a great way to tick off the Hancocks. As is usually the case when hiking with others, the miles and hours flew by as we all conversed in small groups during the long, flat approach and then up the steep, rocky climb to South Hancock. We promptly raised the flag with the help of the two members of our group who were not yet alive on 9/11 but brought the same energy and enthusiasm to the act as the rest of us, even making use of their skills with knot-tying and American flag handling. It was impressive.
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| Carrying up the rear on South Hancock climb |
Most of the hikers in our group were actively working on the 48 list, so they wanted to make the relatively-easy traverse and tag North Hancock. Our directive was to keep our flag up for at least 2 hours, from 12 to 2, so we had plenty of time for an out and back across the ridge. I decided to go along as well. As one might expect on a beautiful weekend in September, the trails were packed and we met lots of other hikers, many of whom were curious about what we were doing with the flags. One of them, a friendly, recent college graduate who had been solo-hiking multiple peaks on the 48 list all week, found our efforts so compelling that he hooked up with our group for the rest of the day. At lunchtime, we added a twelfth person. She had signed up late and missed the morning rendezvous but hiked up to join us nonetheless.
So when we returned to the trailhead base camp at 5:45 p.m., we had two more team members than when we started.
Mission accomplished.
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| Team South Hancock, post-hike at the Hancock Pavilion |
Peaks: South Hancock and North Hancock
Elevation: 4,319 and 4,420 feet (Gain: 2.919 feet)
Distance: 10 miles roundtrip
Route: Up and Back, Hancock Notch Trail to Cedar Brook Trail to Hancock Loop Trail
Conditions: Sunny, 50 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: Canada Jays
