Ritzhikes

Where: Three Ponds When: 8/29/01 - 8/30/01 With: Jane, Andy, Ruby I'd long promised (threatened?) Jane that I'd take her backpacking sometime, and that time had come. We had a week vacation and I watched the weather forecasts to find two nice days to spend in the woods. For a destination I selected a spot I'd taken Andy previously, a relatively short, level (more on that later) walk to a nice secluded pond in the southern Whites. Not too far a drive, not too hard a walk. There was even a shelter there, just in case we needed it. I had the supplies all assembled and we packed up the gear the morning of the big day. I had the bulk of the equipment (tent, two sleeping bags, cooking gear, etc.) in my big Lowe Contour pack, Andy's pack had mostly his clothes and some toys & books, and the rest of the stuff went into a never-used sky blue external frame pack I'd bought for Jane years ago. We loaded everything and everyone into the car and left the driveway aroun...

Where: Black Mountain Pond When:8/11/01-8/12/01 With: Chip, Dave After six years on the water, it was time for the Stupids to go back to the woods. Invitations were extended to all, and only Seth sent his regrets. We were aiming for low-stress, so we picked Black Mountain Pond as a destination. A short, easy walk to a hidden campsite we'd discovered many years before. We took our time getting going, gathering at Chip's house mid-morning and hitting the road north around 10AM. We made the usual liquor store stop and briefly considered a bottle of Mescal before settling for some citrus-flavored vodka. A second stop was made in Concord, where Dave & I hit the grocery store for additional food (lunches, more pasta) while Chip ran over to a camping store in search of a hammock (both Dave & I had brought ours). No hammock was available, so he bought a bottle of red wine instead. It was an uneventful ride from there up to Squam Lake. We made our way around the lake and t...