North Hancock (4,420 ft) & South Hancock (4,319 ft) 1-18-20

Distance: 9.84 mi.
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

Mt. Hancock, South Peak (4,319 ft) & Mt. Hancock (4,420 ft) 11-22-14

Distance: 10.1 mi.
Elevation: 2,264 ft. (overall) 3,155 ft. (total)
Time: 2:48 (South Hancock) 3:41 (North Hancock) 5:51 (Total)
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail

The weather started off pretty clear today. Providing me with a great sunrise on the drive to the trail head and some good views from the trail head. This is the second time I have hiked the Hancocks, and while each time has been in the snow, I've yet to technically hike them in winter.

Once you cross the road, the trail heads out an old logging railroad bed. The incline is gentle and the footing is good. The trail is nice and wide too. Along the way you will come to one smaller brook crossing. This can easily be done using the exposed rocks. This time of year though, you need to be careful of ice on the rocks. Continuing further up the trail, eventually the main river will be just to your left. Shortly after this, you reach the intersection with the Cedar Brook Trail.

Easy section of trail

While on the Cedar Brook Trail, you will encounter the main brook crossings of the hike. The first two can be avoided by a short and easy bushwhack along the edge of the river. After that you will need to do the crossings. Today the river was frozen over. But still being early in the "winter" season, the ice wasn't super thick yet. Being a larger hiker, I took it easy on these crossings making sure the ice was safe. I had no issues though at any point today.

Frozen brook crossing

Soon you are at the junction with the Hancock Loop Trail. Heading out this way, you will quickly encounter the last brook crossing. After this, the trail stays climbing at a gentle pace, but soon starts to get a bit more rocky and narrower. There were some patches of ice along the route, so eventually I put on my microspikes shortly before the split of the loop. At the split is where I ran into my first hikers of the day. Having gone to the left the last time I was here, I headed up South Hancock to the right today.

The climb up South Hancock does seems a bit steeper than North Hancock. Being steep though, means you get the elevation gain done quickly. It doesn't seem to take that much time to get up to the summit. By the time I got to the view point, the skies had clouded up. Luckily, the clouds were high enough that there was still some views. It felt a bit cool and windy here, so I enjoyed the views a bit quicker and then headed back on the trail.

Climbing South Hancock

South Hancock View

The last time I was here I really enjoyed the ridge between the peaks. Today was no different. While you are high on the ridge, the wind doesn't seem that bad. The trail is gentle and has no difficult sections. And like last time here, there was a nice layer of snow on the ground and trees.

Along the ridge

South Hancock from North Hancock

At the view point on North Hancock, the temperature felt warmer, but it was still a bit breezy. I tried to measure the wind with my Kestral, but the trees were blocking it enough that the numbers were surely too low. I spent some time enjoying the views all by myself. No other hikers came to the summit until I was packing up and ready to head down.

North Hancock view

With snow on the ground, I took it easy going down North Hancock. Luckily there didn't seem to be any ice underneath. Once down to the low point, you have just one short climb back up to the split of the loop trail. After this it was back out the same way that I came in. After the icy spots I took off my microspikes and it was a quick hike out. Temps were comfortable down low and there were only a few other people on the trail. Next time I come back, maybe I'll wait until summer so I can see this route without snow. Or I'll at least try to do a hike in the snow during official winter.

On the way out

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

North Hancock (4,420 ft) & South Hancock (4,319 ft) 12-19-11

Distance: 9.2 mi.
Elevation: 2,284 ft. (overall) 2,555 ft. (total)
Time: 3:24 (North Hancock) 4:38 (South Hancock) 6:53 (total)
Trails: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail

The Trail starts out straight, smooth, and gentle. It has very few turns and is a great warm up for the hike ahead. There is one early small brook crossing that is pretty easy. Today there was some ice on the logs at the start, so I just had to be careful there. After a while of easy hiking, the trail comes right up next tot eh river. You can stand on the edge of the high bank and look up an down. Now there are trees down across the river in both directions and even with a thin layer of snow, you can make out damage from Irene. The trail goes on for a little more before coming to a few quick and simple brook crossings before the start of the Cedar Brook Trail. Each of these crossings were pretty easy with rocks to step across right near the trail.

