Smarts Mountain (3,238 ft) 11-9-24

Distance: 9.76 mi.
Elevation: 2,086 ft (overall) 3,137 ft (total)
Time: 2:39 (Summit) 4:28 (Parking) 5:24 (Total - Stashed Bicycle)
Trails: Lambert Ridge Trail, Ranger Trail, Skiway Trail (Dorchester Road AT section)

For today's hike, I wanted to do something I haven't done before and focus again on redlining. I decided to hike Smarts Mountain as I haven't done it before, and since there are multiple ways to climb to the summit, I could use those when I hike it with other family members who will want to do so for their 52 With a View list. It also helped that I haven't done much hiking on the trails in the Hanover area, so I had lots of options to choose from. I picked today's route also based on the fact that I could use a different trail to come down than I did to go up. Since I knew that this hike was short enough it wouldn't take all day, I also added on a section of the AT known as the Skiway Trail which is right across the road from the parking lot. I stashed my mountain bike where this would come out on the way to the trail head so that I could ride it back to the truck instead of needing to walk the road or trail back to my truck.

The trail starts off from the entrance side of the parking lot with a nice steady climb with good footing to get you warmed up. There are a few show flatter sections mixed in that let you get a brief break from the climbs. The climbs however are not really steep, just steady to keep you going uphill. As you get further up the ridge, the trail starts to follow some exposed sections of rock which make for good grippy terrain with all the leaves on the ground while I was hiking. During this section you also get a couple views to the south and east.

Early section of the Lambert Ridge Trail

The trail following exposed rock

After the section of exposed rock, the trail goes back into the thicker trees more and follows pretty much right up the spine of the ridge. With the winds today, it made things feel much cooler as there wasn't much to block the wind from coming over the ridge and where you are hiking. Because of the wind though, I did have a cool encounter where a hawk that was trying to avoid the wind came buzzing right past me as it followed the trail exactly through the trees going down the mountain. It is the closest I have been to a hawk in the wild and I wonder if it really realized I was there.

The trail following along the top of the ridge has the benefit of one view point that provides a nice look at the summit ahead, although it does appear to be a bit further than you would think it would. As the ridge becomes a little bit less defined, the trail drops down some and enters back into a mostly hardwood area of forest. As it heads more to the east, the trail does soon again satart to gain more elevation and enter back into the softwoods that were more present on the ridge.

A view to the summit from the trail

As the trail climbs up the summit cone, it becomes steeper and maintains this for a while until right near the top. There is still pretty good footing with natural terrain, some well placed rock steps, and of course the metal rungs that are attached directly into the rock that this trail is partially known for. There is a section of mostly smooth exposed rock that the trail goes up that could easily be very slippery if it was to become damp. To help hikers out here and prevent them from going off trail around this, there is a small set of wooden stairs (not quite a ladder) that lead to a section of bent metal rebar drilled right into the rock. The metal rungs could be used like a ladder with both hands and feet if you want, but I found it pretty easy to just use them like steps and stay standing up.

After this the trail works up the summit cone by following the side of the hill for a while, dropping off to your right. As it gets closer to the summit though, things level back out mostly and it becomes easy walking again. When I got to the summit, there were a few other people around and I could see at least one person up in the fire tower. Since the cabin of the tower is pretty small, I figured I would wait my turn by going over to the other ranger cabin to check that out. Doing so also gave me a nice place out of the wind to adjust my layers.

Wooden stairs just before metal rungs to help hikers up the rocks

Metal rungs in the rock

Old ranger cabin at the summit

After fully checking out the cabin, I headed back the short distance to the base of the tower. The other hiker up there was on his way down, so I would be able to go up and have plenty of room to check out the views and take pictures. The stairs up the tower are steep like most towers, but the railings a nice and secure on both sides. With the winds today, it was nice to have something to hang on to in order to feel a bit safer. The door into the cabin is unlocked, so you can enter easily, but it also was a bit heavy and didn't want to stay up without you holding it, which makes entrance and exit a bit trickier in the wind.

Fire tower at the summit

I spent a good amount of time in the tower taking pictures and looking around. The views today were great and it was nice to be able to see in all directions. It was clear enough out that you could make out snow on some of the bigger mountains further up into the Whites like on franconia Ridge and the Presidential Range.

