Ritzhikes

Where: RMC Crag Camp, Mt. Adams When: 3/24-3/27, 1997 With: Brian White, Brad Hennemuth, Jim DeLuco This hike began to form in late 1996, when Brian started recruiting for a winter trip to the Northern Presidentials. He'd tried to organize a similar trip the previous year on short notice, but was unable to pull it together so he figured that the long lead-time might yield more success. Though I'd never hiked with Brian before, my winter camping experience got me on the invitee list and the time frame he was suggesting - mid to late March - fit right in with my annual birthday vacation, so I signed up. Brian proposed a trip to one of the shelters run by the Randolph Mountain Club. His preference was Crag Camp, an unheated enclosed cabin on the rim of King Ravine. Second choice was Grey Knob, a heated cabin with a caretaker, though in a less spectacular location. The other two, The Log Cabin and The Perch, were both open shelters and thus fell to the bottom of the preferenc...

Where: Bondcliff Trail When: 3/15-16, 1997 With: Chip This was our second attempt to reach Guyot Shelter. Last year's effort was thwarted by an odd, late January rainstorm. This year had its own set of troubles. Just getting started proved to be a big problem. Our original date was January 25-26, but the Patriots made it to the Superbowl and Andy had a birthday party to attend so we pushed it off a week. The next week arrived and I cancelled at the last minute, for a variety of reasons. Heavy snow in the mountains, lots of things going on at home and at work...my heart just wasn't in it. A week or so later, my head had cleared and we came up with date #3, the first weekend in March. Unfortunately, the combination of a rainy forecast and a case of the flu for Chip resulted in yet another postponement. And so we found ourselves heading into the mountains on the Ides of March, hoping for a better fate on that date than poor Caesar. This would be our last chance to get in a...