Mount Hancock (South Peak)

Trail: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches

“A FINE day in the forest was had. My favorite season for trip reports - it's basically every box. Generally exceptional conditions throughout, spotty mix of bare ground, rotting rail, and mud for the first mile. After this it firmed up to a stable monorail, and gave way to still full blown winter. Drag strip conditions this morning with the freezing temps. We opted to ascend North first, and given the current conditions, I would say this is the preferred method. There is a LOT of blue and black ice flows due to how the sun hits it. I had not the sharpest spikes, but not rock spikes, and was having to be careful or work on my Tarzan swinging from tree to tree moves. Ran into hiking royalty on the descent, both Melissa and Rachel where out for some gluttony as well. Was lovely to see them! Across the ridge was still quite firm with no issues. Descending South Hancock was better than expected, due to sun angle again (not as much). The vast majority has not turned to ice flows yet and had bite. Not a walk in the park, still a good puckerfest, but manageable. If you have K10's, I'd bring them, crampons for the ascent/descent would not be overkill either. No issues on the way out, but as typical, conditions changed. Noticeable melting and corn snow for the way out. Everything still rock solid. With temps predicted in the 60s/70s next week, the delight of April hiking will be in all its glory.... Only saw 5 others. Of the 9 out, 4 were grid finishers, and a pair of 366!”

Trail: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail

Conditions: Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Spring Snow, Slush

“Quiet day on the Hancocks, one other person ahead of me who I never saw. Bare booted for the first 1/2 mile, was able to avoid the ice patches but then the ice became more consistent so I switched to Kahtoola Ghost micros...my first time trying them. Ultra light but gripped very well on the ice. The spikes are fairly short so the only place they weren't great was in deeper slushy snow spots, but they were surprisingly good in most spots even up the very steep climb up to N. Hancock, which is mostly hard packed snow with only a few solid ice spots. At S. Hancock I switched to the much more aggressive Hillsound Trail Crampon Pros which are "crampony" with longer and more aggressive spikes than microspikes. I was very glad to have them for the descent from S. Hancock, which is consistently steep and icy, with enough new snow on top of the ice to make it interesting. There are enough trees that you could carefully navigate it with microspikes, but a slip on this section would be not great. Crossings were all very low today and easily rock hopped, but they will likely vary considerably in the next few weeks as there is still a lot of snow up high. Round 11 on these guys for me (and the last time doing it on snow), and every time I forget just how steep the climb is!”

Trail: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop Trail

Conditions: Wet Trail, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow - Spring Snow, Slush

“Spikes door to door. The trail is still very well packed and fast. The trickiest part was the descent from south which just took some careful steps in the steep spots. A fast and cold day out.”