Ritzhikes

Where: Bishbash Falls, Alander Mountain When: Autumn, 1990 With: Chip and Dave As I waited for Chip and Dave to arrive, the phone rang. It was Dr. Ken Levy, in town for a visit with some friends. Chip had told him of our trip and Ken thought he might be able to convince his friends to come along. One problem though...no gear. Chip was able to supply a pack, but they were still short a sleeping bag. I volunteered one of mine and said I'd have Chip call when he arrived. Soon thereafter, Chip and Dave pulled up. Chip and Ken talked and decided to meet at the Turnpike entrance on 495. We drove there and waited just inside the tollbooths. While we waited, a van drove through and stalled out in the middle of the road. After a few moments, we decided to help and ran out to give him a push. He seemed a bit confused, but grateful for the help. We got him off the road and ran back to the car, just in time for Ken to pull up. We talked, we gave him the bag and directions to where we wer...

Where: Jose's Bridge, NH When: Summer, 1990 With: Stupid Society I had given all the members of the Stupid Society their very own copies of the White Mountain Guide book and maps, so I decided it was time for someone other than Chip and I to plan a hike. Seth and Dave conferred and came up with Flat Mountain Pond. Easy hike, not too far north...a good choice. We drove up on a nice summer day and without too much trouble we found the trailhead. Unfortunately, the parking area was filled with cars. We consulted the map and figured we could go in another way. We drove back to Bennett Street and followed it in. It soon turned to a rough dirt road and finally ended at a parking lot. We drank some beer, packed up and headed into the woods on the Bennett Street trail. According to the map, it would link up with the other end of the Flat Mountain Pond trail in a mile or so. The trail followed an old road at first and then turned into a footpath. It followed a stream the whole way and...

Where: Prospect Rock When: Summer, 1990 With: Bill, Tom The first (?) Ritz Brothers hike. I drove out to Albany Saturday morning and met up with Tom and Deb at Bill's house. Bill was out running a last minute errand, so Tom and I compared notes and waited for him. When he returned, we pulled out map books and started discussing places to go. I finally suggested Bourn Pond and Prospect Rock. The others confirmed, and we were off. We took my car and drove over to Vermont on route 7. Along the way, we stopped at a grocery store. Bill and Tom had come all supplied, but I needed a food stop. We continued on through Bennington before finally arriving in Manchester. I was jealous...the total trip, including the food stop, took only an hour and a half or so. My closest trailhead is 2.5-3.0 hours away. We stopped at a ranger station first and picked up some maps, then parked at the head of the Lye Brook trail. I remembered the time I'd gone on this route with Chip. It had seemed l...

Where: Peaked Hill Pond When: May, 1990 With: David, Lia A hike with Lia. She'd gone with David several times in the past, but this was the first time with any of the others from the B.U.M.S. (Brotherhood of Universal Mutual Stupidity, a.k.a. the Mutually Stupid Society). I consulted the map, looking for someplace close by, with something less than my usual Bataan Death March level of difficulty. I found Peaked Hill Pond. The trailhead was just off route 93, one exit past the Waterville Valley exit, near a motel on route 3. We found the access road easily and followed it under 93 and up a ways before it stopped at a gate, where we parked. We geared up and headed up the trail, an old woods road. As advertised, it was an easy walk on a nice early summer day, going through old orchards and meadows. Other than a tick Dave picked up while crossing one of the meadows, there were no problems. After going through some forest, we spotted the pond to our right and made our way down t...

Where: Osseo Trail When: March, 1990 With: Chip Another night hike, again in the rain. We drove up to the Wilderness trail on Friday night, intending to camp at the Osseo trail. The next day we planned to hike up in around Owlshead and find another spot to stay. With headlamps and rain gear on, we walked in and found the Osseo trail. We followed it in a bit and found a campsite near the stream. We set up the tents on top of a large groundcloth Chip had brought, which turned out to be a mistake. The ground cloth acted like a big dish, catching all the rain and collecting it in a pool under our tents. When we arose the next morning, most of Chip's gear was soaked. Since the woods were too, there was no chance of a fire to dry things out. We debated several options and decided to try to continue our hike as planned, figuring we might be able to find dry wood later on. We continued up the Wilderness trail and branched off on a trail on the west side of Franconia Brook. We decid...

Where: 13 Falls When: November 18/19, 1989 With: Chip The caterpillar hike. It started as just another autumn hike. Nothing difficult, just a walk into a new area. We planned to follow the Wilderness Trail in past Franconia Brook, and then onto the Franconia Brook trail. At the trailhead, while we packed, I discovered I'd brought along an unexpected companion. A woolly bear caterpillar, which we named Bob. He was in the car and I put him on my pack as we set off. The day was chilly, but we weren't uncomfortable as we walked. We found the Franconia Brook trail and headed into the woods. The trail followed an old rail bed at first, then went into a marshy area where we stopped for a bit. When we decided to continue, we realized we'd lost the trail. We poked around a bit before finally backtracking and locating the way. The trail had taken a turn we hadn't noticed. From there on the trail was pretty flat and easy to follow. It was a very pretty hike. The trail slabb...

Where: Alander Mountain When: June 3-4, 1989 With: Chip, Seth All the mountains are not in New Hampshire! According to the hiking books, there was some fine hiking in Western Massachusetts. I found some maps (one from an aerial photography outfit in the Norwood airport) and picked an area at the Mass/Conn/NY border. Chip picked up Seth, swung by my place and after stops for food and gas, we were off. An incident on the Turnpike turned out to be prophetic. Near Chicopee, we struck a bird in flight. No damage, but we figured it had to be an omen. The first sign of trouble was when we were off the Pike and searching for the trailhead. We couldn't find it. We wound up spending a couple of hours driving on backroads and stopping in stores to ask for directions. The folks there just didn't seem to realize that they had a trail system in their backyards. At one point, we drove up a dirt road high up the ridge and came out on some vacation homes on a lake. We found later that we ...