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.
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.
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.
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