Ritzhikes

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...

Where: Mt. Jefferson (5712') When: 9/24/2024 With: Solo The weather and my schedule lined up, so I headed to New Hampshire for the second Tuesday in a row. My destination this time was Mt. Jefferson, the next 4000 footer north of Mt. Washington in the Presidential Range. I'd thought I might get it last year  when I climbed Mt. Monroe , but I also climbed Mt. Washington on that trip and had nothing left in the tank for Jefferson. It's a unique 4000 footer. The most popular route, the Caps Ridge trail, begins high on the mountain and it's just a 2767' climb to the 5712' summit. It's also only 2.5 miles from the trail head to the top, but it's a tough 2.5 miles. I pulled into the lot off the unpaved Jefferson Notch Road after a three hour drive, joining two other vehicles already in the lot. A man got out of the pickup truck next to me and began packing up as well. Though the temperature was barely 50 degrees, I stowed my North Face sweater in my pack and w...

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 ...

Where: Mt. Wachusett When: 14 August, 2024 With: Pete Johnson I'd mentioned the trails at Mt. Wachusett to my neighbor, Pete, and he was interested in checking them out. We met up while walking our dogs one morning and, having perfect weather and open schedules, decided to go. My new Subaru Crosstrek needed break-in miles, so I offered to drive. We took the Harrington Trail for our hike. Mid-day and mid-week, so there weren't a lot of folks joining us. We checked out the viewpoint near the top, then proceeded to the summit. There was a bit of haze, so Boston and the peaks in the distance (Monadnock) weren't visible. A group of special needs students were enjoying the view from the towers when we arrived, but soon departed, and we had the peak mostly to ourselves. For the return trip, we followed the Mountain House, Jack Frost, High Meadow, and Echo Lake trails to get to the base, then walked the road back to the car.

Where: West River, Upton MA When: 6/12/2024 With: Solo I've crossed this river many times on my way to/from Uxbridge, and noted the parking area at the crossing. Finally the opportunity came to check it out in my kayak. The water level was a bit low, but not too bad for navigation. The water was kind of brown and murky though, and smelly. Not the most inviting waterway I've been on. I decided to head upstream to start, and to see how far I could get. A small pond seemed like a good goal. The river twisted and turned as it went, and several times I was convinced I was coming into dead end. Each time though, the channel appeared - usually off to one side - and I was able to continue. A great blue heron kept me company, taking off and flying upstream ahead of me as I approached. Lots of other birds too, including red-winged blackbirds. Though the river itself wasn't especially nice, the surroundings were. The waterway passed through a wide, marshy area, with tall reeds lining ...

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...

Where: Sudbury River, Fruit St. to Cedar Swamp Pond When: 4/28/2024 With: Sterling Worrell Sterling is a photography teacher at the high school, and runs a drone club there. We've connected a few times about using drones to document trails, or locating waterfalls to photograph. At some point he mentioned an interest in paddling up the Sudbury, and I told him I'd done it several times, so we began to make plans to go. I'd tried to paddle up in 2019 , but was stopped by heavy brush in the waterway above the beaver dam near Cedar Swamp Pond. Since then I've wanted to make another try at it. There were problems though. First, the road bridge by my put-in spot was being rebuilt, and access was limited. Further upstream, a huge construction project was beginning where the river crosses under the Mass Pike and Route 495, and I was concerned that access there would be impacted.  Both access concerns turned out to be unfounded, but a new problem emerged. A large beaver dam had ...

Where: Mt. Wachusett state reservation When: 3/22/2024 With: Wilma There was a recent post on one of the Views From The Top hiker forums about Mt. Wachusett , and I commented that my dog & I had walked most of the trails. That's true, but in addition to the trails, Wachusett has several unimproved (dirt) roads. I've crossed them often on the trails, and have wanted to follow them some day. Today was that day. Wilma & I made the quick drive to the trail head and began our walk on the Administration Road. We'd walked part of it on our last visit, entering from the Jack Frost trail and exiting on Echo Lake Road, but today we'd walk the entire road. It was a wide path with a rough surface of crushed rock, and Wilma had to content herself with sniffing piles of leaves along the edges. We passed the junction with the West Road (which we'd be returning on), then a crossing of the Harrington Trail before arriving at a paved road and a picnic area. My map showed the...