Ritzhikes

Where: Mt. Cardigan, NH When: July 1, 2026 With: Chip On-line comments about the Holt Trail: The Holt Trail to Mt Cardigan's peak is considered one of the most difficult and dangerous hikes in New Hampshire The short but challenging Holt Trail hike up Mt. Cardigan can be harrowing in good weather and down-right dangerous in poor conditions. Tackling Mount Cardigan via the Holt Trail, a 4.7-mile loop with steep rock scrambles, is one of New England's toughest hikes I've never been so scared hiking until I met Cardigan's Holt Trail With the 48 NH 4000 footers done , I've turned my attention to the lower peaks. Some new for me (bypassed in favor of the 4K summits) and some I've climbed before. Cardigan is one of the latter. I climbed it in the mid-1980s (1985?), taking advantage of a new car that allowed me to venture beyond the bounds of Boston. My recollections of the hike are very sketchy though. Even the date is a guess. A recent post on-line mentioned the pea...

Where: Appalachian Trail in MA, CT/MA border to Sheffield Road When: 23-25 June, 2022 With: Chip Planning began in early April, initiated by Chip. He proposed a multi-day hike on the section of the Appalachian Trail where it crosses from Connecticut to Massachusetts, staying at AT shelters & campsites. I suggested a mid-week trip,  and Chip sent an email to The Stupids on April 15 proposing an 11.9 mile, three day/two night walk during the first week of June. David & Xeth didn't respond right away, but Chip & I continued to work on the details via email, figuring out where we'd park, where we'd camp, how long each day's walk would be, etc. We also moved the dates out a few weeks to avoid some schedule conflicts, while taking care to  avoid the annual "bubble" of AT thru-hikers coming up from Georgia. A little research had them arriving in early July. A second email was sent on May 10, with a map and a narrative description from a guidebook. Chip ad...

Where: Pillings Pond, Lynnfield MA When: 8 June, 2014 With: Chip  Chip invited me to his house for an afternoon of kayaking, horseshoe throwing, and hanging out. More photos

Where: Snake River, Taunton MA When: 15 September, 2013 With: Chip & Wilma Chip suggested this spot for a day paddle in our kayaks. We put in at a boat launch on a pond, then paddled up river a bit. More photos

Where: Mt. Monadnock When: October 25, 2008 With: Chip I don't remember anything about this hike, but there are pictures !

Where: Mt. Monadnock When: November 26, 2006 With: Chip I don't remember anything about this hike, but there are pictures !

Where: Flat Mountain Pond Trail When: 7/9-7/10, 2005 With: Chip This year's edition of Andy's week at the Hidden Valley Scout camp in Gilmanton NH began on the Sunday of a three day weekend (the Independence Day holiday was Monday), so I had an idea to drop him off and then run into the woods for a quick overnight. I recruited Chip to join in the trip and began researching places to go. The area just north of the camp (the Belknap Range) seemed like an interesting possibility for a destination. Very close by, and lots of area to explore. I'd run up Mt. Major for a dayhike after last year's drop-off and figured I could use that route as my entry point. The trail to the top of Major continued on over Straightback Mt., then disappeared into the wilderness. I searched the internet for info, looking for maps and descriptions. I also posted an inquiry on a New England hiking forum (Views From The Top) seeking advice. The responses I got indicated the area offered lots o...

Where: Kinsman Pond When: 2/23-24/02 With: Chip Back around the holidays I got the usual "Winter hike this year?" email from Chip, to which I replied, "Maybe." We chatted a bit and marked our traditional Superbowl weekend as a target date. We considered a number of routes and destinations and decided to revisit Kinsman Pond Shelter. Several years ago we'd made three attempts to reach it via various routes (the Hell & High Water series of hikes) before finally succeeding by coming in from the west. This time we planned to try a new route from the east, a direct line from the highway using the Lonesome Lake and Fishin' Jimmy trails. Only about 3.5 miles total distance, with a couple of 1000-foot climbs along the way. It fit our new criteria for winter hikes (shorter, easier routes) and offered a shelter and nice surroundings for the night. To make things interesting we figured we could return via a ridge walk to Cannon Mt., making the hike a loop and p...