Hancock and South Hancock, 8-1-2017
Overall this was a tough hike, it didnt help that we hiked most of it at high noon in August, th eheat was draining. The initial push on Hancock Notch Trail (1.8 Mi) was easy grades with some stream crossings. Hook a left onto Cedar Brook Trail (.5 Mi) and head north to Hancock Loop Trail (2.2 Mi) the trail gets some slight elevation gain until you hit the split. You can hook left to head to Mt. Hancock (4420 El.) which is what we did, or you can hook right and take the loop from east to west, we headed north. You get a glimpse of Mt. Hancock from a clearing in the woods and from there its very steep, about 1000 feet elevation gain in less than a mile. There are views of South Hancock and the Sandwich Range. We hit the peak and had some lunch and enjoyed the view. Bugs were out so we didnt stay long.
From the summit you can see the Osceolas as well. We packed up and heaed back onto the Loop Trail crossing over Middle Hancock (not an official 4k footer) and crossed through some spruce woods to South Hancock. This section was easy, about 1.5 Mi. There are some glimpses through the trees, but the trail is mostly wooded from here. We hit the summit of South Hancock, again some views The summit of South Hancock is wooded, but there is a ledge that has a view to the southeast, toward the Moat Range. We headed out from there, the trail was steep in some sections with glimpses of Franconia Ridge. The last section of the trail is relitively flat. Overall a great day, in hindsight I would have left much earlier to avoid climbing the steep elevation in high heat. Happy Birthday to Skylar!!!