Christmas Eve Along Smarts Brook

After two days of snow, freezing rain, and all sorts of other wintry precipitation dumped on the state I was itching to get up into the Whites to get in my first snowshoe trek of the year. With only one wintry hike under my belt so far this month, I decided to keep it relatively flat and try out a loop around Smarts Brook in Waterville Valley.

I got to the parking area for Smarts Brook off of NH-49 around 10:30 a.m to find it plowed (but very slick asphalt nonetheless) with two cars there before me. After getting out of my car and strapping on my bright green snowshoes, I headed straight into the forest next to the kiosk at the parking area and took an immediate left onto the Pine Flat XC (cross-country) Ski Trail. It started out nice and flat and mostly well-tracked, not leaving much for me to pack down with my snowshoes. However, the shoes did come in handy as I ventured off trail in many spots all around the loop to get an up close look at winter slowly taking hold of Smarts Brook.

A beautiful scene of marshmallow boulders along Smarts Brook

I came to the first major blow-down on the Pine Flat Trail just past its junction with the Old Waterville Rd. Trail. It was about a 6" diameter tree laying across the trail that was easy to step over. From this point on to the junction with the Yellow Jacket XC Trail, the weight of the prior days' snow made more and more trees sag into the trail, including one more major blow-down with most of its branches left waiting to snag a down jacket and one section of so many trees sagging in such low succession that the best way to tackle them was to plow straight through.

Some previous hikes had given one of the evergreens along the trail some Christmas spirit

At the sign for the Yellow Jacket XC Trail I took a right to head southeast down towards the junction with the Smarts Brook Trail. It was clear that this trail had gotten much less use compared to Pine Flat, as my snowshoes came in handy most of the way along the route, packing down a set or two of footprints that hadn't done much to break out this stretch of trail. However, the snow, with its crusty, crunchy top coat of ice from yesterday's rains, was not deep enough to make the task of packing down the trail too arduous.

Walking along the Yellow Jacket XC Trail

After shooting off trail along the way a couple times to take in some views of the brook, I finally came to and crossed the large wooden bridge that brought me to the Smarts Brook Trail for the final leg of my loop. To my surprise, this was the least tracked out of all the trails I took! It shocked me that the only primary hiking trail I was using had the least amount of usage upon my arrival. Therefore, I was extremely happy to have my snowshoes here as I flattened the path of sunken footsteps along the way.

Up until the final junction of my hike, all the prior intersections had been clearly marked with large signage to point me the right way. As I neared the final half-mile stretch of my hike, I came to a split in the Smarts Brook Trail, with the wider trail most closely resembling what I had been on going to my left and a narrower, but still well-tracked trail delving deeper into the woods to my right. I took the trail to my left first and got a little ways down before I checked my AllTrails app to see that I was walking down Smarts Brook Road at this point instead of Smarts Brook Trail. It was a quick backtrack to the junction I chose wrongly at the first time and then I ducked into the narrower trail in the woods which led me on a nice downhill stroll where I emerged out of the woods a short distance from the parking area, with a nice view of Welch and Dickey Mountains in the distance.

Welch and Dickey in the distance as I completed my hike

In all this was a wonderful hike to get back into the swing of snowshoeing. The few ascents I had were never steep, with most of the hike being nothing more than a nice stroll in the woods, breaking trail along the way. This loop is probably one I'll visiting again one spring when the snow has thawed and the brook is roaring, a several cascades along the way looked like they would be quite wonderful to see that time of year.

Finishing the Belknap Peaks Challenge: West Quarry and Rand Mountains

With the forecast showing cloudy skies, I figured today would be a good day for my pup and I to finish the last two peaks on the Belknap Peak Challenge list, the viewless summits of West Quarry and Rand Mountain. The recently created parking area off of Reed Rd. in Alton Bay has made these once very remote peaks now much more accessible for a medium-sized day hike, as was our plan for this day.

