Ritzhikes

Where: Charles River, Elm Bank (Wellesley MA) When: 3 May, 2014 With: Chip & Dave A gathering for some kayaking on the Charles River. Recent storms had the river running high, but we didn't have any problem. The Elm Bank reservation was chosen because it was pretty much the same distance from each of our houses. We met/parked at a lot a short distance in from the entrance, and discussed our plans. We either didn't know about the boat launch spot on the other side of the reservation or couldn't find it, and wound up carrying the boats down the road and though the woods to the river. We had a nice float downstream, and an easy paddle back up. More pictures

Where: Hopkinton Town Forest When: 9 March, 2014 With: Chip & Dave Some good snow, so I invited Chip & Dave to join me for some XC skiing on the trails outside my neighborhood. We headed in by The Cave, then followed the trail running parallel to 495. We made a stop at a couple of old, abandoned cars, then continued up into the Cameron Woods property. A fairly steep downhill was a bit more than we thought we could handle on a trail, so we cut across the slope into the woods before making our way back to a trail. From there, we went up behind Sylvan Way, then into Phipps' land. A side trail took us through a hemlock grove and back to the main trail, where we began heading back toward home. Chip & Dave groaned when they saw another hill looming ahead, but were relieved when I turned onto another side trail just before the ascent. That trail took us back to the start. More pictures

Where: Snake River, Taunton MA When: 15 September, 2013 With: Chip & Wilma Chip suggested this spot for a day paddle in our kayaks. We put in at a boat launch on a pond, then paddled up river a bit. More photos

Where: Neponset River, Canton MA When: 25 August, 2013 With: Chip & Dave I suggested this spot, the Signal Hill Reservation, for a kayak trip.  I'd checked it out on my lunch hours, running over from my office in Canton. A rock outcropping on the property was a known Native American site, and trails led to the Neponset River. We were able to drive our boats down to the river's edge, then brought the cars back to the parking area by the entrance before walking back to the river. We pretty much tossed a coin on which direction to paddle and wound up going upstream. We passed under Route 95 a couple of times as the river meandered along, and wound up in a wooded area. The water level was fairly low, and we eventually ran into a spot where it was difficult to continue. We turned the boats around and floated back to the launch site. More pictures

Where: Mt. Monadnock When: August 23, 2013 With: Andy A Friday day hike, so I must have taken the day off from work. I took Andy up this peak for his first mountain hike  in 1998. He was now heading into his final year at UConn, and I guess I figured it was time for a return visit. I don't recall too many details. I think we took the same route as last time, Lost Farm to Cliff Walk to White Arrow for the ascent. As always on Monadnock, there were lots of other folks on the mountain with us, but it wasn't a problem. We made our way to the summit without any trouble, took the usual photos, then returned via one of the main trails (probably White Dot). More photos

Where: Mt. Tom, Holyoke MA When: 22 May 2010 With: Chip, Dave, Xeth (no me!) I don't remember why I was unable to join the rest of the crew for this trip. Presumably Xeth was visiting his sister in the area (she had an art studio in Easthampton) and had suggested a meet-up there. I'd been up Mt. Tom on a solo day hike long ago, and may have offered some advice on trails. In any case, I wasn't there, but they sent pictures. More pictures

Where: Delaware River, Callicoon NY When: July 18-19, 2009 With: The Stupids We began discussing another Stupid river trip and Xeth noted that he had the Delaware River right across the street from his house. He suggested that, rather than him loading his kayak on his car and driving for several hours to meet us at another river, we journey to Callicoon NY and explore his river. It made perfect sense, so off we went.  Chip picked me (and my kayak) up at my house, while Dave drove himself (and his kayak). A few hours later, we landed at Chez Feinberg. After tours of the house & grounds, we packed up the cars and headed to the water (with a stop in Callicoon for supplies). It was a quick ride upriver to the Long Eddy put-in spot, and we were on the water before we knew it. For the next few hours we floated down the Delaware, paddling a bit, drifting a bit, talking a bit. We took a break on some rocks for a while midway back toward Callicoon, but there's not much else to...