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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Smarts Mountain , NH
Trails
Trails: Daniel Doan Trail, J Trail, road walk
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, April 28, 2019
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: The dirt roads leading to the parking areas weren’t bad. Hardly any mud if any and the potholes weren’t too absurd. Only a couple spots of mostly dry ruts. Only car there when I arrived at 12:15 and only car there when I left at 6:15. I ran into a horse drawn something or another on my drive in. It was quite a surprise! Very glad I was going slow enough to stop for them; it was a tight squeeze!  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush, Snow/Ice - Small Patches 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: The one or two on J Trail were a piece of cake. The water was flowing very good underneath the bridge at the beginning though and was quite nice :) The water crossing on Daniel Doan Trail was harder. I’d describe it as a somewhat difficult rock up. I managed to not get a speck of water on my boots somehow though!  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: For some reason I always have a lot of trouble remembering where the blowdowns are... I know there were several on J Trail. There were three almost back to back towards the bottom and most of them were pretty large I think. That said, they were all easily walked over/ducked under or easy to walk around. I don’t remember Daniel Doan Trail as well but I imagine there were some. Daniel Doan is blazed in light blue and was easy enough to follow. J Trail is part of the AT and is thus blazed in white. This was a tad trickier to follow than Daniel Doan but nothing bad.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: They’d probably do a bit better than us humans would with the postholing up high.  
Bugs
Bugs: None 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: I lost a piece of trash :( First time that’s happened in awhile. My apologies. If anyone comes by a cashew butter bar wrapper on Daniel Doan Trail and picks it up, thank you!!  
 
Comments
Comments: I was glad someone pointed out to me on Holts Ledge yesterday that Smarts Mtn had gotten recent snow so I at least kind of knew what I was getting myself into. I was under the impression that all the snow had melted on Smarta previously and that it had gotten just a little snow the day before so I didn’t bring snowshoes. Not sure they would have helped much but in retrospect I wish I had brought them. Above 2500ft or so there is new snow that is occasionally 2-3ft deep and that you’ll posthole through. Luckily the snow wasn’t consistent but when it was there it really slowed me down due to postholing and trying not to get too wet (what a day to not bring my gaiters...). I also wore, while still technically waterproof, really old worn down boots that got absolutely soaked.

I brought microspikes and thought about putting them on a couple of times due to slippery ice but I managed without. Gaiters and good waterproof boots are essential for hiking this mountain right now. You may want to wait a few days until this snow melts as I’m not sure how much any equipment would help in these trail conditions.  
Name
Name: Liam Cooney 
E-Mail
E-Mail: liamcooney96@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2019-04-28 
Link
Link: https:// 
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