Winslow Ledge

Having gotten into spring mode, I drove down towards Hanover with the faint hope of finding some bare ground hiking despite some recent snowfall in the Whites. There was new snow down there as well. I thought I would climb South Moose Mountain along the AT, but the beginning of the dirt road sequence in Hanover leading to the trailhead was in prime mud season form. So I turned around and came up with Plan B: drive up the paved (though frost-heaved) Dorchester Road to the Dartmouth Skiway, climb up the ski trails, and from the top bushwhack to the 2285-foot summit of Winslow Ledge. From there I would seek a couple of clifftop perches I have seen several times from nearby Holts Ledge. This would be all new territory for me.

 

I parked at a designated spot for hikers and walked up to the base of the ski slopes to study the trail map. A ski area employee who was passing by advised using the MD Trail, which loops out to the left. Thanks!

Skies were clearing nicely as I started up the mountain.

The snow was a few inches deep on the ski trail, in places masking ice lurking beneath.
 

 

 First views back towards Vermont

 

Making tracks.

 

 

Nice wide corridor through the hardwoods.

Perhaps this was once pastureland.

Near the top of the ski trail every branch was delicately cloaked in snow.

View out to the Green Mountains from the top of the ski slope.

The mile-long southeastward bushwhack to the summit of Winslow Ledge was 98% through hardwoods. Above the Skiway, most of Winslow Ledge, including the summit and cliffs, is within an outlying parcel of the White Mountain National Forest.

An early peek at Holts Ledge with Bear Hill beyond.

 

Beautiful open hardwoods on this ridge.

Lacy beauty.

Snow magic.

Arriving at the knob shown as the summit on the USGS Smarts Mountain quadrangle. Nice old spruces here. I didn't find a summit register at this spot. Later, at home, I saw on a lidar 2-foot contour map that there was another summit bump of the same elevation just to the SE. That must be the location of the register.

I headed back to the NW, descending to the steep south edge of the ridge in search of the cliffs.

Found a clifftop perch - and snow-free, too!

Wide views to the south on a crystal-clear afternoon. The most prominent peaks are North and South Moose Mountains in Hanover, which are traversed by the Appalachian Trail.

Zoomed.

Down-look.

Looking out towards Sunapee Mountain on the horizon.

Zoomed.

 

Holts Ledge, also on the Appalachian Trail, is close by to the west.

An array of Green Mountain peaks on the horizon between North Moose Mountain and Holts Ledge. The most distant visible peaks were Haystack Mountain and Dorset Peak in southern Vermont.

A clear view of Killington and Shrewsbury Peaks.

 

A bit farther to the west was another clifftop outlook, with a wider view of Holts Ledge and the Green Mountains.

Another big dropoff.

Following my tracks back down the ridge.

 

Descending along the bare edge of the ski trail, avoiding the ice hidden under the snow.

 

 

Lambert Ridge

Transitioning to spring mode, I headed down to the south side of Smarts Mountain in Lyme, hoping to find some bare ground hiking in this area on the SW fringe of the White Mountains. I foolishly thought I might be able to hike partway up the Ranger Trail and bushwhack to the slide on the steep south face of Smarts, but I was jumping the gun on snowmelt down in the valley. At the trailhead I could see that the low-lying Ranger Trail would be an unpleasant mix of ice, choppy frozen snow and likely wet stretches, and the rocks in Grant Brook, which I would have to cross, bore fresh ice caps that would make for very tricky footing.

The bare ground on the south-facing hardwoods of the lower Lambert Ridge Trail, a link in the Appalachian Trail, made my decision easy. I would head up that trail, one of my all-time favorites, and see if conditions would permit reasonable access to the great view of the Smarts Mountain summit up on Lambert Ridge, 1.8 miles away.

Bare ground for the steady switchbacking climb through hardwoods on the south end of the ridge. Yay!

Passing through a stone wall partway up the slope.

Steep pitch leading up to a rock staircase.

Ice formations.

At a left turn on the trail, a small view south to Winslow Ledge.

Bare ledges!

Why I love Lambert Ridge Trail. This trail was opened by the Dartmouth Outing Club in 1986 along a route laid out by Dartmouth grad Bob Averill (class of '72). Bob is known for his prolific editing and publishing of books about Mount Moosilauke and its environs. His Moosilauke History Series now features 13 (!) books.

At 0.8 mile the trail breaks out onto an open quatrtzite cliff, with a wide view east. Quartzite is a hard, erosion resistant bedrock that forms the crest of Lambert Ridge, as well as Mount Cube and Black Mountain to the north.

 

Snow flurries were fuzzing out the views.

Down-look.

Above the cliff the trail runs along a nice hardwood shoulder....

...and crosses a lovely ledgy meadow.

More ledges, with a glimpse back to Moose Mountain and Holts Ledge.

Had to skirt a few nasty ice flows on a steep climb through spruces. Regular spikes would not cut it on these flows. I was carrying them, but never used them.

A steep ledgy ascent gains the south end of the main crest of Lambert Ridge.

The next half-mile is a cool ridge walk, alternating between bare ledges...

...and mixed woods, with some spruce and some hardwood. In places there was a remnant monorail.

There were also some deeper patches of hardpacked snow, but easy enough to bareboot with careful foot placement.

Nice contrast here with bare trail and snowy hardwoods.

Made it to the Smarts view ledge!

The  view was fuzzy, so after a brief stop I continued 0.15 mile north to the high point of Lambert Ridge.

More cool quartzite outcrops.

A massive ledge with a partial view of Smarts.

This ledge is the 2489-ft. high point of Lambert Ridge. Beyond here the trail drops to a col before undertaking the rugged climb to the 3237-ft. summit of Smarts.

Returning to the main view ledge, I was pleased to see that the flurries had dissipated. I've always been impressed by this view of the massive summit of Smarts and its long southern spurs rising beyond the Grant Brook valley. In 1997, 4,000 acres on the south side of Smarts, east of the Appalachian Trail corridor, were protected through a combination of purchase and conservation easement by the USFS Forest Legacy Program.

Smarts dominates the countryside in west-central NH for miles around.

Three notable features of Smarts are the fire tower on the summit, the brushy, curving scar seen at the upper left, and the icy slide in the center.

This slide, which I have bushwhacked to several times, may have fallen in the November 1927 rainstorm or the September 1938 hurricane.

View south from the slide, with Reservoir Pond on the left and Lambert Ridge on the right.

Zoom on the brushy scar. I haven't been able to determine whether this is an old burn or the remnant of some massive ancient slide.

Tip-toeing around the ice flows on the descent.

 

 

 South and North Moose Mountain and Holts Ledge.

 

 

 

 

 

A clearer view down at the lower quartzite cliff.

 

Mount Cardigan dominates the view beyond part of Reservoir Pond.

Before heading home I drove a couple of miles east on the bumpy, gravel Dorchester Road to check out the Dartmouth Outing Club's Hinman Cabin on the shore of Reservoir Pond.

 

 

 

 

The shore offers a wonderful view of Lambert Ridge on the left and Smarts Mountain on the right.

Flurries had moved back in, but I still caught a glimpse of the south-facing slide.