Hancock Loop
Where: Hancock Mt. When: 7/10/2019 With: Solo On the list of New Hampshire's 48 4000+ foot peaks, several are nearly always climbed in pairs. After a long and difficult approach to the first summit, the next one is a fairly short distance further, and separated by close to the minimum elevation change (200 feet) required to qualify as a separate peak. So it's something of a no-brainer to run over and claim the second summit. That said, there are three of these pairs (the Twins, the Kinsmans, the Hancocks) that, for various reasons, I only summited one of each pair. In the case of the Hancocks, I attempted a bushwhack to another peak after climbing North Hancock , and never got the South peak. So, 32 years later, I was finally completing the Hancock Loop. I was out the door just before 6AM and at the parking lot around 8:30. It was my first time on the Kancamagus Highway in 16 years, but Lincoln looked about the same as I passed through and made my way to the parking ...