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to spot a car at Crawford Station, pop over to Zealand Road to the Hale Brook Trail, over Hale to the Zealand Hut, then the A-Z to the Mt Tom Spur, down again and over to Field, then down the Avalon Trail to the spotted (spotted??) car. Thirteen miles or thereabouts, 7:30 a.m. meet up. Any takers?

Dear Santa, I know that the usual procedure is for a correspondent to your workshop to make an appeal on his own behalf for a Christmas gift, and also that the correspondent is usually between the ages of five and, say, eight, but I ran into a situation this past weekend that would benefit...

Little did I suppose, struggling through a light mist of rain to ascend the lofty 1,380 foot summit of Maine’s Mount Megunticook in the late spring of 2007, that in October of 2010 I would stand similarly upon the summit of Mount Carrigain, having topped all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000 foot...

So let’s try this again. Barring nasty weather, car trouble, dog bite, influenza, civil disturbance, moose attack or other forms of force majeure, I will again attempt my 48 finish on Carrigain this Saturday, October 16. My last attempt resulted in a mini comic opera with an ensemble cast of...

"How to Not Climb Carrigain" or "A Glorious Fiasco" “How Not to Climb Carrigain” or “A Glorious Fiasco” A Comedy in Three Acts Dramatis Personae: AMANTIO, an amateur climber, and DIANA, his wife, also a climber. BOOTS BOLTON, a chum from college days, and DR. JIMMY, her husband and a dental...

I plan on completing my 48 on Carrigan on Saturday, September 25, weather permitting. (I have no intention of slogging up in the rain. Limited views, cold, and winds below 50 mph, however, will not deter). I will be joined by the lovely Mrs. Amantio, and perhaps two of my three daughters...

As I close in on my first round of the New Hampshire 48, I peruse my climbing journal to review my hikes and to reflect upon my various hiking companions. It turns out I’ve done over one-third of my hikes solo, mostly on day trips from Plymouth, Mass. Although I’ve cajoled and entreated...

Greetings all, With the abundant sunshine and clear weather forecast for this weekend, I was hoping to bag Cabot via Unknown Pond this weekend with an overnight stay at the UP tentsites. Querey: are the tentsites equipped with a bear box and, if not, what precautions ought to be taken in this...

"Mt. Washington meets the Pegu Club", or "Why Coming and Going Don't Mix" A month or so ago I receive a PM from Kevin of Kevin, Judy and Emma fame asking for help with the annual Seek the Peak fundraiser for the Mount Washington Observatory. Feeling flush, I throw in a few ducats, and let...

As I have become more actively involved with the climbing community, I have come to realize that it is a quite advanced culture, with customs, rituals and folkways which have developed steadily over the past century or so. As with any advanced culture, especially one so technologically...

While many of the more fun loving among us this weekend will apparently be up in the woods of Vermont building grand bonfires, playing with firearms, drinking copious amounts of intoxicating liquors fortified with energy drinks, and engaging in general mayhem, I suppose some of us must stay back...

“Hi, Honey. How was the climb?” “Oh, man, what a day! Absolutely perfect conditions for Moosilauke. Hit the trail by 9:15 after messing up getting out of here this morning. Oh, by the way, sorry about waking you back up looking for the hat. I almost didn’t need it. I bare booted almost the...

Last week, I opined here that I do not possess the soul of a solo hiker. Those words troubled me as I wrote them, and I pondered them through the week. If I rule out solo hikes, I limit myself to hikes within my capabilities, where I can recruit or glom myself on to other hikers, where I’m not...

Although I had originally toyed with the idea of a solo hike of Cannon this past Saturday, I noticed an open call for a trail clean up day at Wachusett posted by Kevinmac late Friday afternoon. I very easily talked myself out of the Cannon thing (I simply do not possess the soul of a solo...

So, I've got these snowshoes, see, and I want to use them. And then the Southern Ossipee thing went bust, and Owl's Head is just nuts, and I've just GOT to get out of this house. So the idea is to get to Waterville Valley reasonably early on Sunday morning, like, say, 8:00 a.m. or so, and...