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.

Peaked Hill Pond: A Hidden Gem in the Whites

Small on crowds, big on serenity

On the last day of our anniversary trip in the Whites, my wife and I decided to do a hike that was on the road literally right next to where we staying at the Valley Brook Cottages in Thornton: Peaked Hill Pond. This little known trail is usually looked over by everyone skimming a map of the White Mountains, as it is out of the way of all the other main hiking areas in the notches. However, as we learned after our hike, if you happen to be in the area, this is one that's well worth the trip.

The trailhead was at the end of the aptly named Peaked Hill Pond Road. Since we were in an AWD SUV we were able to drive all the way to the metal gate that marks the start of the trail and park on the left-hand side. There was a parking area a little before where we parked for cars that can't handle the sandy, rough road at the end. It only adds a short bit to the hike and no real elevation gain at all.

From the gate we there were two paths to take, but thanks to the White Mountain Guide we knew to take the larger, more eroded/collapsed road on the left into the woods. This was the only part of the trail where we had to double check our heading, as the rest of the turns along the way were well marked, either by signs clearly stating "Peaked Hill Pond" with an arrow pointing onward or with diamond-shaped yellow signs with large arrows sending us the right way.

The trail was wide, dry and leaf covered the whole way. Aside from a couple stretches of elevation gain tending to the easy side of moderate, this trail was more of a walk in the woods than a hike. It was mostly flat with good footing the whole way to the pond.

Unnamed waterfall below the trail

After passing the first "Peaked Hill Pond" sign with an arrow, we heard the roar of a brook in the gorge-like area of the forest below us off to our right. Through the trees, we could see what looked like a pretty sizeable waterfall, so we ventured off trail, tumbled down into the rougher stuff, and came upon a magical cascade. There were two side-by-side that looked to be 15-20 ft. tall, making for an awesome off trail discovery. We were even more surprised to not see this waterfall listed in our insanely thorough New England Waterfalls book when we got home. It made us feel like grand explorers, discovering such a spot, haha!

As "Fall in New England" as fall in New England can get

We arrived at the pond to find a serene view of Peaked Hill over its namesake pond. The pond was still, peaceful, and quiet. The hill was at peak autumn color, and with a rich blue sky full of white puffy clouds behind it, it made for a quintessential New England setting. We were actually surprised to see two canoes on the shores when we arrived, which I found later are possibly used by adventure groups that make regular trips out to the pond. Other than that, it was a wonderful natural setting

If you are ever in the Thornton area, or want to find a trip to add on to other adventures to and from the Whites, I highly recommend this hike. It's a simple stroll that'll take you to a place where you can feel miles away from everything else. I can definitely see this being an add-on hike to one of my trips in the future.