SMARTS MOUNTAIN

AT Day 127: Saturday,  August 12, 2023

SOBO Mile 1794.5 – 1775.5

Ore Hill Brook – Smarts Mt Trailhead 

Distance Hiked – 19 miles/30.6 km

Total Distance Hiked: 2067.9 miles/3327km 

A:5045 ft/1539 m D:5410 ft/1650 m

We slept really well. There wasn’t too much traffic through the night, just an occasional car passing by. We broke camp and were on our way at just before 6 a.m. Ricky Bobby and his girlfriend Tori had camped nearby and were going to meet us for breakfast at the next road crossing about 5 miles further along the trail.  They’ll cook breakfast and do some trail magic for other hikers coming through.

We started to ascend away from Route 25C and just past the beaver pond the trail  became very boggy for a long section. It was slow fancy footwork to find dry ground to side step the mud and keep dry feet. It was just around 7:00 when we passed a northbound hiker. We couldn’t raise a hello or a smile from him. He was grumpy, really grumpy and I thought he looked like Vermont sucked the joy out of his life. We couldn’t get a smile and or any form of greeting. He was tramping through the wettest muddiest midline of the trail, looking miserable and it was early morning. The sun was shining, it was warm and it wasn’t raining,  how could you be miserable? 

We made it to route 25A where we met up with Ricky Bobby and Tori again. They were serving up breakfast for hikers and we stopped for sausage and eggs and home made guacamole on toast. The sun was shining  and we stayed to chat with Ricky Bobby and Tori  for probably an hour and a half. It was just so wonderful to sit in the sun and share some stories and plans for the future. Eventually we had to get back on trail.

The trail up Mt Cube goes for 3  miles rising 2000 feet. It was a great trail with newly built stairs and the trail crews were out today still building sections. They’re still not building switchbacks on the AT. It was a steep and steady climb on rocky stairs to the summit. The views from the summit were really nice. Views for miles around. We stopped for lunch on a ledge. It was really nice, the sun was shining it was warm and we could see the fire tower on the summit of Mt Smart where we are heading next. It was a glorious view and so nice to just be able to sit on a mountaintop and not get blown off. The descent of Cube Mountain was a little bit more tricky. The quartzite rocks made it much harder to trust the grip so you feel like you could slide and get hurt. But thankfully that section didn’t go for too long before we were back on on a rooty, muddy trail. 

Another mountain ascent soon followed. Smarts Mountain at 3273 feet is one of the tallest peaks in the area. The ascent was gradual and then leveled off for the last two miles. Long sections of very muddy trail which took some footwork  to step around. Hammer climbed the firetower on the summit. The white haze in the air obstructed the more distant views otherwise Hammer recons it was worth the climb up. 

The descent off the mountain was a lot steeper then the ascent. A series of steep and newly constructed  rocky stairs took us down to what felt like a neverending traverse of Lambert Ledges. We were tiring and my knee was painful on the descent which felt like it took an hour longer then it should have.  Rain was expected and we wanted to be off the mountain and camped before the rain arrived. 

It was close to 7pm when made it down to the Lyme Dorchester Rd where we planned to camp. We met up with Howard who passed us on the climb up Smarts Mt.  We first met him in Gorham and have crossed paths a few times over the past week. He told us earlier in the afternoon that he was meeting a friend at the road. His friend  brought pizza and local IPA beer. What an amazing unexpected treat. We stayed to chat with Howard and his friend for a while. It looked like it was getting dark soon and the sky was darkening.  We set up our tent back in the woods. And right on cue the rain arrived around 9pm.  It rained steadily right through the night. We are so bone weary tired, we can smell the finish line.