Looking out from the fire tower

The Presidential Range with snow in the distance

View northeast from the fire tower

To descend the mountain, I started back the way I came up, but now headed down the Ranger Trail. This trail didn't seem too steep, but looking at my GPS data, the elevation profile makes it look steeper than it felt. Footing on this trail was good while descending the first half with just a short section that was a bit rocky making for more careful foot placement. Getting further down the trail, it does have one stream crossing that was easy to do on rocks today. At this crossing is an old garage looking structure that I suspect had to do with the rangers that use to use the cabin and fire tower at the summit. From this building to the trail head is basically old woods roads and could have easily been driven with a small truck or ATV type vehicle. It could have then been parked in the building before the rangers hiked up, which would have saved them time and effort.

Coming down the Ranger Trail

Stream crossing on the Ranger Trail

After this building and stream crossing, the trail follows and old woods road and is quite smooth and wide. There was just a bit of mud in a couple places, but I was able to cruise right along through here and make very good time.

Lower sections of the Ranger Trail mostly look like this

Once I got back to the parking lot, I stopped at my truck and adjusted some of my gear for the next section of trail. I wasn't going to need extra gear for the higher elevation and winds, and could put a bit more fluid back into the bladder in my pack. The winds had died down, and I was back down lower in the trees. There wouldn't be much elevation change either, so I shouldn't work up much of a sweat while hiking.

I crossed the road and easily found the trail I was going to hike down. It was easy to follow as you would expect from the AT. The trail starts with some uphill gain and then a small brook crossing. After this it stays up on the hill for a while before very gradually going downhill. Going this direction, the trail losses more elevation that it gains. It was an enjoyable hike going out this way and I didn't run into anyone else through here. I didn't expect too as it is well past the thru hiker season. Where the trail comes back out to the road, I found an out of sight area to stash my mountain bike so that I could ride back to my truck. This is the second time this fall I have done this, and while it is much quicker than walking back, I am finding I have been too long without much bike riding and the hills definately user different muscles than walking through the woods does.

AT trail marker while doing some extra hiking

Google Earth representation of the hike - clockwise loop with extra
Bike ride back to truck not shown

All in all today was a very pleasant hike and I look forward to coming back from other directions with my daughters for their hiking of the list as well.

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

---

Hedgehog Mountain (2,543 ft) 6-1-24

Distance: 5.82 mi.
Elevation: 1,230 ft (overall) 1,669 ft (total)
Time: (with a 5 and 10 year old setting the pace) 2:23 (Ledges) 3:19 (Summit) 5:02 (Total)
Trails: UNH Trail

For a family hike with my wife and both daughters, we picked Hedgehog Mountain accessed from the Kancamagus Highway. This would be a new peak for all of us and with that, some new trails for me to add for redlining. This hike uses just one trail, the UNH Trail, which splits and forms a loop. My plan was to do this loop clockwise so that we could hit the ledges before we got to the summit.

This hike starts off from the Downes Brook Trailhead with the UNH Trail going off to the left almost immediately. It follows what appears to be on old railroad grade which makes for easy walking to start getting yourself warmed up. After about 0.2 miles, the hiking trail breaks off to the right. It starts to gain more elevation now, but it is still pretty easy hiking. After about 0.5 miles of this, you get to the split in the trail and can choose which direction you will go.

The split in the trail with signs giving directions

As planned, we took a left at the split. The trail losses a little bit of elevation in this direction before starting to gain elevation again. This side of the loop starts with good footing on the trail which then goes away some for parts of it as it gets more rocky or has more roots in the trail. All in all though, it stays pretty good for a trail in the White Mountains though.

Gaining elevation while surrounded by green

A short root filled section of trail

While on our way up the trail getting closer to the ledges, there was a small viewpoint on the left of the trail that made for a nice shaded area to have a rest and a snack to keep everyone's energy up. After our break, we got moving again and were soon at the start of the exposed ledges that this hike is known for. We took another much longer break here after finding some nice rocks to sit on in the shade. Everyone, especially the kids, thought the view here was great. The open ledges do provide a nice view, and it is nice after the close up view of Mt. Passaconaway from a side other than the south that most hikers see if from.

Mt. Passaconaway from the ledges

View east from the ledges

After this longer break, we got moving again and followed the trail along the sections of open ledges. As noted in the guide book, care should be taken through here to make sure you are staying on the trail. While in the open, the trail makes a left turn without much for markings on the ground. If you aren't looking for the markings that start going to your left, you are likely to go straight like my wife and daughters did in this area. The open area through the small trees does make it appear that the trail goes straight, but very quickly you come to a spot where the trail just seems to have stopped. We went back just a bit, and after looking for more yellow blazes, were able to see where the trail actually turns left and heads back into the trees.

