Smarts Mountain 19 Sep 2011 - the long way

[billski]

NH 9 miles round trip, 2300 vertical. On the AT. Most thru hikers are thru.

Thank you DOC!

You have to think twice about this one. Pretty wet, no other options.

WTF? I'm going up THERE??? I already did 3 miles and 1000 vertical

Well SOMEONE has got to DO IT!

Washouts were everywhere.

THE END

 

[thetrailboss]

Good report. Thanks. That is a nice hike. So I take it that you took a different route than what the DOC suggests and the one that I did some time ago? I did the Ranger Trail up, Lambert Ridge down. Great views from the tower and a nice loop.

 

[billski]

Good report. Thanks. That is a nice hike. So I take it that you took a different route than what the DOC suggests and the one that I did some time ago? I did the Ranger Trail up, Lambert Ridge down. Great views from the tower and a nice loop.

Ranger Sux. And with the wetness of late, it just makes it worse. Got that info from some locals. I went about 1/4 mile up Ranger to see what I could see. Nothing more than a really bad drainage ditch. I did Lambert both ways, so not much different.
Part of the fun was finding the trailhead, as opposed to the north approach to Cubic Equation. I decided to get SMARTS first! :razz:

 

[thetrailboss]

Lambert has some nice views on it.

 

[CTNoob]

Nice report Bill. Amazing how the camera flattens out the terrain, that iron bar section is way steeper than it looks in the pic! My thoughts were exactly the same when you get to the first outlook and Smarts is still a distant mass. Then you DESCEND and wind around before climbing again.

The scenery is worth it. Really wild country especially looking south and east.

 

[Abubob]

My first hike in NH was here 20 years ago with my brother. We had lunch in the fire tower. Thanks for sharing.