North of Three Ponds

 

The long northern section of the Three Ponds Trail, starting from a trailhead off NH 118, is remote and very lightly traveled. At times over the years it has been notoriously overgrown and difficult to follow. When I checked it for the current (2022) edition of the AMC White Mountain Guide in 2020, it was well-cleared and could be followed with care. But recent reports suggested that was no longer the case, and with a new edition due in 2027, it was time for a re-check. I set off late morning on a fine spring day.

The first section follows a wide snowmobile trail. No problem following the trail here!

A sign marks where the trail splits off to the left.

Most of this trail section passes through hardwood forest, so there was a Trout Lily feast this day.

One of only a handful of old yellow blazes seen in several miles.

This sign marking the crossing of an old logging road has seen better days.

 

Starting at this crossing, the trail becomes harder to follow in the open hardwoods. As the saying goes, "follow with care." It took me a minute to figure out that the trail goes to the left of the dead tree.

 

A gorgeous hardwood forest it is.

A faint footway.

When the leaves come out, this spot will be overgrown.

 

 

 Catskill-like glade.

Farther up, I spotted a small mountain meadow off-trail, and discovered a view of Mount Moosilauke and its South Peak.

Closer look.

 

A meadow-y stretch of trail.

A nice cluster of Trout Lilies.

Plenty of blowdowns along this route.

And more.

 

A wild stretch along the west side of Whitcher Hill, passing by some boggy terrain.

Moose!

Crossing a snowmobile trail after descending an obscure section of trail off the flank of Whitcher Hill.
 

 

 

Attractive headwater of Brown Brook.

 

Wild spruce forest on the approach to the Foxglove Pond bog.

The trail is much easier to follow through here.

 

The trail skirts the edge of the Foxglove Pond bog. With its long vista of the Carr Mountain ridge, it's perhaps my favorite spot in the Three Ponds area.

Wider view.

Pitcher Plants.

 

I bushwhacked through the woods to visit the chain of beaver meadows west of Foxglove Pond bog.

 

Plenty o' hobblebush to push through.

Approaching the westernmost meadow, tucked in against the north ridge of Carr Mountain.

 

Shelves.

Meandering stream. 

 

 

A wonderful remote spot, and there was even a spot to sit at the shore for a while. I noticed several small white pines populating the meadow.

From the meadows I bushwhacked back towards Whitcher Hill through hardwoods.

Now that is a balanced rock!

I continued bushwhacking up towards Whitcher Hill, crossing Three Ponds Trail and the snowmobile trail, then passed a few interesting ledges.

I made my way up to a meadow-like opening I had spotted on Google Earth. There was no view, but it was a pleasant spot. 

Gorgeous hardwoods as I made my way up to another meadow I have visited several times in the past.

Another nice spot.

Years ago this had a view of Carr Mountain and Foxglove Pond. Now all you can see are the tops of Carr and one of its northern bumps.

 

I decided to bushwhack up over the summit of Whitcher Hill, traveling in the same direction as the parallel Three Ponds Trail. Hardwoods continued steeply well up towards the summit.

Into the conifers.

 

A beautiful mossy spruce forest on the summit plateau.

 

 

This little bump is considered the summit. To my surprise, there was a register. This 2565-ft. hill does not have enough prominence to make it onto regular peakbagging lists. The register was placed by avid bushwhackers in 2022, and mine was only the second entry since then.

 

I bushwhacked 3/4 mile down the gentle NW ridge of Whitcher Hill. I lucked out in that the woods were mostly open the whole way.

I was happy to find good going, as I was running a little late.

The last part of the whack was through hardwoods. But when I reached the location of Three Ponds Trail in one of its obscure sections, I couldn't find it, even with my GPS track from the way up. It was 7:15 pm with two miles to descend and I was getting a little anxious.

By chance I wandered to the meadow with the Moosilauke view that I had discovered on the way up, and from there I knew exactly where to find the trail. Whew! I did lose it briefly one more time on the way down but was able to follow it the rest of the way and made it out before dark. It's always an adventure on the north side of Three Ponds Trail!

 

Sliding Up Smarts Mountain

One of my favorite areas to wander in spring is the expansive wild area on the south side of Smarts Mountain. This is the southernmost "big mountain" along the New Hampshire section of the Appalachian Trail. These treks invariably include a visit to the small but impressive slide on the steep brow of the mountain. From there it's a steep bushwhack to the summit and its fire tower.

 

On a beautiful spring morning with 110-mile visibility reported by the Mount Washington Observatory, I set off on the Ranger Trail, an older route of the Appalachian Trail (which now follows the Lambert Ridge Trail). Ranger Trail is somewhat notorious for poor footing - wet on the lower section and rough and eroded in the upper stretch. It starts off inauspiciously with a very soggy section that thankfully is short.    

In all fairness, much of the Ranger Trail has good, dry footing, such as this section along the old woods road the trail follows for the first 1.9 miles.

A mile in, there is a scenic section alongside Grant Brook.

