Elevation: 2,275 ft (overall) 3,120 ft (total)
Time: 3:14 (North Hancock) 4:15 (South Hancock) 5:55 (Total)
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail
I've hiked the Hancocks twice before (first time, second time) with snow covering the trails, but today was the first time I've been able to count them as a "winter" peaks on the 4K list. I'd like to see more of what this hike looks like without snow on the ground, but I had a commitment in the evening and needed a hike I could get done in a relatively short period of time.
I brought my snowshoes with me in the truck this morning, but decided when getting my gear on not to bring them on the hike. Looking up the trail as I crossed it on the road things looked pretty packed down. About 150 feet up the trail I stopped and thought about going back for the snowshoes as the snow was just a bit soft on top. I decided against it and kept hiking up the trail since it was just a bit of soft snow on top. In the end I should have brought them with me today.
Packed Trail and gentle hiking
At the first small brook crossing I put on my microspikes just to be sure I didn't slip on the icy rocks. The extra traction wasn't going to hurt for the trail either. The hike up the trail went pretty fast as it is a long gradual climb to the Hancock Loop Trail. The section of trail that has been rerouted away from the water crossings and mud was nice and had some good character to it. The brook crossings that do still remain along the trail were solidly bridged today, but I still tried to hike over rocks or logs just in case.
Brook Crossing
Frost on the ice at a brook crossing
The Hancock Loop Trail gets a little bit steeper before it splits to head up the peaks. This was the area where I was starting to rethink not bringing the snowshoes. At the split I went left and headed up North Hancock first. I've done the loop in both directions and prefer this way a little bit more. It was going up the steep trail here that I started to really want my snowshoes. They have more traction than spikes and the televators would have been nice. I made the best of it though as spikes were still doing pretty good.
Hancock Loop Trail to North Hancock
Steep climb up North Hancock
After a nice break at the summit of North Hancock and chatting with the other hikers there, I headed across the ridge to South Hancock. I needed some more layers as the cold temps and wind on North Hancock had cooled me off. Along the ridge is where the trail was the least packed down and there was more soft snow on top of it. It would have been worth bringing the snowshoes today just for the walk along the ridge as I had to go slower with spikes and watch where I stepped more. It was still a nice hike over to South Hancock with plenty of snow on the trees and some varying conditions that kept things interesting.
View from North Hancock
A winter wonderland between the peaks
I had the summit of South Hancock to myself for a while before some well known and accomplished hikers (and her dog) showed up. It was nice to meet them in person and chat briefly before we all headed down about the same time. They came up the Arrow Slide which I thought was pretty impressive given the winter conditions. They said it went well until needing to break through the trees at the top. The hike down South Hancock went quick (about 15 minutes if I recall) as at one point near the top I kind of slipped and landed on my butt. I decided this was bound to happen more on the way down and made the best of it by just sliding on my butt where I could and walking the other parts. This was both fast and fun in sections and you had to be careful not to get going too fast. Normally I prefer not to slide down the mountain as it makes it harder for those going up after (in my opinion), but without my snowshoes I thought it would be slow and tedious trying not to fall with just spikes on since others had slide down recently as well.
View from South Hancock
Once back down to the split in the Hancock Loop Trail I did a bit of a fast walk the rest of the way out. Not having snowshoes across the ridge slowed me down more than I hoped for and I still had a time commitment to get home for after the hike. The cool temps made it so that I could do this without getting to hot on the way out. The temps also drained my batteries more in my camera so I wasn't able to take any more pictures after getting to the Hancock Notch Trail. This gave me less reason to stop and more reason to keep hiking along back to the truck.
Smooth sailing down the Cedar Brook Trail
In the end the hike went pretty smoothly and I was still home on time. I wish I had brought my snowshoes with me, but it was nice to finally count these two peaks as winter peaks even though I have only ever hiked them in the snow.
Google Earth representation of the hike
For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug
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