Ritzhikes

Where: Cascade Brook Trail, NH When: 1/29/94-1/30/94 With: Chip The previous year's aborted attempt to reach Kinsman Shelter (after I fell through the ice at a stream crossing) virtually ensured that we would try the same route again this year. We were confident that we had learned from our past mistakes and knew what to do to reach our goal. First job - get an early start up the trail and use a shorter route. I got up at 6:30, was on the road at 7, and at Chip's around 8:15. Within a short time we were driving north. We'd planned carefully and had everything we needed, so there would be no stops, not even for alcohol - a first! Everything went fine, until we reached the base of the Basin-Cascades trail (which was 0.3 miles shorter than the previous route we'd taken). The parking lot on the east side of the highway was unplowed. We continued north for quite a ways until finally finding a spot to turn around. We stopped at the west side lot and found it was also sno...

Where: Siamese Ponds, Adirondacks When: 8/14/93-8/15/93 With: Bill, Tom Another Ritz Brothers hike. I was up at 5:30, on the road at 6:00, at Bill's at 8:20, in Delmar to pick up Tom at 9:00, and on the road at 9:30 heading north. We hit the trailhead at 11:00 and found a lot of vehicles parked there. That was a bit of a concern, but it didn't change our mind about the hike. We all did a bit of load lightening, removing stuff from our packs, and then started the hike. The trailhead sign said 5.8 miles to the pond, which seemed reasonable. There was a short uphill to start, then downhill a bit, then a level walk next to river. A recent rain brought out a nice variety of fungi - lobster mushrooms, white coral-like fungus, and others. We also spotted a woodcock along the way. It was a warm, partly cloudy day and the walking was pleasant. Despite all the cars at the trailhead, we didn't run into too many other people on the trail. There was a dayhiker with dog, but th...

Where: Mt. Bemis When: June 1992 With: Solo The intent of this trip was to find the now-unmaintained former trail up Mt. Bemis, follow it to the top, bushwhack across to Mt. Nancy, and then descend to the campsite at the outlet of Norcross Pond to spend the night. I drove up under threatening skies, taking the Kancamaugus Highway to Bear Notch Road and then over to the trail head. Just as I arrived at the trailhead, the skies opened up. I packed up in a downpour, using the hatch of my car for cover, and then started walking. This was my third time up this trail, so it wasn't unfamiliar and I quickly settled into an easy pace. A little ways along, I met two women, travelling in the opposite direction. In comparison to my full foul weather gear, they were wearing shorts, gaiters, and raincoats. Probably a better choice of clothes for the warm weather. They mentioned that they were heading out because they hadn't brought a tent, not expecting the rain. We chatted a bit and...

Where: Cascade Brook Trail, NH When: 2/27/93-2/28/93 With: Chip After cancelling in January due to lack of snow, the White Mountains got something like 7 feet of snow in February, so up we went. We hit the parking lot at 9:30 and were on the trail by 10. We both had snowshoes (Chip rented a pair of Sherpas - metal frames...mine were wooden Iversons) and skis. My ski boots turned out to work just fine in the snowshoe bindings, so I left my Bean boots in the car to save weight. Mistake #1. After clumping along a well-worn access path, we made it to the main trailhead but almost missed it because it was untraveled. Despite the lack of a well-worn path, we decided to follow the trail anyway. "Hey," we said, "we've got snowshoes. How hard can it be to break trail?" Mistake #2. What a pain that was! 100 yards in and we were already talking about turning back. Just completely exhausting. And when we'd stop to rest, the cold would settle in and in no time we...

Where: Oxbow Pond, Pharaoh Lake area, Adirondacks When: July, 1992 With: Bill, Tom Jane and I were living in a rental house, having sold the house in Holliston and being unable to move into the new place in Hopkinton just yet. Despite plans to the contrary, I hadn't been camping all season. Jane was pregnant, we sold a house and bought a house...things happened. I'd managed a day trip up Mt. Washington but that was it. So I was talking with Bill and he mentioned he and Tom had found a neat place to go camping. I said, "Let's go!" A week later, I was on my way to Albany. We met up at Bill's place, piled all the gear into Tom's truck, and headed north. I seem to remember some problem with Tom's truck along the way, but eventually we arrived at the area. There was a long dirt access road to be dealt with first, and a stream crossing but after a bit we found ourselves in a somewhat crowded parking lot. I think there was good access to a lake there, s...

Where: Mt. Washington When: June 27, 1992 With: Solo I wanted to climb Mt. Washington, so I looked in the White Mountain guidebook to see what routes were available. The book said the Huntington Ravine trail was the most difficult trail in the White Mountains, so that settled it. If I was going to climb the highest mountain in the Northeast, I was going to take the hardest route! The main reason for the difficulty rating was the exposure. The route was very strenuous, to be sure, but it was the open, unprotected climbing near the top of the ravine that earned it its rating. I got an early start and drove straight to the mountain, up 93 to the Kancamagus Highway and then cutting over on Bear Notch road to avoid North Conway. The weather at the base was warm and sunny, and there were a fair number of people and cars there. I packed up my daypack, checked out the Pinkham Lodge facility, and then headed up the trail. Given the popularity of the route and the area, it was no surpris...

Where: Cedar Brook Trail to Wilderness Trail When: February, 1992 With: Chip Three years ago, with Dave, we had done this hike and enjoyed it so much we wrote a song about it. When we talked of great hikes, that one came up first. So naturally, Chip and I decided it was worth a revisit. We had planned to go several weekends before we finally did go, but the weather forced us to change our plans. The winter was odd, with rare snowfalls followed by pouring rain and then sub-zero temperatures. The weekend we went was more of the same, but we convinced ourselves to try anyway. To save time, we bought all our food and alcohol ahead of time and just headed north. Chip insisted on a stop at the NH liquor store anyway, but it was only a short stop and soon we were at the Kancamagus Highway. There had been no snow on the ground most of the way up and the thin covering we saw now was topped with a sheet of ice. We feared we might have to cancel our plans. When we got to the trailhead, the...