Five hearty trail tenders braved oppressive heat to build cairns, paint blazes and clip back encroaching vegetation on the Smarts Brook Trail in Waterville Valley, NH. GayOutdoors is supporting volunteer trail work on this trail through the White Mountains National Forest adopt-a-trail program.

Adopters Jon Normand and Mike Boisvert lead at least two work trips here each year. In August Jon and Mike were joined by Mark Laske, Tim Buchanan and Bob Winters.

We woke up on Saturday to hazy, hot and humid weather  at my house in Campton, NH; near Waterville Valley and the Smarts Brook Trail. Temperatures were to reach the 80's. The weather may not have been ideal for this type of work but we decided to give it a try. So after a breakfast consisting of bagels, cereal, and juice we grabbed our tools and drove to the Smarts Brook logging road.

Jenny, a ranger with the White Mountain National Forest, left us the combo so we could unlock the gate and drive 1.5 miles up the logging road. This saved us hiking an additional 3 miles so we could focus more of our efforts on trail maintenance. She also left us some yellow paint and a brush for painting blazes on the trail.

We drove two trucks as far up the road as we could. We parked before the small footbridge that crosses Smarts Brook.

At the landing (a former logging yard that now resembles a large grassy field) we scouted for large rocks to make the existing cairn larger and build another one. Tim found this huge branch which we stuck inside the existing cairn and placed large rocks at the base to secure it. We took the yellow paint to blaze the branch on both sides. We also painted the rock on the top of the new cairn with yellow. It will make it easier for hikers to follow the trail cross the landing to find the trail on the other side; especially this winter when the snow accumulates.

Upon entering the woods Jon began to refresh existing blazes while I held the can. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew cut back encroaching vegetation. We did this for one mile until we reached the Sandwich Range Wilderness Boundary. Blazes cannot be painted on trails in wilderness areas.

After reaching the Wilderness Boundary we basically hiked the next couple miles following Smarts Brook; enjoying its cascades and waterfalls. About 1.2 miles from the wilderness boundary we began to meander around large boulders. Every time I reach this section I continue to be amazed how the glaciers over 10,000 years ago carried them to this location.

Smarts Brook Trail is a wonderful hiking trail -- a mix of hardwoods, conifers, huge boulders and, of course, the brook itself. The trail was very favorably reviewed a few years ago in Backpacker magazine. It is really one of the nicer trails in the White Mountain National Forest. 

Last spring, Jon and I stopped trail maintenance soon after we passed the end of this boulder field and just before the trail started its climb up the ridge.

Most of the trail going to the ridge is a wide switchback with easy grades, but the first and last 100 vertical feet go straight up the fall line, the only two steep sections on the whole trip. As we suspected, we found extensive spruce branches growing over the trail. 

We decided to first hike up to the ridge for lunch and start cutting back spruce branches on the descent. By the time we reached the ridge we were dripping in sweat and we felt a welcoming breeze.

After lunch we began to cut back the spruce branches. It was a lot of work and we were running out of time. Around 3pm we had to stop and begin hiking 3+ miles back to the trucks.

We then drove back to my house, had showers, and cooked up a delicious BBQ consisting of pork ribs, rice, pasta salad, and homemade berry pie topped with vanilla ice cream -- all courtesy of GayOutdoors. Yum! From the deck of my house we could see Sandwich Mountain and the Smarts Brook valley. We couldn't help but get a sense of pride for the work we did today. It was a means for us to give back to the mountains for the intrinsic benefits they give us.

Working alongside our friends on this common project brought us closer together. Thanks guys for all your help and may the mountains bless you with their good tidings!