Ritzhikes

Where: Wachusett Mountain When: October 14, 2019 With: Andy & Wilma A spur of the moment hike. We were all home, with nothing scheduled, and Jane needed some quiet time for gardening homework, so I convinced Andy to join me & Wilma for a climb up Wachusett Mountain. It was a beautiful fall day, with perfect weather. It was also the Columbus Day holiday, so I was a bit concerned about crowds.  I aimed for a parking area & trail on the west side of the mountain, figuring the casual walkers would be on the other side. There were plenty of cars there, but we slipped into a spot right at the trail head and began our walk. This was a route I did with Wilma previously, following the Stage Coach Road to the Harrington Trail to get to the summit. We crossed paths with a number of folks, both coming & going, but it wasn't all that busy. A lot of people had dogs as well. The hike began with moderate climbing at first. It passed the wind turbines, then entered the fores...

Where: Mt. Monadnock When: August 23, 2013 With: Andy A Friday day hike, so I must have taken the day off from work. I took Andy up this peak for his first mountain hike  in 1998. He was now heading into his final year at UConn, and I guess I figured it was time for a return visit. I don't recall too many details. I think we took the same route as last time, Lost Farm to Cliff Walk to White Arrow for the ascent. As always on Monadnock, there were lots of other folks on the mountain with us, but it wasn't a problem. We made our way to the summit without any trouble, took the usual photos, then returned via one of the main trails (probably White Dot). More photos

Where: Hidden Valley Scout Reservation, NH When: July 3-9, 2005 With: Andy & the Scouts (and Chip) Andy's final year at Boy Scout summer camp, and the end of his Scouting career. When it was time to join up again in the fall, he decided he'd had enough. Interesting side note: Andy's Scoutmaster asked me during the summer to help plan a fall hike for the troop in the White Mountains. I put together plans for a trip to the 13 Falls Campsite in the Pemigewasset Wilderness, but had to just pass them along with my apologies when Andy left the troop. I used the drop-off at camp as an opportunity to get in a quick overnight in the Sandwich mountain range, just north of Squam Lake, and I invited Chip to join me. I don't remember if Donny came along that year and rode up with us, and I have no pictures from the camp. The only photos were taken at home, before our departure. In the first one, Andy is flipping me off behind my head! More photos

Where: Hidden Valley Scout Reservation, NH When: July 4-10, 2004 With: Andy & the Scouts Andy's second year at summer Scout camp. I drove him up, then just came home. At the end of the week, Jane came with me to get him and we visited Weirs Beach for lunch and the arcades before going home. More photos

Where: Mts. Welch & Dickey, NH When: 10/11/03 With: Andy, Jane, Brian, Audri, Sidni, Jeff I had responded to Brian's call for hikers at work and his first trip was the famous Welch-Dickey loop. It's well-known as a popular hike for beginners, with a short distance (4.4 miles), moderate climbing and great views, but I've never done it. Other than a hike up Mt. Cardigan long ago I haven't done any day hikes in the White Mountains. If I go up there I go for the weekend, and this trail is only a 1/2 day walk. Still, I've wanted to check it out and this seemed like a good opportunity. I even convinced Jane & Andy to join me. We got an early start Saturday morning and arrived at the trailhead at 9:30, getting one of the last spots in an obviously new parking area. Quite a few other folks landed about the same time and they all packed up and started on the trail while we awaited the arrival of the rest of our group. Brian had arranged to meet Audri and Sidni a...

Where: Pemigewassett Wilderness, Wilderness Trail When: 9/26-9/28, 2003 With: Hopkinton Boy Scout Troop 1 Throughout Andy's Cub Scout career I was an active parent, but never served in any official capacity. When he joined Boy Scouts I hoped to become an assistant Scout Master and participate on as many trips as possible but that didn't work out. Schedule conflicts kept me on the sidelines and Andy went on the trips on his own. When this year's schedule came out though, I noticed a backpacking trip in the White Mountains and decided to sign up as a parent volunteer. I knew the area well and welcomed the opportunity to get out hiking. It worked out well, because two Scout Masters were the only other adults participating. We gathered at the usual meeting area Friday night and drove north in three vehicles. Most of the kids were in the Scout Master's (Randy) huge van and the assistant Scout Master (Pat) had another crew in his car. I had Andy and one other boy in my ...

