Ritzhikes

Where: Mt. Monadnock When: 11/23/96 With: Solo It was a beautiful day on Mt. Monadnock. The late fall air was cool enough to keep the crowds away and make the hiking comfortable. Visibility was virtually unlimited, except for a slight haze that settled in as the day progressed. Mt. Washington's snow-covered mass was clearly evident to the northeast, as was Boston's skyline to the southeast. To the west and north, the ski slopes of Vermont presented their trails like advertisements, already covered with early season snow. I'd climbed for a number of reasons. First, it was a nice day and I had no other obligations. The chores were done and the family was otherwise occupied. Second, this climb had been on my to-do list for some time. The last time I'd climbed had probably been 10 years ago, when I journeyed up from Boston with a car full of friends and a lot of youthful male enthusiasm. After climbing to the top, we ran down, terrorizing others on the heavily travele...

Where: Charles River above Bellingham When: 11/02/96 With: Solo Last Spring, I'd paddled the first of four sections of the Charles River, as listed in the AMC River Guide for Massachusetts. My journey had started in Bellingham and continued downstream to Medfield. Above Bellingham, said the guide, the river really wasn't worth paddling. Nonetheless, I wanted to check it out. My opportunity came on a Saturday following an overnight gathering of the B.U.M.S.. Jane and Andy had wisely gone to Maine the previous evening and weren't due back until late in the evening. When the guys all cleared out around 10:30AM, I found myself with time on my hands, so I tossed the Keowee on the car and headed to Bellingham. My put-in spot was a small pond above a broken dam, just upstream of where I'd started my journey downstream in the Spring. The day was cool, but not too cold, and the water was moderately high from a recent rain. I got the boat into the water pretty quickly and...