Smarts Mountain

Trip Details
Date: May 31^st, 2019
Total Distance: 8.52 mi (via Garmin fenix 5X)
Total Time: 4 hours 21 minutes
Total Elevation: 2992 ft gained
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UPDATE 6/10/19 - The author of the AMC Southern NH Trail Guide (5th Edition) got in touch with me to let me know the fire tower is the actual summit. As you will see from my GPS track below I assumed the eastern knob of the summit was the actual summit. There are other maps that state the same thing. I dug a little deeper and got the latest TOPO map from the USGS and that map shows the western knob with the fire tower is clearly 20+ feet higher. I have updated the post below to reflect this.

With the heavy snowfall, heavy rains, and warm temperatures most of the trails in and around the 4000 footers are a mess. So to continue our Spring hiking we hit up a 52 with a View mountain. A majority of these mountains have pretty epic views so we did some research and came upon Smarts Mountain. It was on a lot of lists as having one of the best views. Spoiler alert...it did not disappoint.

This one is kind of out there. It is past Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. You basically go all the way down I-89 and just before you get to the Vermont border (okay a few miles and exits before the actual border, but those last four exits are all within a few miles of each other), you get off and drive through Dartmouth and come out on the other side in Lyme, NH. Soon you are on a dirt road and then eventually the parking lot is on the left.

This trail was muddy, but it was generally avoidable. 

You could also take the Ranger Trail that starts at the back of the parking lot, but reports indicated the mud had overtaken the trail and the black flies were horrendous so we stuck to this trail for the day.

The trail was generally pretty easy. The climb starts early until you gain the ridge where you have to then deal with a few pointless up-and-downs before starting the final climb up to the summit. The muddiest part of this trail was actually on the ridge.

This is the start of the ridge. I call this rock Voltron ledge.

The view from Voltron ledge. That is Cardigan on the left and Kearsarge on the right.

At the next viewpoint the fire tower was now in view.

A small section of ladders and metal rungs hammered into the ledge.

On a lot of maps they will call this area the true summit. This is the highpoint of the eastern knob. Not too exciting. The true summit is the western knob with the fire tower so you can skip this.

The map on the Garmin fenix 5X shows the actual summit past the fire tower on the eastern knob of the summit area. This area is nothing spectacular and I had to look at the GPS because we actually walked right past it. No sign or anything to indicate we were actually there and come to find out that is because this is not actually the summit. The western knob with the fire tower is actually 20+ feet or so higher. We made our way back to the cabin after visiting this spot.

The Dartmouth Outing Club has done an amazing job maintaining this cabin. 

For all the through hikers that come and go through here (probably not this time of year), it was incredibly clean in here.

If only you had a VCR to play that VHS copy of The Dark Crystal because you know damn well we would have done that! The pen and pencil were both out of commision so we could not sign in.

RIP Bill "Ice Cream Man" Ackerly.

Next up was the fire tower, which has an interesting history. It is no longer manned by fire wardens, but is still protected by NH law. So it is upkept beautifully and you can get into the lookout room. The 360º views were amazing. We could see for miles in each direction. Vermont was in full view and then in the opposite direction so were the White Mountains.

From the lookout tower and looking towards Mt. Moosilauke.

Mt. Cardigan

Mt. Kearsarge

Mt. Ascutney

A nice dog coming to visit us. Boomer would never do this...

Mt. Cube

Mt. Moosilauke

Mt. Washington

I did have to use the privy up here and I have to say for a toilet residing at over 3000 ft in elevation, it was kept up well and really did not have a smell.

The winter was not too kind to it and did rip off a roof panel. 

 After lunch at the cabin, we headed back down the way we came. It did not take too long, but felt like it did. Part of that could have been the injuries I am still recovering from but the ridge section just seemed to go on forever. This was a great hike and if it was not so far out of the way (though in reality the drive was about the same as any of the 4000 footers for me) I would probably consider coming back. The cabin is a great camping spot if you can get there before the ATers start making their way to it.

The mileage is off by probably 3/4 of a mile due to drift around the summit, cabin, and fire tower.