In the area where the trail makes a left without much indication

Leaving the ledges, the trail drops down in elevation a little before maintaining a consist elevation for a while. As the trail loops around to the right more after going mostly straight, it starts to gain elevation quickly. This is probably the steepest section of trail for the day. This steeper climb leads you up to the summit though and once it levels out some, you are near the high point for the hike. As we went up the trail and crossed over small ups and downs, we tried to determine which spot was the highest. Based on the description from the trail guide, we decided a small opening to the left of the trail was the high point. We took a nice long break here to have lunch and rest our bodies some.

An interesting rock face next to the trail

View from the summit

View from the summit

Family photo

The hike down was a pleasant one with my daughters playing a game of seeing how many trees they could find that had a painted blaze on both sides of them. There weren't any overly difficult sections of trail to slow us down. There were some partial views through and over the trees after leaving the summit, and the short side trip up the path to Allen's Ledge was worth the effort. This was the best view of the descent and it wasn't too hard to climb up to.

A bit of a view shortly after leaving the summit

View from Allen's Ledge

After Allen's Ledge, the remainder of the hike out went very smoothly with everyone's mood staying good while we had a easily walk back to the car. After the trail joins back up to itself, we knew exactly what to expect and were able to keep moving at a good speed until we got back to the car where a big jug of ice water was waiting for all of us.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

---

Mt. Paugus (3,100 ft) 12-16-23

Distance: 8.81 mi. (9.88 with road walk)
Elevation: 1,908 ft (overall) 3,000 ft (total)
Time: 3:11 (Mt. Paugus) 5:14 (Big Rock Cave) 6:25 (Road) 6:55 (Parking Lot)
Trails: Old Mast Rd, Lawrence Trail, Old Paugus Trail, Big Rock Cave Trail, Cabin Trail, Road Walk

It is nearing the end of the year and I needed to get in another hike with some redlining since I didn't do as much as I wanted so far. With all the trails that are in the area around the Ferncroft Trailhead, I decided to pick a route around there that would get me a peak while using all new to me trails. I hadn't been to Mt. Paugus before, and there were lots of options I could use for trails with maybe a bit of road walking at the end.

I started off from the parking lot using the Old Mast Rd. This trail has a gradual incline when it wasn't just flat and the trail is pretty wide, while only narrowing up towards the upper end of it. Being mostly in the hardwoods, the trail had the extra benefit of plenty of sun with no leaves on the trees this time of year. I didn't run into any snow until the upper portion of the trail, and it was never that deep when it was on the trail.

Easy going still on Old Mast Rd

At the upper junction, I turned right onto the Lawrence Trail. Along the ridge now, there was steady snow on the ground. It wasn't very deep and was also pretty hard from melting and refreezing, so I wasn't really sinking in. I don't think it was until after the Whittin Brook Trail that I put on my microspikes. I probably should have done so earlier, but I was trying to hold off. Once I slipped while coming downhill and took a bit of a spill, I decided I should just put them on finally. Of course, it wasn't too long before I was back on south facing slopes in the sunny hardwoods and the snow disappeared, so I took them back off.

Steady snow once up to the Lawrence Trail

Back to no snow on the southern slopes

Once the Lawrence Trail got back into the softwoods and started climbing again, the snow returned to the trail and stayed until after the summit. I put my spikes back on as soon as the snow was steady again so as to avoid another fall and to make the steady climb of the trail easier. As the trail gets close to the summit, it levels out a lot. Spikes could have come off again here, but it was easier to just leave them on.

Snow again nearing the summit

The trail doesn't actually go over the summit of Mt. Paugus, but does come to a high spot with some open cliffs nearby and that is all that is required if you are hiking the NH 52 With a View list. There is a sign post at this high point as the trail going down the other side has a different name. There is also a small sign on the post that points in the direction of the views. I am sure the herdpath is easier to follow in summer where you can see the wear in the dirt and plants to lead you along, but even covered in snow I was able to walk out to the ledges just fine with no other tracks in the snow.

The ledges make for some nice views mostly to the west. The rocks were just a bit icey, so I didn't wander around too much not wanting to risk slipping and not being able to stop. The only odd thing I found was that is almost seemed like there was a phone or something that was making noises somewhere in the area even though there was no one else around. I'm not sure if a bird managed to mimic the sound of if my mind was just playing tricks on me, but it sure seemed odd to randomly hear this noise for a few seconds on multiple occasions. After quite some time here, plenty of pictures, and some lunch I was headed down the Old Paugus Trail.

