"An easy solo hike after summiting Hancock. Flat rolling sections with some ups and downs. Passed by Middle Hancock. Trail was easy to follow. Treed in views. Down the south trail was better than going up the north trail. Still some gravel sections that you had to slow down on. Not a big up as I joined back with loop trail. Easy, but long out! " — lfrancois • Sep 11, 2024

"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

"A hike up the Hancocks for Molly's Grid. Denise, Frank, and Dave Andre joined us. We decided to mix things up and head up South Hancock first. My 16th time up the Hancocks but my first time going counterclockwise. After a steep hike up, we reached South Hancock. We then made our way over to Hancock. Beautiful sunny day today and a good amount of people out. The decision was made to attempt NW Hancock. We bushwacked our way over, finding a combo of thick stuff and easy stuff. The ridgeline got narrow and we reached the summit of NW Hancock. Dave signed us into the canister and we then headed out. The decision was made to reach the slide on the western side. So we dropped down, using some open areas to descent. We ended up hitting the slide down low. We then made our way to Cedar Brook Tr, but we had to push through several areas of thick stuff. It was a relief to reach the trail. We then powered our way back to the cars. The hike took significantly longer then expected thanks to doing an unplanned bushwack. " — newenglandwarrior • May 25, 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

"I needed some 4000 footers for a Calendar Day. And with the massive dump of snow several days ago, I decided to hike the Hancocks to get some good butt sledding in. I hiked in from the trailhead and slowly made my way up Hancock. There was a massive amount of snow at the junction at the top and I didn't need to go to the overlook to have views. I then hiked around to South Hancock. The butt sledding wasn't as good as I was expecting. A lot of people had hiked up South Hancock and that made the surface lumpy. The track also wasn't deep and the trees were right on the edge of the trail. So I had to brake constantly to avoid going off the trail or hip checking a tree. I then made a quick hike out and went down to Meredith to Twin Barns Brewing afterwards. " — newenglandwarrior • Mar 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

"A Hancock day. Low cloud cover meant not stopping for views. Hiked in and tagged Hancock first. Then I went over and tagged South Hancock. Then I came down and out. Did the hike in under 5 hours. Socked in at higher elevations. 2 more peaks for my May Grid. " — newenglandwarrior • May 27, 2022

"Needed the Hancocks for my Grid and Calendar Day. Great to finally get the 31st and 1st taken care of after years of being unable too. Also did this hike really fast. If I recall correctly, it was just under 5 hours for a 10 mile hike. There wasn't enough snow to butt sled down South Hancock. River crossings were not difficult to cross. Some were open, some were not. Beautiful day for a hike. " — newenglandwarrior • Jan 1, 2021

"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