Entrance sign at the Reed Rd. parking area

We arrived at the new parking area around 9:30 a.m. and started our journey by continuing to walk down the road toward where the Reed Road Trail properly entered the woods. As we got further down the road, the condition of it slowly deteriorated, starting as a rocky, gravel road, then once past a large three-car garage, a completely fallen out pile of rocks and rubble. At this point we came to the SPNHF gate put up to block dirt bikes and ATVs from continuing any further. From there the condition of the road continued to be a pile of rough rocks until we came to our first view over Lake Winnipesaukee, where the ground was a better mixture of hard-packed dirt and small rocks.

Gate blocking ATVs from the roughest section of Reed Rd.

Looking back at the Belknaps and Ossipees from the top of Reed Rd.

As we continued along the road, ascending at a moderate clip, we came to the best mountain view of the day when we reached the staircase into the woods signifying the proper start of the Reed Rd. Trail. Looking back from the rocky staircase the summits of Belknap, Gunstock, and several of the mountains across the lake in the Ossipee Range stretched out before us. It was a nice panorama to take in before we set off into the woods.

The stone steps that felt like entering an arena

The way the stone stairs were laid out, welcoming us into the forest, felt like we were walking into an arena to truly begin hiking. From here, the climb continued to be steady, with a few switchbacks along the way to try and ease the grind of the relentless climb higher and higher. As I've noticed to be common, this was another sneaky tough climb in the otherwise small elevations of the Belknap Range. It would not be our last grind of the day.

The footing on this section of trail was mostly hard-packed dirt, stiffened by all the water collecting and freezing underneath with the cooler temperatures of late fall taking hold. I could feel the ice underneath the dirt crunching beneath my feet in several places, and we even noticed a few "hiking frost heaves" along the way where some of the ice had pushed through to the surface. There were a few spots of actual ice along the trail, but they were few and far between on bare rock slabs, and easily stepped over or walked around.

Electric green moss on the Dave Roberts Quarry Trail

Once we reached the junction of the Dave Roberts Quarry Trail, we turned right onto it to head toward West Quarry and Rand. We had one last, quick steep ascent up a rocky ledge and then the trail finally leveled off for a good long stretch, becoming a peaceful walk in the woods almost all the way to the summit of West Quarry. As we neared it for our first summit of the day, we had a moderate climb to get to the top, and enjoyed a small lookout just before reaching the summit sign. With that peak, it was eleven Belknap peaks down, and only one more just a mile away. To Rand we went!

View from the lookout just before the West Quarry summit

It was a quick drop off the summit as we headed down West Quarry into the col between it and Rand. We came to a split in the trail where we could go by the Quarry Ledges or take a bypass into the col for our descent. My pup headed toward the bypass and thus I followed, happy we chose this as a descent after going up the ledges to change things up on our return. Especially as the weather gets colder and more ice builds up, I would not recommend the ledges for descents, as one slip could result in some nasty injuries and lots of bare rock.

My favorite trail signs, the rustic, hand-painted arrows in the Belknaps

The bypass had much better footing with soft forest floor the whole way, albeit steep. Once in the col, it was another nice walk in the woods before things turned into a mixture of tough elevation gain mixed with a blank of dead leaves and big rocks for the final climb up to the summit of Rand. This was yet another sneaky tough climb in this small mountain range that had me huffing and puffing as we approached the summit sign of our final peak of the challenge list. We took a quick break at the summit to bask in our "glory" before retracing our steps and heading back down the way we came.

My pup using the summit of Mt. Rand as his victory throne

While the 4000 Footers get all the love here in New Hampshire, the overlooked challenge of the Belknap peaks is definitely a fun one that is suited for a wider range of abilities. I highly recommend it for someone who finds the 4000 Footers or 52 With a View a little daunting, and the Belknaps are great training ground for those bigger mountains as well while still packing their own gorgeous views in many spots (Mt. Major, Straightback, and Whiteface being my favorites). Even with the peak challenge completed, I'll still be coming back to these peaks to enjoy the views and keep my hiking legs primed for the bigger challenges in the Whites.