High point on the trail, go right for the view

Mt. Paugus view

Looking over at Mt. Passaconaway

Panoramic view from Mt. Paugus

The guide book mentions one possibly tricky turn to find on the descent in this direction, and with snow on the ground and no other tracks, I found that to be the case. I went past the turn in the trail, turned back and retraced my steps without seeing it, then went back most of the way to the summit to try again incase I missed something I would see the second time. I still wasn't having much luck the second time around and was wondering if I should turn around and just head back down the way I came up. I finally found where the trail heads down over some open rock and into the thicker trees just before making a steep icey descent into the spruce. I was glad to find the trail, but the climb down this section was a bit tricky.

A hard to descend steep icy section

After this, the trail was pretty easy to follow. Eventually it starts to follow a path that resembles what you would expect of a small brook that forms when there is a lot of rain or snow melt. I wondered at times if I veered off the trail, but occasional brush trimmings let me know I was still on the trail. Once you come out to a small view point, the trail is back to being easy to follow. At this viewpoint I was ready to remove my spikes, but there was just enough ice on the short steep descent after it to keep them on for another couple minutes. After that though, I took them back off.

For probably another half mile or so, there was small patches of very thin ice along the trail. It was just enough to be slippery or make you go slow, but not really enough that you wanted to put spikes back on. After a couple slips and one fall onto my knee, I decided to put the spikes back on for a while and deal with the hassle of walking on them when there wasn't either snow or ice on the ground. This was the right decision as I was able to keep crusing along after this without needing to slow down repeatedly in bad sections.

Just enough ice to cause you to slip and fall

A cool rock face next to the trail

I hiked down to cross the Whittin Brook Trail and corresponding brook. After the crossing, the trail climbs uphill again as it goes over Mt. Mexico near the summit. On the way up, the trail goes past Big Rock Cave. Since I hadn't done a lot of research about this, I wasn't sure how big it would actually be. There is a pretty good size glacial erratic next to the trail that has an overhang on the lower side and I was wondering if this was supposed to be the rock and cave. If it was, I was pretty dissapointed. I took a few quick pictures, and headed up the trail again. Soon after this, I would find out that the big rock and cave were MUCH bigger than the one I had recently past. The rock was the size of a house, and the cave looked big enough to stand up in. I'll be bringing my kids back here sometime in the future.

Big Rock Cave

After passing Big Rock Cave, it wasn't too much longer before the trail leads you up and over Mt. Mexico (not quite at the summit though). From here on out it was smooth hiking to the junction with the Cabin Trail. And a short 0.3 miles later, the Cabin Trail leads you to a driveway that you can then follow back down to Route 113A. I had originally planned to hike back to the Ferncroft Parking lot using the Gordon Path if I could find the driveway where it started from. I wasn't able to tell while walking by which driveway it would have been not being on it before, so I just decided to walk the road back to the parking lot. I had a nice casual walk from here on out on the flat road while there wasn't any traffic.

Smooth sailing over Mt. Mexico

All in all this turned out to be a pretty nice hike. I liked the loop and doing trails I hadn't been on before. Climbing back up from Whitten Brook was a bit tiresome to my legs with how little hiking I have been doing latetly. I also am not sure how much I like the Old Paugus Trail. I suspect that if I were to do it without the snow and ice making it slippery and harder to follow it would change my mind some. It wasn't a bad trail, just not as enjoyable as I was expecting. In the end, I think I ended up with about 8 miles of new redlining as well.

Google Earth representation of the hike - clockwise loop

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

---

Mt. Morgan (2,213 ft) & Mt. Percival (2,200 ft) 10-15-23

Distance: 6.8 mi.
Elevation: 1,353 ft (overall) 1,960 ft (total)
Time: (with an 5 and 9 year old setting the pace) 3:31 (Ladders) 4:06 (Mt. Morgan) 4:55 (Mt. Percival) 5:40 (Bottom of the caves) 7:31 (Total)
Trails: Mt. Percival Trail, Morse Trail, Mt. Morgan Trail, Crawford-Ridgepole Trail, Mt. Percival Trail

The plan for today's family hike would be a clockwise loop of Mt. Morgan and Mt. Percival. We would go up the ladders and down through the caves as both of our daughters wanted to explore both of these sections when I let them pick which hike we would be doing today. To start the hike we drove past the parking lot for the Mt. Morgan Trail since it looked pretty full and instead parked at the lot for the Mt. Percival Trail which had only a couple cars in it today. My plan was to use the Morse Trail to connect the two sides of the hikeno matter which parking lot we started at, so we just picked the easier one to park in.