Where: Hidden Valley Scout Reservation When: July 6-13, 2003 With: Andy, Donny, and the Scouts Andy's first year at summer Scout camp. Hidden Valley is in Gilmanton Iron Works, NH. It's your basic Scout camp - tents, a lake, trails, facilities for various activities, etc. I drove the boys up, intending to do a quick dump & run before heading off to explore the trails nearby, but wound up spending time helping the boys get their gear to their camp and getting things set up. Especially the bug nets that had to be hung over each boy's cot. Eventually everything was all set and I left the boys in the hands of their leaders for the week. More photos

Where: Camp MacGregor, VT When: October 26-27, 2002 With: Andy & the Boy Scouts As part of the transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, Webelos (advanced Cubs) were invited to join Hopkinton's Troop 1 for a weekend at Camp MacGregor in Guilford VT. The camp had been acquired in a land swap with EMC Corp., in exchange for a property on South Street in Hopkinton. The camp was named after a long-time Hopkinton Scout leader, Pete MacGregor. We drove up Saturday morning, taking Route 2 across the state and 91 north into Guilford. I don't recall having any trouble finding the camp or the troop. We settled in pretty quickly, setting up the tent and such. I'd brought our big family tent for some reason, perhaps figuring the extra room would be nice. Afterward, I just hung out while Andy did stuff with the other Scouts. The site had formerly been a slate mining operation, and the troop went on a walk at one point through the remains of the mine.  Eventually it was dinner time. ...

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: Hopkinton State Park When: September 30-31, 2000 With: Andy & the Cub Scouts This is an annual event for the Hopkinton Cub Scouts. They rent out the Split Rock picnic area and get permission to camp overnight. The Cub Scouts and their families come, set up tents, and spend the weekend with various activities. We planted some bushes (environmental awareness), installed a new flag pole, went on several walks on the trails, then had dinner and a campfire before settling in to our tents for the night. The next morning everyone cleared out pretty quickly to get to church and other activities. More photos

Where: Westfield River, Indian Hollow When: 8/12/00-8/13/00 With: Andy, Chip, Brian, Jason Chip & I had long talked about taking the boys out for a combined camping trip. The trick would be careful planning and selection of destination. Brian and Jason had done a lot of hiking and some camping, but never any backpack camping. Andy had a few years of backpacking under his belt but still wasn't up for a major mountain assault. In the end we decided to go back to Mr. Beaver's Paradise, a small rocky gorge along the Westfield River in Western Massachusetts. It was nearby and the walk from the car was short and level. The gorge itself was pretty neat, with a deep pool, a rope swing and some tall cliffs, and there were several good tent spots. We picked a mutually acceptable date and met at our house to begin the journey. I had been watching on-line river gauges all week and noticed the river level was high but acceptable. Our route required two river crossings and high wat...

Where: Camp Resolute, Bolton, MA When: October 22-23, 1999 With: Andy & the Cub Scouts This was a Father/Son "getting to know you" overnight at a local Scout camp for new Cub Scouts. Just a 15 minute drive North on 495. Things started Friday evening, so Dads arrived with their sons after work. We parked and found our way to the camping area without too much trouble, and proceeded to set up our tent. One Dad arrived well after dark with a brand-new tent, still in the box, which his wife had handed him when he arrived home from work. We all pitched in the help him set it up. I don't recall any dinner activities, so we may have been told to eat at home. There was a campfire though. The next morning we had breakfast, then were on our own. The campfire and overnight had been the primary purpose of the event. Several other families left early to get back for things like soccer games. We hung out and explored the camp before heading home. More photos

Where: Three Ponds When: 8/7-8/8/99 With: Andy The trip started out on a dark note Saturday morning when I returned from retrieving the newspaper to find Andy standing at the bottom of the porch steps. "Daddy," he asked, "can we please not go camping?" He didn't have any specific reason...he just didn't want to go. It was hard to argue with that, since I've cancelled out on my share of trips too. Still, I thought there might be a chance of changing his mind so we continued to talk while we had breakfast. No change. "Okay," I said, "we don't have to go, but I'm going to pack up anyway, just to see how heavy the pack would be." So while he watched his Saturday morning cartoons, I packed the gear. I reasoned that seeing the packing would change his mind, and having everything packed would enable us to get out quickly when it did. Everything was nearly packed, and there was still no interest. That's when I brought out the ...

Where: Mt. Grace, MA When: 3/27/99 With: Andy While reading through some hike reports on the Internet, I spotted a report of a hike up Mt. Grace. It described it as one of Massachusetts' smaller mountains and indicated it might be a good hike for a small hiker. So I did a little research and when a day of warm weather presented itself, I threw Andy and some gear into the car and headed toward Orange, MA. As usual on my hikes with Andy, I overpacked a bit. Lots of extra snacks and emergency gear, extra clothes that we never need, etc. At the last minute I'd hauled an old, small polypro shirt of mine out for Andy so he wouldn't be out hiking in cotton. It was a little long in the sleeves for him, but it worked out just fine. He wound up hiking just in that for most of the day. We made it to the trailhead with no problems in about an hour and a half. Orange turned out to be prettier than I'd expected. I was used to real run-down old factory towns out in this part o...