| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Smarts Mountain, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Lambert Ridge Trail, Ranger Trail |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
No one at 9 am, 2 cars when I left at 2:30 pm. Dorchester Road was muddy as expected though it had been shored up in a few spots with gravel. AWD is recommended. Parking lot was also muddy and more wet than the road. The coming rains will likely make it worse. Thee |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow - Spring Snow, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction, Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All doable with rock hops |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Large blowdown between Privy sign and actual privy, a few small-med step overs on both trails. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
|
|
 | Bugs: |
|
|
 | Lost and Found: |
|
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
Went up Lambert, down Smarts.
Lambert Ridge in excellent shape (dry, some leaves, well-marked, sure footing) until you get to the ledge where you can see Smarts and the fire tower. As you drop back down from the ledge, there are spotty sections of snow and ice, mostly doable with bare boots, then snow and ice increase as you go along. There were a couple of times along the trail where I would have liked more blazes but managed to find the way. When you start to climb in elevation again, there is increasing ice where I used microspikes but shortly after the junction with the AT and Smarts Ranger, I used full crampons as the ice flow was very thick in spots. I would not have continued if I did not have crampons beyond this point today. I wore them down to this point on the way back and even went around a couple of steeper ice flow areas as I have some, but not a lot of experience with crampons.
Smarts Ranger could be called "a stream runs through it" as it follows the water a lot of the way down; areas of significant mud and water, alternating with some snow and some dry areas.
The fire tower door was already propped open and I left it that way. There is one pane of glass missing in the tower; otherwise in good, clean shape. |
|
 | Name: |
KittE |
|
 | E-Mail: |
aelkinson@outlook.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2022-04-05 |
|
 | Link: |
 https:// |
|
|
Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
|
