On 8/6/20 I followed through my idea for hike and bike up Smarts via the old Mascoma or (CPLT). The excursion proved to look better in my mind's eye than in real life. I parked at lot for Green Woodlands in North Dorchester. I encountered signs stating only residents of NH and VT were allowed. I figured since we own a trailer in Plymouth I was I qualified as resident of NH.
I found two notes on my windshield on my return chastising me for violating the signage (I have MA plates on my car) and requesting me to not come back again in 2020. I should have left a note
I guess. Being Thursday I only encountered total of 3 other cyclists the entire day probably would have encountered more if it was weekend. I encountered three AT northbound hikers at fire tower and family of 5 came up while I was on my way down steps of the tower. The brief respite of cool Canadian air after the tropical storm passed through made for excellent viewing of which I will share a couple here. View of Mount Cube and Moosilauke to the north.
View to the south of Cummins and Reservoir Ponds and Mt Cardigan is in the distance.
I found the Green Woodlands Ten Mile Trail to the trout pond at 1700' somewhat steep in spots requiring me to push the bike up some of the hills. From Trout Pond I chose to take left fork of Trout Pond Loop trail which I needed to take to get to the Spur Trail. The TPL trail turned out to be mostly deep grass which made it hard to see road hazards. I went flying over the handlebars attempting to brake for some loose rock on short downhill. Fortunately I got away with only couple of bruises. I think my somewhat heavy pack caused my center of gravity to be too high giving me tendency to go over the bars while braking on steep downhills especially if surface is soft and gravelly. I was very cautious about downhills after that.
The Trout Pond Loop trail meets up with regular graded gravel Spur Trail at warming hut. After one steep downhill which I dismounted for I had a good mile of level traveling where I encountered appropriately named Smarts Mountain Trail. I followed portion of this trail that parallels Clough Branch. I encountered Mascoma Trail at log landing meadow.
Big surprise is I found the Mascoma Trail is very well maintained. I found recent tire tracks from some sort of ATV which went as high as say 2500' elevation where steepest part of trail starts. I'm fairly sure who ever was riding the ATV was authorized Green Woodlands. The trail is very lightly traveled meaning very little erosion and rich in organic matter making for excellent footing which this old fart genuinely enjoyed. Above 2500' the trail was also lightly traveled but looked more like higher elevation boreal forest also very nice.
I descended via this trail and opted to skip Trout Pond Loop with its tall grasses. There was one steep pitch which I pushed the bike up hill. A women driving a truck stopped to chat with me as I pushed my bike up this steep pitch. The steep pitch moderated after the warming hut to where I could go back to peddling. I followed Spur Trail all the way to North Dorchester Road which was gated. This would be preferred route to try this hike and bike, but Green Woodlands has no parking signs up and down roadway at this gate so I doubt I'll be doing this excursion again any time soon. The downhill run back to the lot where I started was a real thrill.
