March 16, 2024

Start/End: Hancock Overlook, Kancamagus Hwy

Peaks: North Hancock (4,420'), South Hancock (4,319')

Elevation Gain: 2,815 ft

RT Mileage: 9.65 mi

Duration: 7 hours, 10 minutes

Snow/Ice Difficulty: Grade I

When an anomalously warm stretch basically kickstarted spring in early March, I thought I was done for the winter. However, a snowstorm right at the end of winter presented me with one last opportunity on the last weekend of winter. I fancied a good glissade this time, so I decided to go with the Hancocks.

Waking up at 5:30 AM, we left the house at 6:00, and arrived at the trailhead at 8:10. After getting our spikes on, we set out onto the trail at 8:20, just ahead of a large group of around 15 hikers. Despite some wet snow the previous day, the trail was hard in the morning, and the walk out from the trailhead was fast. Clear skies prevailed in the morning, but low clouds slowly built up over the next few hours.

After around two hours, we reached the start of the loop. By this point, low clouds had won out, and we could see that both summits were in the clouds. We went left at the loop towards North Hancock, though we later discovered most people had done the loop in the other direction. After a brief descent, we began the extremely steep ascent of North Hancock.

The Hancock Loop Trail ascends 1,000 vertical feet in 0.6 miles to the summit of North Hancock. We took just over an hour on this section, taking frequent stops. We summited at 11:45, only to find the summit socked in. There was a gray jay on the summit though, which was cool to see.

After a quick stay on the summit, we began making our way across the ridge to South Hancock. We crossed a number of groups going the other direction on the ridge, including the large group we saw at the TH earlier in the morning, which surprised me to see. We summited South Hancock just before 12:45 PM. By this point, the clouds had cleared a bit, and the summit offered decent views to the north and west.

After a quick snack on the summit, we took our spikes off in preparation for the glissade down. After dipping back into the trees on the Hancock Loop Trail, we sat down to glissade, and it did not disappoint.

By the time we were back at the start of the loop, the trail was beginning to soften, so we didn't put the spikes back on for the rest of the hike. We post-holed occasionally during the walk back to the trailhead, but otherwise the rest of the hike was quick and uneventful. We were back at the parking lot at 3:30, and winter 4,000ers #6 and #7 were in the books.