Last week’s hike in the Whites was a success. Given this weekend’s weather conditions being identical, I was able to convince a buddy that was on the sideline that it was totally doable for the month of January. So we settle on the Hancock Loop Trail as pictured below:
This is a 9.1 mile hike, rewards of which are the peaks of these mountains:
- Mt Hancock (4,420 feet)
- South Hancock (4,319 feet)
Just like always I will dive into a little bit of history first. These mountains are named after John Hancock, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. In fact so many things in this country were named after him including:
- John Hancock Insurance Services: Boston based company established in 1862 but since 2003 acquired by the Canadian life insurance company Manulife Financial.
- 60-story John Hancock Tower in Boston and the city’s tallest building
- 100-story John Hancock Center in Chicago and city’s 5th tallest
Ironic that both buildings lost the insurance company as a tenant but residents of both cities still colloquially refer to the buildings by the politician’s name.
The Hancock mountains used to be the most remote and inaccessible peaks in the Whites. The Kancamagus Highway paved the way for them and its a straightforward trail accessible off an overlook parking area.
First things first, since we had to pass through Lincoln NH, we had to stop by White Mountain Bagel Co. They provide an online ordering system so we put in our orders for breakfast sandwiches ahead of time and they were ready by the time we arrived.
It was 10 minutes from there to the trailhead. We ate as we parked and we were one the last few remaining cars fitting inside the lot.
Like I always I like to photograph the kiosk that greets us at the start of the trail
The trip to the two peaks is yellow blazes the whole way but criss-crosses several sub-trails before getting there:
The first 2 sub-trails can be characterized as smooth, flat walk through woods. Trail was well packed, not too much ice.
When getting to the Hancock Loop trail, most common direction done by most hikers is clockwise. That is due to the northern summit section having a steeper ascent thus making it easier going uphill than downhill. At this point I had to strap my spikes, no more kidding around anymore!!
Once we make it to the summit, we get a celebratory shot. As it is very wooded, there isn’t much views and sadly the summits lacked cairns to mark their geological spot 😞
We make friends with a couple who met each other from Bumble, they both came up from the Boston area. The guy was originally from the DC area and it was his first time hiking in the Whites but has had good hiking experience in other parts of the Appalachian Trail and hopes to do Mt Washington a month from now 😲
The couple moved faster than us but we were able to keep pace on the relatively flat 1.4-mile connection from Mt. Hancock’s North and South peaks.
At the south peak, we encounter the notorious gray jay. I last stumbled upon one on my hike to Mt Pierce
The descent down the south peak was butt sliding but never felt dangerous since it always seemed like we were within the forest, no cliffs and there would always be a rock to break our slide.
Afterwards it was just the same sub-trails backwards to return to the trailhead and we get there just before sunset.
Honestly the best views of the entire hike were from that overlook at the parking lot and its available to any traveler driving through, no hiking involved:
Alas from the lookout point there is the infamous Heart shaped tree.
After 5 hours of hiking what do we do next? again we were passing through Lincoln NH so plenty of options. We decided to hit up Black Mountain Burger Co
You never know you run into there. Unlike summers when it would be mostly hikers, it would be a mix of skiers and hikers this time of year. A couple that sat across from us thought they saw us on their trail but they had done the Osceolas so they must have met our doppelgängers 😂. They were really cool people, coming from Worcester and were parents of kids 7 and 11 and looked to be in good shape. The wife used to run marathons and it kind of reminded me of my life pre-covid before I got into hiking when I would be running half marathons every month. Boy I miss these days but I am having a blast getting into the peak bagging lifestyle as well!!
