Ritzhikes

Where: Mt. McGregor, Wilton NY When: July 1974 With: Saddle Lake summer camp staff I first recall taking swimming lessons when I was in elementary school in the mid-1960s, and by the summer of 1974 I had my Red Cross Water Safety Instructor certification. My mother ran a day care center for the Salvation Army in Albany NY, and heard about an opening for a life guard at the Army's summer camp in the Adirondacks, so at 16, I got my first "real" job. The camp was located in a bowl on the backside of Mt. McGregor, the easternmost Adirondack peak. Rough trails led from the camp up to the top of the ridge, and part of the orientation process for the camp staff involved an overnight hike up those trails.  I'd been in Scouting for several years, and had done a lot of hiking & camping. I'd even gone to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. So I was pretty comfortable in the woods. I only recall a handful of things from the hike. The first is an od...

Where: Outskirts of Delmar When: Sometime in the 70s With: Solo Heading out of Delmar, past the high school toward Clarksville, Route 443 quickly turns wooded and rural. Dipping down to streambeds and then climbing again, it's a far different road from its Delaware Avenue identify in the center of town. Side roads head to farms and elsewhere, and in between...not much. Bill & Tom and I explored there a good bit, swinging on vines in the deep stream cuts and wandering through the woods. One spot was particularly interesting, for it had a small, shallow pond in its midst. Unseen from the road, the water rested in a hollow between two hills. At some point on our visits, it occurred to me that animals probably gathered at the water for food and drink. Knowing that the best time to see any wildlife was early in the morning, I decided to camp out in the area for a night. I had my brother drive me out there, and brought my bicycle along for transport home the next day. I hid t...

Where: Philmont Scout Ranch, NM When: Summer 1972 With: Boy Scouts I first learned of this trip the previous summer, while attending the Boy Scout summer camp at Stratton Mt. in Vermont. Philmont was the ultimate hiking goal for any Scout and I set my sights on participating. I don't recall all of the details, but there was significant expense involved and we probably had a variety of fundraisers, etc. throughout the intervening year. Ultimately my maternal grandmother contributed a large portion of the necessary funds. The contingent travelling to Philmont consisted of Scouts from a number of Troops in the area. There were only one or two others from my Troop...everyone else was a stranger. To get to New Mexico the organizers chartered two motorcoaches and planned a route that would take us past some of the more significant sights in America. Each night we'd stay at a high school, Armory or something to keep the expenses down. All told, the entire trip probably lasted abou...

Where: Vermont, Long Trail from Bennington to Stratton Mt. When: Summer 1971 With: Boy Scouts I'd been in Scouting for several years and had participated in numerous camping trips in all seasons, but all of those outings involving driving to the camping area and carrying our gear from the car to the campsite. This hike was (I believe) my first backpacking trip. The initiating event was a stay at the Boy Scouts' Stratton Mountain summer camp (at least a week, maybe two). A number of us from our Troop were going and one of the leaders suggested backpacking to the camp from Bennington, VT. I must have thought it sounded like a good idea because I wound up as part of the group. I really don't recall a huge amount of detail of the hike, but I do have a few distinct memories: * My gear was antiquated, to say the least. I probably wore yellow leather workboots and carried a heavy rectangular official Boy Scout sleeping bag. Mostly I remember my backpack. It was an Army s...