"Gorgeous day that was maybe a little hot in the sun, but that's fine since the vast majority of this hike was under tree cover. Set off from the Hancock Overlook a little after 10:30am, crossed the Kancamagus Highway, and entered the woods. The first 2.5 miles of the trail are quite flat, with only occasional rocky sections or stream crossings. It had rained the previous day, so most of the streams were very active and parts of the trail were muddy. Despite the long approach, the trail was not monotonous as it featured a variety of foliage density, occasionally offering a view of Mt. Hancock in the distance, but largely offering the beauty and remote tranquility of the forest. After the split onto the Hancock Loop Trail and final crossing over the Hancock Branch of the Pemigewasset River, the trail becomes steeper, rockier, and wetter. At one point, the trail crosses over a pile of boulders with a waterfall running through it. We stopped at the Loop split 3.5 miles in, ate a quick snack, and then chose to ascend via the north peak. This trail briefly descends about 100 feet, crosses over what is supposedly the Hancock Branch (but the riverbed was completely dry), and then begins th..." — JCalautti • Jul 7, 2024

"Cloudy day. Saw a few other hikers, one questioning why i was descending the steep section. I dunno, it wasn't too bad. Guess i went opposite of the standard route, oh well. Rugged trail was slow going with all the roots and mud. Saw no wildlife besides one hairy woodpecker. 9.46 miles. " — ryangallant • Sep 20, 2023

"Just a perfect day for hiking. Stunning weather, bright blue skies, 50's, calm winds. Trail conditions were great on the Hancock Notch and Cedar Brook. Switched to snowshoes on the Loop trail. Lots of post holing there sadly. Outlook on No. Hancock inaccessible due to snow volume." — Alohabuffy • Apr 10, 2023

"Day 2 back in the Whites after over a decade. Raced the rain on the Hancocks loop to grab 37&38/48. A lot of effort for almost viewless peaks. That last mile up to the north peak is legit. Although felt a few light raindrops at the top of north peak, it thankfully never progressed until the moment I made it back to the car. Going down the loose gravelly steeps of South Hancock would not be a good time when wet. Highlight of this hike was eating all my food under the pagoda back at the trailhead. Heard one woman guffaw at the "Peakbagging and 4,000 footers" placard -- "in Colorado they do FOURTEEN thousand footers!"" — scott • Jul 5, 2022

"Started out nice, in the 30s the whole time. Sunny morning. Nice hike in. Up north trail and when we summited, the sun disappeared and the wind whipped up. Oh well, on to South Hancock." — Alohabuffy • Nov 15, 2020

"Cool 62 degrees with no humidity when we started. Easy hike for the first 3.5 miles and then .7 miles of very steep climbing to the summit. Hiked the loop counterclockwise so we summited Hancock first, then Middle Hancock and then South Hancock. The departure from South Hancock was steep for about a 1/2 mile. 9.8 total miles in about 8 hours. 64 cool degrees at the finish." — GreggC • Jul 16, 2020

"Day 4 of a quick 4-day trip to the Whites with Ed, Larry and Tom. We did a clockwise loop of the Hancocks on the dampest/coldest day of the trip. After topping out on Hancock and visiting the view less viewpoint we headed over to South Hancock to find a less windy spot to have lunch. An opening in the trees just below the summit of South Hancock gave us some reprieve from the wind and some views when the clouds cleared. Today puffy jackets, hats and gloves made their first appearance in the new Fall season. Only thing missing, besides our female cohorts, was a thermos of ginger tea to warm us from the inside. Back at PA on the Kanc we hung out for an hour or so watching the silly leaf peepers come and go while we enjoyed some post hike bevs and chips. One guy was flying a drone to get some aerial photos I presume or just playing with it. Six and half hours later I was back home for the weekend." — Nimblefoot • Oct 4, 2019

"The trail was well tamped down, thanks to the previous snowshoers. We also snowshoed the whole way. The deep snow made climbing North Hancock a lot easier. Really bright blue skies, temp was 12 when we started but warmed nicely. Only wind was at the west side of the South Hancock summit. Cool snowman someone made on the summit of North Hancock. Really nice day, great hike." — Alohabuffy • Mar 18, 2018

"Birthday weekend hike. This felt like a really easy and fast hike. The stick of the lollipop was flat and fast. While the climb was steep, it was over in what seemed like an instant. The traverse was a breeze as well. Fed some jays up top. " — hikertotown • Aug 26, 2017

"It was a wet and soggy day....not my favorite climb thus far, that is for sure! We had some sprinkles, but mostly were soaked by the trees and falling ice. Our wet day required several changes of clothes until we ran out and just had to suck it up!" — shay-shay • Apr 22, 2017