Welcome to Ritzhikes

Welcome!


I spent a lot of time outdoors when I was young. It was a time when moms would kick the kids out the door in the morning and expect them home when the light faded at the end of the day. I joined the Boy Scouts, explored the woods with my brothers, and generally got comfortable out there. I got out less for a time, then after college I began hiking again. Usually with one or more of my friends, sometimes on my own.

At some point I decided to start writing accounts of my journeys. The original intent was to help me remember waterfalls, scenic views, hidden campsites, etc.. They began as simple, sparse documents, but they evolved. They grew longer, and began including feelings, backstories, and more. The first generation were text documents, then I pulled them all together in a webpage, and now they're in a blog. 

Being me, I've tallied my hikes and created stats (see charts below). A slow start, then 20ish years of lots of hikes, then a gap. To use a cliche, life happened. I was out on the trails frequently, usually with my dog or another family member, sometimes with folks from the Hopkinton Trails Club. I just didn't see my two mile loops on the local trails as worthy of writing about. With retirement, the hikes have resumed, though with changes. Day hikes rather than overnights, mostly working on the NH 48 4K list, where I've got a 40 year target for completion.

We'll see where things go next.


Addendum: A few hikes, vaguely recalled, but without known dates:
  • Whitehaulin' - A day paddle on Lake Whitehall with Chip. The wind was howling, the water was choppy, and I wrote a song for it. Maybe early 2000s.
  • Walden Pond - A day hike in the woods around Walden Pond. Magic mushrooms were involved. Mid-1980s. Chip and maybe others?
  • Sudbury River - Mid-1980s day hike, with Chip. We wandered around in the woods somewhere. It may have been the Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge, or maybe not. I sort of remember large bunkers, formerly used to store ammunition.  Those are in the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. But that may have been another trip.
  • Whichever trip (again, mid-1980s) where this double-exposure photo was taken (possibly Middlesex Fells Reservation or Breakheart Reservation?): 







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Mt. Hale

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Where: Mt. Hale (4054'), NH When: 5/28/2024 With: Solo My original plan for this NH48 4K peak was an overnight loop - Haystack Road parking, North Twin trail, Fire Warden's trail, Lend-a-Hand trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur, North Twin trail. It would have tagged Hale, filled in an section of the Twinway that I missed when I took the Zeacliif trail in 1991 , and red-lined the North Twin Spur. At some point earlier this year my plans changed and I decided to claim Hale on a day trip, following a different loop. I can always do the overnight loop another time. The stars aligned and both my schedule and the weather forecasts were clear, so off I went. Out the door around 5:15, and at the Hale Brook Trail trail three hours later. Big storms had come through overnight, and a few lingering showers were around for my ride north, but there were also patches of blue sky. Two other cars were in the trail head parking lot when I arrived. I grabbed my pack and was on my way quickly. The o...
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Mt. Cabot

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Where: Mt. Cabot, NH (4170') When: 9/17/2024 With: Solo My alarm was set for 5:00, but I was wide awake at 4:00, and when Jane got up around 4:30 I decided to call it a night. I pulled out of the driveway a few minutes after 5:00, and was at the trail three and a half hours later. This was the first long trip (432 miles round trip) for my new Subaru Crosstrek, and  I'd had to delay this hike by a month or so while I put 1000 break-in miles on it. It did just fine though. There were two other cars in the lot when I arrived: a pickup truck with MA plates and a sedan with Virginia plates. A woman was by the sedan, packing up, and she started up the trail before I had a chance to say "good morning". The temperature was in the mid-50s, so I removed the North Face sweater I'd been wearing and stowed it in my pack, and left my puffy Patagonia jacket in the car. I took a photo of the trail head sign for the timestamp and was on my way. I decided to try something new this ...
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Mt. Madison & Mt. Adams

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Where: Mt. Madison (5367') & Mt. Adams (5793'), NH When: 10/3/2024 With: Solo I was already two hours into my drive north when dawn finally broke. I'd had a fitful night of sleep (as usual before a hike), and rolled out of bed 20 minutes before my 5AM alarm. I got on the road quickly and was at the Appalachia parking area three hours later. When I'd driven past Appalachia about the same time two weeks ago on my way to Mt. Cabot , it had been full, with cars overflowing onto the highway, but today there were plenty of open spaces. One other hiker was packing up to go, and he set off while I was getting ready. I was on my way up the Valley Way trail pretty quickly, a few minutes before 8:00, but never saw him again. A few steps along, I came to the junction with the bottom of the Air Line trail. Depending upon how I felt after climbing Mt. Madison, I might climb Mt. Adams as well and Air Line would be my return trail. Or I might just tag Madison and return down Valley...
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