A gorgeous corridor farther up the valley.

The massive bulk of Smarts looms through the trees, still looking pretty far away.

The woods road ends at the old fire warden's garage.

Here the Ranger Trail crosses Grant Brook and becomes more of a footpath.

An easy-graded section deep in the valley.

After crossing a tributary brook, the trail suddenly becomes rough and eroded with very poor footing, especially on the descent.

Partway up this section I struck off into the woods, angling across the slope towards the runout of the slide. The going was pleasant through mostly open mixed woods.

After a while I came to this small clearing in the forest, marking the lower runout of the slide.

A pair of ledgy swaths left by the slide.

 

 

 

I followed one of the swaths up to the lower of two remaining open sections of the slide.

 

 

Evidence of a slide-bagging moose.

First view back to the south.

Up through the woods to reach the big, steep open slabs on the upper part of the slide.

Impressive to look at, too wet to climb.

 

Climbing along the edge.

Ascending a section of dry ledge.

Another side angle.

Skirting the wet slabs through the woods, steeply.

Yikes! This 200-foot long swath of water-streaked rock has an average slope of 32 degrees. 

Down-look. The slide is visible in a ca. 1940 Dartmouth Outing Club photo taken from Hinman Cabin on Reservoir Pond to the south, so it may have fallen either in the November 1927 rainstorm (more likely, as there were massive floods in the region) or the September 1938 hurricane. In that photo, there are two narrow extensions of the slide extending above the main ledgy swath. These are almost fully revegetated today, save for one patch of open rock at ca. 2,900 ft. In its original extent the slide was 960 ft. long, extending from 2,940 ft. down to 2,460 ft., with an average slope of 27 degrees.

 

At this spot there is a spectacular view to the south and southwest. 

Lambert Ridge rises above the Grant Brook valley.

It was a crystal-clear day, ideal for distant views. In this zoomed image South and North Moose are silhouetted in the foreground. The pointy summit of Mt. Ascutney rises beyond. In the far distance to the right is Stratton Mountain in southern Vermont.

Killington and Pico.

 

I climbed a bit higher through the woods and edged out onto a favorite safe perch on dry rock. Great spot to hang out in the spring sun. 

 

 

 

A single little white pine that I had noted on a previous visit was still hanging on.

 

Side view from my perch. The bedrock is granodiorite, a coarse-grained igneous rock.

After a nice sojourn I headed up to the very top of the open swath.

 I continued up and across to a higher extension on the west side.

 

Nice angle here on Reservoir Pond.

Into the steep woods, heading for the summit.

Ran into a ledgy wall. Not going up that way.

 

Skirting along the base of the ledges.

 

Looks wild and blasted up there. Nope. 

 

 

I see brighter woods ahead.

 

By skirting around the ledges to the west, I emerged in the large brushy scar that is prominent when Smarts is viewed from the south. 

The scar is especially prominent in winter, as seen here from Lambert Ridge.

 

I emerged at the top of a steep patch of wiry yellow and white birches.

 

 

Above here is a dense growth of deciduous shrubs, species unknown. I have not been able to find any information on the cause of this scar. Perhaps it is an old burn.

 

It was a slow push up the steep slope through the tangle.

 

I looked back occasionally at expanding views.

 

 

The top of the scar is in sight.

 

Made it!

 

 

What a view - think I'll stay a while.

 

 The Green Mountains line the western horizon.

 

Still some boreal forest to push through to reach the summit.

I emerged near the summit tentsite, which has a restricted view. 

A privy with character. 

 

 

Summit junction. 

 

I made my way across the crest to the summit fire tower and its fabulous views. The original Smarts fire tower was built about 1915. The present steel structure was erected in 1939. It was last actively used for fire detection in 1973. The fire tower was refurbished by the DOC and USFS in 1994, and again in 2016. It is still maintained as a viewing perch for hikers. The trapdoor that provides access to the cab is very heavy - hikers should use caution when closing it as it could cause a serious headache. The cab has windows on all sides, so in some ways the views are better enjoyed from the landing just below the cab.

Looking across the slightly lower eastern knob. The western knob, the fire tower site, is the true summit at 3238 ft.

The Sandwich Range.

 

Wide view to the central Whites.

 

 

Mount Cube to the north.

 

 

Northwest into Vermont.

 

Mount Clough and Mount Moosilauke.

 

Mount Cardigan, Ragged Mountain and Mount Kearsarge.

 

 

Heading back along the summit crest.

 

One of maybe three small ice patches seen on the mountain.

 

The infamous wet slab with the iron rungs.

 

Nice rock work by the Dartmouth Outing Club, which maintains all four trails on Smarts.

I love Lambert Ridge Trail, but it was late and Ranger Trail is shorter. Plus I hadn't been on its upper section in a while, so I wanted to check it out.

Some of the numerous ledge slabs on the upper part of Ranger Trail. Many are dry, some are wet;  tricky-looking ones can mostly be skirted.

Evening sun on Smarts.