Today was a day for a day-hike – we had a free weekend and the weather was a bit undecided – not threatening, no rain/snow, but no full sun either.  Undaunted, we packed up our gear and headed north, this time for “The Hancocks”.

There’s really only one trail for these peaks – the Cedar Brook and Hancock Loop trails (lp: 9.8 miles, 2,650 feet, 6:15).   We arrived at the trailhead shortly after 9am – right at the hairpin on the Kank highway – the parking area was already nearly full and there was a chill to the air.  No snow on the ground, but you could see there’d been a bit of a dusting in the higher elevations the night before.

Bundled up, we headed out, making good time on the lower part of the trail.   Reaching the base of the lollipop, we ran into another hiker, and picked up some information about the state of the trails further above – AND we found a willing photographer!      From the sound of it, the trails in either direction would be a bit steeper, and there was a bit more snow on the ground – we decided to head toward South Hancock first, circling back to North Hancock and returning to the lollipop.

It turned out to be a good decision – while the route was steeper at first, as we got to South Hancock, the wind picked up, visibility degraded and there was now a few inches of snow cover.  If there was a view, we didn’t see it 🙁

Making our way to North Hancock, we kept moving to get back down into the deeper cover of the trees and the more heavily wooded forest.

Not much for views this day, though a good solid day of outdoors and fresh air – always a good day out!