Hiked on July 27, 2024 26/52WAV I held off doing this mountain for a while. Partly because of its reputation. Partly because I had a vision of climbing it when the Celtics won the NBA championship with Marcus Smart as their charismatic front man. Of course the Celtics did win...but there was no Marcus Smart. Still, it is on the 52 With-A-View list. So even with its reputation for being sneaky-hard, I decided to check it off the list. It puts me exactly halfway on the 52WAV. My wife Allison--who tends toward the 4,000 footers--came with me. Even she thought Smarts was plenty of mountain Smarts Mountain--at 3,238 feet--does, in fact, punch above its weight. The distance and cumulative elevation of this hike is comparable to that of taller mountains, like nearby Moosilauke. I would say it is even a little bit harder than that particular 4,000 footer. Both are among the only twelve mountains in NH with a prominence of over 2,000 feet. However, the landscape around Smarts rolls up and down. There are a few scrambles. The bare rocks are wet. On a personal level, we hadn't done much hiking in the last couple of weeks. Moosilauke was my very first 4,000 foot climb while I was recovering from back surgery. I was in horrible shape and sulked most of the way down. However, while I personally found this hike easier, I believe it has more to do with improved health than anything Smarts was able to give. The mountain is also home to the wreckage of two different small airplanes. Some people will bushwhack to the location of these tragedies. I prefer to leave the sites alone. That said, this knowledge just adds to the legend. Our hike began at the parking lot which serves the trailhead for both the Lambert and Ranger Trails. Lambert is part of the AT. Most of the people we saw were well aware of this fact. Section hikers and thru-hikers were easy to pick out thanks to their large packs. Some stopped to chat. Others were powering north or south with only the vaguest awareness of those of us in the "slow lane". Regular readers will know that our son did the AT a couple years ago. In fact, he was only a few miles away, walking north on the Vermont Long Trail. As "peak-baggers" our hiking experience is very different. We met a few of our own kind as well, with well-worn but lighter gear, fully expecting to be home in bed by the end of the day. That said, it was nice to be on a mountain where--whether long distance or habitual day hikers--everyone we saw was serious about their hobby. People knew the unwritten rules of trail use and etiquette. The shop-talk was excellent. This is not unusual on the less well-known peaks. More casual walkers tend toward places like Washington, Lafayette, Monadnock, and Chocorua. Those are all great hikes as well. The views are fabulous. That said, it is very cool every once in a while to be an insider. Insider moments make all the outsider moments easier to bear. While Lambert was probably the more challenging of the two trails, we decided to take it up for the climb. Near the top there were open ridges that promised encouraging views as we plodded along. Also, the Ranger trail is notoriously muddy and wet. Given the relative humidity it was nice to be on the up with the breezes while fighting gravity. The miles hit pretty hard but our morale was good. While there were limited views on the way, the top is wooded. Thankfully there is a fire tower. We made our climb up to the top for the 360-degree view of southwestern New Hampshire and into Vermont. Most of the mountains were harder to identify than we are used to. The 52WAV list is broadly distributed so the peaks don't quite function as well as landmarks. Cube--which has a great view of Smarts--was identifiable as was Mount Cardigan back on that ridge. It was fine, though, just to look out and admire the landscape around us. The only other remarkable thing that happened was that I took a massive fall! After climbing down the tower my heal caught on a rock and my ankle gave way. My water bottle went flying and I landed face-first in the midst of about a dozen fellow hikers. They were...concerned. However I seemed to be OK after a rest. I have always fallen a lot on these mountains. I'm not blessed with many athletic gifts. Maybe this is why I am used to it enough not to worry too much about the inevitable chuckles and recollections after I am out of earshot. It is part of the experience for me. My only concern is whether I can get down the next mountain and up the next one. The walk down Ranger was uneventful. The trail was buggy and wet, but easier on the lungs and joints than Lambert. The mud was a challenge at times as were the slick rocks. Occasionally we found ourselves strolling next to a lovely stream that provided both soundtrack and visual interest. Near the end it devolved into a long, flat slog. It always feels like the trail is a touch too long. In the end we made it back to the parking lot. There we found a few section hikers refueling before heading back out.
