Ritzhikes

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...

Where: Massachusetts Bay When: 6/16/00-6/18/00 With: Seth & Chip The time had come for another Stupid camping trip. The previous five years we had gathered in Collinsville, CT for a couple of days of kayaking down the Farmington River, with an overnight stay in the woods along the river. Very pleasant, very relaxing, and we'd had an incredible streak of good luck with the weather each year. It was the same trip each year though, and the last year we'd been hassled a bit about our admittedly illegal camping spot on someone's private property, so we were thinking about trying something new. As luck would have it, Seth hit it big with some of his animation and offered to fund something a bit more ambitious. His suggestion was to rent a sailboat and go for an ocean cruise. He & Chip had enjoyed a good amount of sailing in their youth, and it seemed like a good step up from the kayaks. Chip, a skilled and experienced sailor, was thrilled with the idea. I had very l...

Where: Imp Shelter, Carter ridge When: 3/11-3/12, 1998 With: Brian White, Brad Hennemuth Buoyed by our success last year, the Crag Camp Crew started to make plans for another winter trip. After a bit of discussion we decided to head for the Carter range, just across the valley from Mt. Washington. The area offered some challenging hiking and spectacular scenery. Instead of an enclosed cabin, this year we’d be roughing it a bit more. Brian was interested in spending a night in a tent above tree line, and even went so far as to purchase a 4-man mountaineering tent. The plan was to spend the first night at Imp shelter, an open front shelter between Mt. Moriah and the Carters. The second day we’d hike the ridge south to Mt. Hight, where we’d set up the tent camp. The third day would be a short hike down to Carter hut, for a rest day in relative comfort, and the final day would be a hike out over the Wildcat ridge. Some tough hiking, but all doable. We made plans to go during the Ma...

Where: Mt. Garfield, NH When: 3/11/95-3/12/95 With: Chip After our success on Mt. Kinsman, Chip was raring for another winter hike so we started to look at the maps. I suggested the Garfield Trail to Mt. Garfield. I'd been up in that area about 10 years ago and have always thought the shelter up there - perched on the ridge - would be an interesting place to stay. The walk in would be very similar to our last hike. A gentle approach, then a steep climb to a high ridge and a shelter for the night. One difference though...instead of hiking back out the way we came in, I proposed that we ski out on a different route, along the Franconia Brook trail and the Wilderness trail, going straight south on a couple of old railroad beds. It would be a long ski (8+ miles), but Chip and I had been on the trails long ago and we thought we recalled them to be flat and smooth...very skiable. To do this required a couple of things. First, snow. There hadn't been enough to ski on in January,...