Ritzhikes

Where: Cannon Mt. When: 26 May 2021 With: Solo My plans to continue climbing the 48 NH 4000' peaks were backburnered last year because of the pandemic, so I've been stuck on 23 for a while now. I knew the peak - Cannon Mt. - and route for #24...I just needed a date/time to go. Suddenly, things began to fall into place. COVID restrictions lifted, trail conditions improved from the late spring mix of crumbling snow & mud, and I noted an empty spot in my calendar. Then Cannon Mt. announced that the Tram would resume operations in two days. That was the clincher, since the Tram meant crowds at the summit. I pulled together a backpack, set the alarm for 5AM, and was ready to go. As it turned out, the alarm wasn't needed. My dog decided to wake me at 4:17, demanding to go out. As I sat on the deck steps while she attended to her needs (as the eclipsed Super Flower Blood Moon set through the trees), I figured I might as well just head out. I was on the road at 5:00, and settle...

Where: Wachusett Mountain When: 3 May 2021 With: Wilma I had nothing on my schedule, everyone else was busy, and the weather was due to turn stormy later, so I grabbed Wilma for a hike at Wachusett Mountain. I had a vague goal of redlining some trails I hadn't walked before, but the primary priority was to get out and put some more miles on my new hiking boots. I didn't know how much Wilma (two months away from 14 years old) would be able to handle - she'd come up lame in the past after vigorous hikes - and figured we'd just do whatever we could. The ride to the mountain was uneventful, and I pulled into the parking area at the base of the Stage Coach Road trail. It gave us a number of options for routes, but I wasn't sure where I wanted to go. I pulled out my map and decided to continue on a bit further to the Harrington Trail trail head. I'd walked the upper portion of the Harrington before, but not the lower section. It was just a few minutes down the road, a...

Where: Mt. Watatic, Wapack/Midstate Trail When: 25 March, 2021 With: Solo I had a new pair of hiking boots to break in, and this seemed like a good place to go. I last visited in 1984 , when I was breaking in a new car. Then, I was driving from the outskirts of Boston. Today's ride was some 30 miles shorter, and took about an hour. The remains of an overnight storm were still around, which worried me a bit because I hadn't brought rain gear, but it cleared up by the time I reached the trailhead. The parking area was different than I recalled - a full-on parking lot vs. the roadside pull-off in the picture from the 1984 hike. I figured I'd either missed the old lot, or my recollection of the location of the old hike was wrong, or perhaps things had changed over the past 37 years, but no matter. I pulled in to a rather muddy spot, laced up my new boots, and was on my way within a few minutes.  There were maybe a half dozen other vehicles sharing the lot, and two more came in ...

Where: F. Gilbert Hills State Forest, Foxborough MA When: 19 December 2020 With: Chip & Dave A pandemic relief XC ski trip. A week earlier we'd been enjoying warm temps and dry ground, but now there was good snow on the ground, and Dave suggested trails near his house in the F. Gilbert Hills state forest. I'd been interested in visiting it for some time anyway. We met at the parking area, reviewed our varius aches & pains, then set off. Other folks were on the trails but it wasn't especially crowded. We donned our masks when we met others, but often went without the masks. Dave led the way, since he walked the trails often, and he led us off into a quieter portion of the property, near a pond. At one point we debated taking a side trail but it seemed too steep for our skills and we passed on it. Another downhill later on was unavoidable, but we all managed to negotiate it one way or the other. Eventually we all ran out of energy and turned our skis back toward the p...

Where: Blue Hill, Milton MA When: 13 December, 2020 With: Chip & Dave A pandemic relief hike. Chip suggested a spot midway between all of our houses, the Great Blue Hill, and a meeting/starting point near the Blue Hills Reservation HQ on Hillside Street. It would give us parking and access to a number of trails. The weather was mild however, and lots of other folks had the same idea to get out that day. I was first to arrive, and found the parking lot full. Same for all of the other lots in the area. I kept driving along the base of the Hill, looking for other options, before turning around at an ice rink and heading back. I may have called Chip at some point to explain the situation, but he called me while I was driving. I mentioned seeing a parking spot along the road at a trailhead and suggested we meet there. I pulled into the spot and didn't have to wait too long for the others to arrive. We gathered our gear, then made our way up the trail. I don't remember if we had ...

Where: MA-VT-NY Tri-state marker via Taconic Crest Trail When: 19 November 2020 With: Solo Massachusetts has four tri-state junctions, spots where the border of the state meets the borders of two other states. One is at the bottom of the Connecticut River (MA-VT-NH). The rest are marked by large stone monuments. I've already visited two others - MA-RI-CT and MA-CT-NY - so today was my opportunity to get the last one (MA-VT-NY). I woke up at 6:00AM and was out the door by 6:30. My previous two marker visits were somewhat eventful. One featured a 22 mile mountain bike ride and ended with a call to my wife for a ride home. The other included an encounter with a rare timber rattlesnake in the middle of the trail. This one had no such adventure. A 2.5 hour drive to the trailhead, then a fairly straightforward trail walk to the marker, and lots of solitude. I was the only car in the parking area at Petersburg Pass today. I signed in at the trail register (the wrong one, it turns out......

Where: Mt. Frissell When: 9 June 2020 With: Solo I'd intended to climb Cannon Mt. in NH yesterday, but my heart (and head) weren't into it so I spent the day gardening. Today dawned and I felt like a hike. This destination had been on my list for some time, and it seemed like a good Plan B. I was out the door around 7:15, made a stop for gas, then headed west. There was a lot of road work on the Pike, but traffic was fairly light and I wasn't slowed that much.  My GPS guided me through South Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Egremont, and finally into Mount Washington, where the road turned to dirt. Actually, it turned to gravel, as the road was being re-graded. I was a bit concerned, but my car handled the surface just fine. I passed a couple of construction vehicles working on the road, and finally arrived at the parking area just before the MA-CT border. There were two dirt areas, one on each side of the road. I parked at the one on the west side, where a sig...