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: Mt. Wachusett When: March 11, 2026 With: Solo Another "I need to get on a trail" hike. I'd missed an opportunity to go north to NH yesterday, so a short ride & hike at Wachusett was in order. I've been eyeing this hike for a week or so, and had the Westside trailhead parking already set up in my phone's navigation. I tossed my snowshoes into the car and off I went. The parking area was muddy, but plowed, and a truck was already there. I eyed the trail, trying to decide if it was worthwhile bringing the snowshoes. Then I noticed someone coming down the trail (the truck's owner). I asked him and he said there were some sections of deeper snow up above, so I kept the snowshoes lashed to my pack and started the climb. The trail was dirt and ice to start, and the Hillsound spikes I was wearing were helpful. There was a short, steep, rocky climb right away, followed by a more level section with a good amount of snow. It had the remnants of a snowshoe mono...

Where: Duck Pond Trail When: March 8, 2026 With: Solo I was determined to not let this winter end without at least one more XC ski trip. After many years with little/no snow at all, we had an oversupply this season. So much, in fact, that skiing on ungroomed trails was almost impossible. A group of us packed down some trails after one of the first significant storms, and I got out to ski on those. Then another storm came through and all of our hard work was buried. Propelled by an upcoming Trails Club walk, I walked the Duck Pond trail at Hopkinton State park in snowshoes, just to check the conditions. The trail started out as a packed footpath - a bit rough at first, then fine - before turning into a snowmobile track. Wide, smooth, well packed down. That lasted until an intersection where the trail split off from the snowmobile track. The trail after that was unbroken. Somewhat reluctantly, I set off on it, breaking the path with my snowshoes. I lost the route a couple of times, but f...

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 ...

Where: Owlshead (4025 ft.), Pemigewassett Wildness, Lincoln NH When: August 26, 2025 With: Solo After a 40 year journey climbing the 48 NH 4000 Footers, finally there was just one left - Owlshead.  Originally planned as a multi-day hike, for a number of reasons I decided to claim it with a day trip. I was out the door at 5AM and at the Lincoln Woods parking area on the Kancamagus Highway by 7:30. It had been the starting point for many of my adventures in the past, but I haven't been back there since 2003. I was on my way within minutes of arriving, crossing a suspension bridge over the Pemigewassett River to get to the Lincoln Woods trail, which runs along a former lumber railroad bed.  When I'd first walked it 40 years ago, it was named the Wilderness Trail. It followed the river upstream 5 miles to the Bondcliff Trail, then crossed the river on a second suspension bridge and continued another 4 miles upstream to  Stillwater Junction Things have changed since then. The ...

Where: Wildcat Ridge When: August 12, 2025 With: Solo I might have climbed these peaks in March 1998, when Brian, Brad & I set out to do a winter Carter-Wildcats traverse . I was recovering from strep though and bailed out after the first day/night. If I'd been actively working on the NH 4K list back then, I might have been inclined to push on, but it was just a hike with friends then. Fast forward to recent times and the 48 NH 4000 footers list . The peaks in the area east of Mt. Washington had become the final entries on my list (except Owlshead, which I was saving for last). Gradually, they were picked off until I had just the Wildcats left to climb. After considering several approaches to get them, I settled on  an out & back hike from the Wildcat Ski Area, using the ski trails to get to the Wildcat Ridge Trail. I 'd planned on a 5AM departure from home, but I was awake early, out the door by 4:15, and at the Wildcat Ski Area at 7:30. The day was forecast to be warm...

Where: Carter Range (Middle Carter, South Carter, Mt. Hight, Carter Dome), NH When: August 4, 2025 With: Steve In my quest to climb the 48 NH 4000' peaks, I needed the two Wildcats and the three Carters (I'm saving Owlshead for last). My neighbor, Steve, has been working on The Grid (each of the 48 peaks in every month), and he needed the Carters in August. I'd planned to get the Carters & the Wildcats in June, staying at the Carter Notch hut, but had to cancel when I caught a bad cold. Then I hoped to get the Wildcats in July, but it didn't work out either, so the Carters moved to the front of the line and  I asked if he wanted company for the hike. Our original plan was to go in two cars, leaving one at the 19 Mile Brook trailhead and driving the other to the Imp Trail. The day before the hike, Steve suggested taking just one car. We'd park at 19 Mile Brook, walk a short distance north on the highway, then cut through the Joe Dodge camp to the Imp Trail. That...

Where: Mt. Surprise (2159 ft.), Mt. Moriah (4049 ft.) - Gorham NH When: May 13, 2025 With: Solo 40 years ago, on the Pemi Loop hike when I summited my first 4000' NH peaks, I renamed Mt. Lafayette as "Soul Killer", because it kept offering false summits. Today I transferred that name to Mt. Moriah, for much the same reason, along with tough trail conditions. But I'm getting ahead of myself... I've had Moriah as my next NH 4000 footer to tackle for awhile now. At one point I was considering a multi-day traverse from Gorham to Pinkham Notch to claim six peaks (Moriah, the Carters, and the Wildcats), but I couldn't work out the logistics. Then the AMC offered a $99 deal for hut stays in June, so I booked space at the Carter Notch hut, figuring I could knock off the Wildcats and the Carters over the course of two days. If I could get Moriah done before then, I'd wind up with 47 of the 48 peaks climbed, with just Owlshead left. With June fast approaching, I ne...

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...