Gentle climbing trail

One of a few quick crossings

Just after one of these crossings there was a pile of feathers where it appears a small gray bird met it's demise in the trail. At the start of the Cedar Brook Trail, the trail heads uphill a little more, but is still pretty easy. Before long on this trail you start coming to multiple brook crossings as well. The first two crossings that the guide book mention, seem to have a side path that avoids them. Not sure if this is new or just a winter thing. There was brush to discourage you from using them. This isn't all bad since they are very close and the ice on the river didn't look all the best for crossing at these. There are still plenty of crossings though in this section. Again, these were pretty easy. Being a bigger hiker and seeing open water on the brooks, I made sure to cross where I knew ice was thicker or there were rocks under it to help support it/me.

Cedar Brook Trail brook crossing

When in the woods between the crossings, the trail was starting to have what would be some wet sections that are now iced over puddles or ice flows. Luckily for me I always where waterproof hiking boots, since I had my foot go through the ice in one place and a few inches into the water before I could stop it. Most of the ice in these sections could be pretty easily avoided by walking next to it while still staying on trail.

Some ice now showing up in the trail

At the last water crossing before the Hancock Loop Trail is where I finally put on my microspikes. The ice didn't look completely safe and the only safe way quickly noticeable was the downed tree partly out of the ice that was also covered in ice. I didn't want to slip off of that and into any water. After the start of the loop trail is the last crossing. For this one I went about 30 feet up stream (as others had too) to cross at a narrower section with more rocks. The ice at the trail didn't look all that good and poking it with my pole showed the top inch or so was more like slush than ice.

On the Hancock Loop Trail, the grade gets a little steeper and rockier, but still not bad. There is still plenty of sections of trail with a good layer of ice now too. You pass by the river on your left one more time before coming to the split in the trail. Now you can climb 1,028 ft in 0.7 miles on the left or 927 ft in 0.5 miles on the right. I had planned on hiking North Hancock first and stuck with this. The trail dips down into a gully briefly before heading up steeply.

River next to the trail

Fork in the trail

The trail aims mostly straight up the mountain and doesn't give you much of a break. It goes over various terrain including built stone steps as you get nearer to the top. This would be the only section of trail today where I saw blue sky above me. It gave me the hope that the sky would clear a little before I got to the summit, but it never did. After a while of steady climbing, the trail turns left some and levels out a bit more. Soon you are at the summit on North Hancock. I went to the left to the outlook. I didn't have my weather meter I ordered as I hoped I would, so I can't be sure how windy it was here. But it was windy enough for me to get out my goggles and face mask. I also almost got knocked over by a couple of the gusts.

Stone steps

Summit viewpoint

After only about 15 minutes and a few pictures, I grabbed my stuff and headed back into the trees. The trail between the summits was nice and easy with no real steep sections. It seemed like it would be a great section for a stroll in the summer and was one of the nicest parts of trail today. It doesn't seem like it takes that much time to go the almost mile and a half over to South Hancock through here. Just before reaching South Hancock, there is a bit of a viewpoint to the West that allows a limited view towards Franconia Notch, but a good view back to North Hancock.

Heading to South Hancock.

North Hancock

Soon you are at the summit of South Hancock and can take the short trail down to the outlook here. I grabbed something eat here on the less windy side of the mountain. I watched as the sun tried to come out to the East, but never really did. After a little while here, I decided I should head out as I still had quite a walk back to the truck. I headed down South Hancock and was happy I choose not to come up this way. Going down, it seemed this trail would have been harder to come up with more big rocks to get up over and more ice on those rocks as well. As it was, it was still a little slow going down so I could be safe.

South Hancock outlook

Heading down South Hancock

It didn't take long and I was back to the fork in the loop trail. I stopped here again briefly before heading out with a gentle walk from here on out. The walk back to the truck went well and passed pretty quick. In the end it was a good hike even though it was cloudy and windy. The wind felt to be about 20mph pretty consistently on the summits and was certainly gusting higher. The thermometer in the truck said 14 when I started out and 30 when I got back. On the summits I would guess it was in the low 20s. I was surprised today by a couple of things though. First, for only the second time hiking in the whites I didn't see a single person all day. Second, for how hard the hike seemed like it would be from the guide book and trip reports, I didn't think it was all that bad. It has a good length to it, but in the end I wasn't all that tired.

Iced up brook on the trail

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE