Ritzhikes

Where: Crow Hill, Leominster State Forest MA When: December 24, 2025 With: Solo Crow Hill, just east of Mt. Wachusett, has been on my radar for some time. It has cliffs used by rock climbers and military groups for training, and I've looked at the trails nearby for mountain biking. A recent post by an AMC group of their hike there brought it to mind again, so when I felt the need for some trail time, I had my destination set. There was some familiarity as I approached and pulled into the Rocky Pond parking lot. I'd been here before, snowshoeing with a neighbor many years ago. There was only 2-3" of snow on the ground today, so snowshoes weren't needed this time, but I pulled on microspikes before setting off. My plan was for a loop route suggested online, climbing up and over the Crow Hill ledges before returning on forest trails back to the parking lot. I was the first traveler on the Sawyer Run Trail, putting fresh footprints in the snow. I could've bare-booted i...

Where: Mt. Wachusett When: December 4, 2025 With: Solo I was in need of some trail time, but a long ride/full day trip to the White Mountains wasn't in the cards. A quick run over to Mt. Wachusett was in order. A storm earlier in the week had dropped about a half a foot of snow, and I wasn't quite sure what to bring for traction so I brought both spikes and snowshoes. There were about half a dozen cars at the Echo Lake Trail trail head when I arrived, mostly parked along the road. I checked out the snow depth and figured I'd be okay with microspikes, but carried the snowshoes anyway, just in case. After a quick chat with other hikers who'd just arrived, I set out for the short (half mile) walk down the road to the Harrington Trail. The trail showed signs of travel, but only boots...no snowshoes. I slipped the spikes on and began the hike. The snow wasn't especially packed down - it seemed like only a few folks had walked the trail since the storm - but the snow was ...