We made our way out from the parking lot using the wide flat trail until we hit the junctions with the Morse Trail. This trail was easy to follow and didn't gain or lose any real elevation. Once we hit the Mt. Morgan Trail, I quickly hiked to the parking lot and back just to cover the entire trail for redlining purposes while everyone else had a snack. This was very quick as you can almost see the end from the Morse Trail. We then headed up the Mt. Morgan Trail which starts off pretty wide and gentle. You gradually gain elevation which short climbs mixed in with flatter sections as well. The closer you get to the top of the trail and the Crawford-Ridgepole trail, the steeper it will get though.

The girls where the trail crosses a stone wall

A steeper section of the Mt. Morgan Trail

Once onto the Crawford-Ridgepole Trail, it is a nice hike with more sections of uphill and brief flats until you reach the junction where the trail splits to reach the summit. To the right is the easier route, and to the left is the harder route which will have you climb up some ladders, through a small cave/tunnel, then up some exposed rocks to the cliffs with great views just before the actual summit. With my daughters both wanting to climb the ladders, we went left. The ladders shouldn't be too hard for any adult unless you have issues with heights or steep drops. The actual manuevering on the ladders was only tricky for our daughters as they have shorter legs. There is one spot where you have to climb up and to the right to get onto the next ladder and their legs were just a bit short for that so I helped both of them in this spot.

The girls getting to the base of the ladders

Me helping the girls up the ladders

At the top of the ladders that trail goes through a short cave/tunnel and then pops out into an open area of rock. The trail does almost a 360 degree turn as you come out from the tunnel where you turn left and climb across a rock that helps make the tunnel under you. From here the trail follows up the exposed rocky area with some trees until you reach the opening at the top where you have great views out over the lake. We stayed here to rest and eat some lunch while we enjoyed the views. Just after you leave this spot, a short side path leads to the actual high spot of the mountain.

Where the cave at the top of the ladders emerges

Lunch with a view on Mt. Morgan cliffs

Liliana and Madison on the summit of Mt. Morgan

After leaving the summit of Mt. Morgan, the 0.8 mile hike over to Mt. Percival was pretty gentle and easy going with nice footing. There are some ups and downs between the peaks, but nothing too big. There is one final push up a steeper rocky section of trail just before the summit of Mt. Percival. My youngest daughter was starting to not have fun when we came to this section, but the reward of more views and another summit just beyond it cheered her back up.

View from Mt. Percival

All three girls at the summit

Once we were done resting and taking pictures at the summit, we headed down the trail to the right of the main view so that we could go down through the caves. We were all looking forward to seeing what they would be like. The trail is steep from the start and begins with a couple sections that are just a bit narrow or awkward to climb down without hitting your pack on rocks around you. Then you climb over some large rocks with gaps between them, so you need to keep watching your footing. Next you climb into the first part of the caves after climbing over a deep gap in the rocks. The trail then goes through a small opening in the cave leading into a lower large opening in the caves. I took my pack off to go through this opening, but I think both of our daughters were able to fit through fine with their packs on. After passing through the opening in the caves, you come out through a small hole in the rocks and back out into a completely open area again. This whole section went slow, but I was also going first myself so that I could see where the trail went and then find a good place to stand so that I could help out our daughters and my wife as needed over/down/around the obstacles. Once we were through, everyone agreed it was fun to come through the caves.

Melissa working her way through the caves

Madison emerging from the caves

Just after the caves is where the trail joins back up with the option that goes around the caves. We turned and headed down the trail which descended pretty well before getting more gradual. The trail was a mixture of smooth sections and rocks with the rocks winning out more of the time. There was also a spot where the trail crossed over a small boulder field of decent sized rocks where our oldest daughter had fun climbing from rock to rock to make her way across.

The girls traversing a boulder filled section of trail

As the trail gets lower, it becomes smoother and less steep. This would normall make for a nice section to cruise right along at, but our youngest daughter was getting a bit tired (she didn't drink enough during the day) and she kept tripping over small roots and rocks so we took a more leisurely pace through here. Eventually we made it back to the end of the trail and our waiting vehicle so that we could take off our hiking shoes and boots and get into something more comfortable while we went and got something to eat.

All in all this hike went pretty well and everyone enjoyed the ladders, the caves, and of course the views. This made for a nice family hike and others could certainly do the same. I would be more than happy to go back and do it again, and if I did, I would probably go the same direction unless I was going to go around the ladders as I think it would be easier going up the ladders than it would be coming down them. I think the caves could be done about the same in either direction though.

Madison taking a break at a brook crossing

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE

---