Ritzhikes

Where: Callicoon NY When: 8/12-13/2023 With: Xeth & Chip On June 11, Xeth sent out this message: Hey, you boys have any interest in kayaking on the Upper Delaware this summer? I know it's a bit of a schlep. But  there's a cushy campsite in my backyard... Beeyooteeful river... There was general agreement, and about a month later we'd confirmed the weekend of August 12 & 13 for the gathering. Chip announced he'd be arriving a day early, in part because of the length of his drive, and Dave planned on a Friday evening arrival. I said I'd be there by mid-morning Saturday, figuring on leaving Hopkinton by 6AM. Both Chip & I mentioned early departures on Sunday, to get back for previous commitments. Friday night I got my car all packed up - changing my mind on several items over the course of the evening - and I pulled out of the driveway at 5:50AM. It was a 240 mile ride to Xeth's, but the majority of it was highway driving, mostly on Route 84 through Conn...

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: Appalachian Trail, Great Barrington MA When : 9/11-12, 2021 With : The Stupids (Chip, David, Xeth) Chip began lobbying last spring for a Stupids hike in early summer, with a vague thought of finding a trail in the Catskills. His back & neck required surgery however, and the hike was pushed out to September. The Catskills was still being considered as a destination, in part to save Xeth some driving and also because it was someplace new. The more we looked into it though, the more issues arose. Long drives for the rest of us, long walks on tough trails to get to a campsite, and bears. Lots of reports of bears. So we shifted our focus to a spot midway between Xeth and the rest of us, which turned out to be around the NY/CT/MA border in southwestern MA. We'd hiked in the area a couple of times before, along the South Taconic Trail, and enjoyed it. Both Chip & I had been in the area recently...me in 2020, hiking to the tri-state border marker, and Chip visiting and hikin...

Where: Farmington River, ColIinsville When: June 10-11, 2017 With: The Stupids Mar 24, David Bachrach email "A call to arms, or rather kayaks, “Back to Bugle” because Jack is no longer with us. When: June 9-11 Where: Collinsville U.S.A. (Next to the Dam)   Why: We all need this so don’t argue, “just do it” Who: The Mutual Stupids (of course) Please RSVP (or we will simply show up and kinap you)." And so it began. After 13 years, we were heading back to Collinsville and the Farmington River.  It was 22 years after we first visited, 21 years after our first camping trip on the river, and 20 years after we first camped at The Pool. We exchanged emails over the next few months, and at 8AM on Saturday, Chip arrived in my driveway. He’d offered to take care of the cooking duties this trip, so I left my cookpots, stove, kitchen tools, etc. behind. Actually, packing for this trip had been interesting. I hadn’t been camping in a long time, and I cut back to ...