One of the best parts of hiking is the camaraderie
between fellow hikers. I’ll pose a little social imagination test:
You are down the street. It’s a nice day: the sun
is shining, birds are singing, a slight breeze every once in a while is just
perfect. Despite the fact you are enjoying the gorgeous weather today,
you are still heading to your destination and want to do so as efficiently as
possible. Sitting on a bench ahead, you notice someone you saw at parking
garage earlier; aside from that, you have no previous relationship with this
person. This person notices you, recognizes you and approaches you with a
warm greeting. Do you A) casually say hi and keep walking; B) ignore them
and keep going; C) pepper spray them and notify the authorities; D) invite them
to join you?
On a hiking trail, I can just about guarantee at the very
least “A” with a little bit more chit-chat about the trails or the
weather. Anyway, the purpose of this long-winded introduction is to
highlight the fact that you never know who this stranger is. Sometimes
this world is smaller than you realize like the one time I hiked the Hancocks
(North and South) and met somebody from a village near where I live.
The Hancock loop starts with a very relaxing 2-mile
stroll through the woods on the Hancock notch trail. A small river runs
right next to the trail that you have to cross a few times. A left onto
the Hancock loop trail greets you with more beautiful crossings and false hopes
of a flawless physical fitness. After two more miles of serenity, a left
onto the slope of South Hancock welcomes you to the real world of hiking. A quick and painful 1150 feet in ¾ mile leads
directly to the summit of South Hancock.
From there, a nice and easy mile or so connects to the summit of North Hancock. While both summits are enclosed, there are
good viewpoints from overlooks right off of the summit.
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| Summit of South Hancock |
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| View from South Hancock's overlook |
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| Summit of North Hancock |
While at the overlook on South Hancock, I rewarded my
efforts The Roast, a coffee porter from Henniker Brewing Company. While a little heavy and dark for a warm late
spring hike, this was one of the better coffee porters I have had. I mean, it is very difficult to beat Wolaver’s
coffee porter, but this beer put up a good fight!
The Hancocks:
Views –
3.5 (Great views from the overlooks, but enclosed summits)
Time – 4
(For a 10-mile hike that covers 2 peaks, worth the day hike)
Difficulty
– 3.5 (VERY steep at the approach, but nothing too extreme)
Beer – 4
(Henniker Brewing Company The Roast)
Thanks again to everyone who keeps up to date with this
blog. I’ve found it hard to get out and
hike this summer, but there is still plenty of time left in hiking season! Stay tuned for Tom and Field.
