Ritzhikes

Where: Collinsville, CT When: 9/9/95-9/10/95 With: Chip, David, Seth This was an...unusual trip. It was decided that a Mutually Stupid camping trip was needed. Since Seth had recently moved to Collinsville, Connecticut, and none of us had been down to see his new digs, it seemed like a good idea to go there and find a place to hike in that neck of the woods. Seth was contacted and agreed to be there when we showed up and plans were made to have Chip and David meet at my house for the beginning of the journey. All was well until the night before the trip. Chip called to say that his neck was acting up and he was in bad shape, and Dave had a bad back and was unlikely to join us. I was also less than 100%, though I can't recall what the problem was. So there we were, a bunch of old guys complaining about our aches and pains! The next morning, the phone rang and it was Dave, bowing out. I told him I understood but mentioned that none of us seemed up for major effort. In fact,...

Where: Lake Lila, Adirondacks When: 8/25/95-8/27/95 With: Bill, Tom Back in the spring, Tom twisted his ankle while fishing, so when we started discussing plans for our annual Ritz Brothers camping trip, I suggested a canoe trip, to minimize the amount of hiking. I volunteered my Old Town 158 canoe and left it to Bill to choose a destination. He quickly came up with two possibilities. One was a trip he and Tom had done before, involving a paddle across one lake and then a 1/2-mile portage to another lake. The other was a new destination, Lake Lila. A short (0.3-mile) portage directly to the lake, but there were reports of extensive damage resulting from a severe windstorm in July. One person had been killed and trees were apparently down throughout the area, so it wasn't clear if we'd been able to either get in or find a spot to camp. Bill planned to contact the ranger for the area to get home details. While Bill was gathering info on the area, I was thinking about the eq...

Where: Mt. Garfield, NH When: 3/11/95-3/12/95 With: Chip After our success on Mt. Kinsman, Chip was raring for another winter hike so we started to look at the maps. I suggested the Garfield Trail to Mt. Garfield. I'd been up in that area about 10 years ago and have always thought the shelter up there - perched on the ridge - would be an interesting place to stay. The walk in would be very similar to our last hike. A gentle approach, then a steep climb to a high ridge and a shelter for the night. One difference though...instead of hiking back out the way we came in, I proposed that we ski out on a different route, along the Franconia Brook trail and the Wilderness trail, going straight south on a couple of old railroad beds. It would be a long ski (8+ miles), but Chip and I had been on the trails long ago and we thought we recalled them to be flat and smooth...very skiable. To do this required a couple of things. First, snow. There hadn't been enough to ski on in January,...

Where: Mt. Kinsman Trail to Kinsman Pond Shelter When: 1/21/95-1/22/95 With: Chip We decided well before the holidays that a winter hike was needed as soon after the New Year as possible. The next question was where? Tradition dictated that we attempt once again to reach Kinsman Pond, our as-yet-unattained goal of the previous two year's winter hikes (a.k.a. Hell & High Water I & II). Chip had some other ideas though. A man he met at a swimming pool turned out to be an avid winter hiker. In fact, this guy (Dick) had a house up in the area we usually go. They exchanged stories of winter adventures and Dick told of ski trips on Mt. Moosilauke, so Chip thought that might be a good idea for a winter expedition. I was somewhat less than enthusiastic though, so Chip looked at some maps to see some of the other places Dick was describing. He noticed a trail going up Mt. Kinsman from the west (the Mt. Kinsman trail) which had a secondary summit at its midpoint and asked Dick ab...