Elevation gain: 1670 feet
Trails used: Appalachian Trail, bushwhack.
Highlight(s): Appalachian Trail, open woods bushwhack, ski trails.
I took the day off for a dentist appointment in the morning, and wanted to finish the small section of the Appalachian Trail that Brian and I did not do a month ago due to the snow depths. What a difference a month of warmer weather makes. Also, while in the area, I wanted to hit the actual summit of Winslow Ledge, which is a bit higher up than the ski area goes. It was a nice crisp spring day for this hike and there was a bit of snow left, although it was mainly confined to the ski trails.
This section of trail starts at the Dartmouth Skiway parking area, onto the Appalachian Trail and then to the other end where the Appalachian Trail then climbs up to Smarts Mountain (another hike, another time). It is approximately 2 miles one way, but it is mostly level walking.
Winslow Ledge is located in Lyme, New Hampshire. There are no official trails that go to the wooded, view-less summit but you can take a combination of Appalachian Trail and snowmobile trails to get to the peak, or simply walk up the ski trails and do a nice bushwhack.
Dartmouth Skiway
I parked at the Dartmouth Skiway parking area off of Dorchester Road and started hiking on the Appalachian Trail. I got these views of Winslow Ledge and the Dartmouth Skiway, which still managed to have some snow on its slopes.
This section of the Appalachian Trail looks so much different with zero snow, which also makes for easier hiking.
The Appalachian Trail crosses this snowmobile trail that we used this winter to take down to the road and out of the deep snow.
This was the hardest water crossing of the day along this section of the Appalachian Trail, which was pretty easy.
You can see the Appalachian Trail sign on the tree and white blaze on the other side of the water crossing.
This is the other end of this section of the Appalachian Trail, which is directly across the street from the Lambert Ridge Trailhead, which heads up towards Smarts Mountain. I would turn around and head back from here.
A Appalachian Trail mileage marker. It's only 1730 miles to go to reach Georgia. It was shortly after the marker that I began the bushwhack towards Winslow Ledge.
I came across a combination of old woods roads and snowmobile trails and decided to see if I could take them up to the summit area of Winslow Ledge.
With the melting snow still up high, there was flowing water everywhere you stepped, including this nice little chute.
Even more logging road/snowmobile trail goodness which made it quite a bit easier for me to get up to the summit of Winslow Ledge.
Another snowmobile trail that makes a final push to the summit of Winslow Ledge.
Me standing by the summit register for Winslow Ledge (elevation: 2260 feet).
The views through the trees and from a ledge just below the summit of Winslow Ledge looking towards Moose Mountain.
A view of the Holts Ledge ski area, with snow on its ski slopes still, and Bear Hill as I was heading back down to the car through open woods.
There were open woods for pretty much the whole hike and on the bushwhack. There are lots of old logging cuts, as the pricker bushes were still a nuisance.
Looking down from the top of the ski lift area of Winslow Ledge. It was actually easier to walk down the still hard pack snow than it was to walk on the ground.
The views of nearby Holts Ledge with Bear Hill behind it as I almost down to the Dartmouth Skiway parking area.
It turned out to be a nice half day for a hike. As I was hiking down, it started to rain a little but it felt good since the temperature's were in the 70's. A few more weeks of warmer temperatures and we should be able to do the Smarts Mountain/Mount Cube sections of the AT before we hit the harder sections in the summer months.
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