On the way home somebody backed into our car so instead of hitting the pub we got to fill out insurance papers. Other than that it was a great day. I am not sure if Smarts will be on my list again soon, but I am glad we did it.
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Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. --Isaiah 43:19 I have been thinking about this quote from Isaiah a lot lately. I find it reassuring to think that the Great Whatever that encompasses all of us is always starting anew in a perpetual cycle of beginnings, endings, and in-betweens. Right now I am in the midst of endings and struggling to find the trailhead for whatever comes next. Mostly that is an OK place to be. However, it isn't ever easy. Perhaps that is why I recently started a manageable new thing. Sometimes an achievable goal can help us practice for harder ones. The way the world is right now, we can all use the practice. The Mid-State Trail runs the roughly 90-mile length of Worcester County from the border of Rhode Island to the border of New Hampshire. I have explored a good chunk of its northern end but done very little with the space south of the City of Worcester. Worcester is New England's second largest municipality. However, it drops off fast, meaning that while there is plenty of road walking, most of it is in the woods. This project is more gentle than the mountain climbing "lists" that I spend much of my time with. Also, Worcester County is much more accessible to me. I can work on it when I can and put it away when I cannot. Finally, it is an area I enjoy exploring. For the last two decades I have lived in the 'burbs. By just heading that little bit west of my home I can pretend that I live somewhere else. I wrote up a few of those previous hikes on the trail, therefore... I will put a number of links at the bottom of this post so you can learn more about Mid-State! The trail has its roots in the 1920's but came to fruition quite a bit later. It was finally completed some time in the 1980's and is now maintained by the Worcester Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club. They are always recruiting volunteers. I should look into that. Anyway, the goal was--and is--to maintain a long trail that ties together the numerous smallish parks that decorate the maps of Central Massachusetts. The first sections were in the North, where the road walks are not that intense. Mounts Watatic and Wachusett are two major gems in the region going back before colonization. As I noted in a previous post, Henry David Thoreau had some things to say about that area as well. Again, links to previous hikes are below. My goal for this trail has always been to hike from one end to the other, using car-spots to prevent too much doubling back. While I have explored it a great deal, I am a completist by nature and the gaps in my geographical mind-map bother me. My friend Sarah Stewart is doing this with me and will be providing that other car. She actually lives in Worcester so the commute, while fairly simple for me, is even easier for her. An added benefit is that Sarah is also a preacher, so we can talk shop without bothering our spouses. Even though I said that we are hiking south to north, we walked this southernmost section in the other direction. This was thanks to some complications. First, I had a meeting, which threw a wrench into our plans. Second...there is no parking lot at the actual beginning of the trail. So, after much thought, we found that the simplest thing to do would be to start at the parking lot at Route 16, head south to the beginning of the trail, then turn north to hike a few miles back to the main entrance to Douglas State Park, where we put our southernmost car. In the end, it took about 7 miles of walking to complete the first 5.5 mile section. The entirety of this day's walk occured inside Douglas State Forest. The trail, itself, was relatively flat and featured some views of one of the few Atlantic White Cedar wetlands in the region. Apparently there is a boardwalk over part of it. However, if we cross it at all, it must be on a different day. Along the way we stopped talking to listen to the birds and to notice the abundance of bear scat on the trail. We didn't linger too much thanks to the presence of a large number of singing insects. There were also blueberries and a blueberry-like fruit which seemed related to the "bilberries" I ate in abundance while hiking in Scotland. More research and eating is necessary... There was also evidence of former human habitation. Cellar holes and stone walls dotted the forest. Also, the trail, itself showed evidence of being a road earlier in life. I have done some research in what the area might be...but I haven't come to any great conclusions. The next section will start in Douglas as well, so maybe by then I will have something to report.
That is all for now. It is fun to start on a new thing, particularly one without a deadline that gets us outside, moving around, and breathing the fresh air. When the end to a beginning seems attainable. It helps with the less attainable ones, right? In any case, it strengthens us for the journey and adventures of life. |
Adam Tierney-EliotI am a full-time pastor in a small, progressive church in Massachusetts. This blog is about the non-church things I do to find spiritual sustenance. Archives
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