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Lehtinen Park and Jim Hill River Walk, actually in Concord proper, on Horse Hill Rd. I recently became familiar with this spot, and very much enjoyed a serene 3-mile loop in the woods which also includes some great river views. Check it out! Alex

McNett Gear Aid Seam Grip. Wonderful stuff for applications like this. It protects, battens down and preserves a worn foam rubber or fabric surface. The fix will be rough once dry, but Gorilla tape on top of that renders it smooth. Store the Seam Grip in the freezer. Alex

Check current WMNF site conditions with the Recreation Conditions Report here. If a location shows as closed and/or has a nebulous opening time frame, you can call the appropriate Ranger district (Pemi, Andro, Saco) for the most precise info.

Did the classic Whiteface-Passaconaway loop on Saturday. Conditions were challenging. Lots of water at lower elevations, atop still-frozen ground. At elevation (2800'+), snow pack seemed still to be 2-3', trails (upper Blueberry Ledge, Rollins, upper Dicey's Mill), a soft, 1'-2' tall monorail...

Video from an onlooker at Tuck's on Sunday. The rider was OK.

I recommend exactly the same pair of anti-black fly weapons as Sierra: a head net and Ben's 30%. Assuming you can cover your arms and legs with lightweight clothing, the Ben's is only needed for your wrists and hands. Because spring seems to be coming 2+ weeks sooner than normal in the Whites...

I'm a frequent hiker and hike leader. In addition to my own personal experiences with gear, I get to observe and talk with folks in my groups about what they're using. My hiking is centered on White Mountain routes with substantial elevation gain, trailed and untrailed, along with comparable...

A caution and slight digression from the TSL question. A friend and I were deep in the Canadian backcountry in the dead of winter, going after Boundary. Temps were in the low teens. I was in my trusty Evo's, he was with his "trusty" Sherpas. The sherpas broke. The Evo's didn't. I confidently...

Re: K-10s For leading an AMC group up Moriah via the CMT (another classic, abundant source of black and blue ice floes on ledges), I chose my Hillsounds (original). They performed better than the MicroSpikes in the group as I expected, but did slip on occasion on the steepest ice. Then...

We found this bandana today on the side of Valley Way on the ground beneath the spruce boughs, in the vicinity of Madison Hut. To claim, send an e-mail to alex4mts at yahoo dot com that describes the bandana and circumstances surrounding its loss. Alex

Unfortunately, another climber and a water-faller. Condolences to those families. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/28/metro/hiker-dies-after-falling-waterfall-new-hampshire-third-hiking-fatality-six-days/

+1 for Spellman. Scrambly, yet friendly at the same time. Rocks and ledge, but not much skittery scree. Lots of nice views into the distance. Also, it hits the ridge at a particularly pretty section of the Pumpelly. +1 for the mob caution as well! Alex

If you would enjoy the convenience, Joebaseball, feel free to join EZ Pass -- absent the transponder, these days the systems can simply read your plates. At least for the time being, keeping off major roads still helps . . . Alex

In the course of trailhead stewarding last year, the max count I tallied was 900 -- on a Saturday at the Old Bridle Path trailhead. Not a complete count for Lafayette, as it didn't capture the folks hitting Lafayette from Garfield or Flume-Liberty, or the ones who successfully escaped being...

Definitely too bad that navigating the testing options isn't easier. The person-hour total of everyone's individual research time is yet one more pretty big number, among many.

I did a drive-through test as part of my provider's pre-op sequence for an elective (finally) procedure. Results came in less than 24 hrs. It was of the original nasal 'swab' (extreme euphemism) variety. Should have kept my seatbelt fastened -- I can still see the skull-shaped impression in...

It's great to see growing availability of state/local parks and WMNF trailheads, and to hear of friends' adventures getting back to the mountains. However, the state -- officially -- is not yet ready to receive non-local visitors to NH destinations. From my read, I don't think that use of the...

I've been to Scaur Peak a couple of times, and enjoyed each. No tree-less sweeping views, but a short, fun summit hike up a moderately steep cone. Less than 15 minutes from the Pine Bend Brook trail, with fairly open woods 98% of the way. The last 2 percent is a dense thicket surrounding the...

Great point -- slow the faster hiker(s) down so as to match the pace of the slowest hiker by assigning them a filtration chore -- with a payoff of needed additional water. A complementary tactic: redistribute weight so as simultaneously to slow the fast hiker down and speed up the slow hiker.

Always fun to see how various products stack up in the experience of hiking my friends. My issue with filtration and sterilization in whatever form is one of process rather than product. On a long hikes, I like to track the time I take, and I enjoy seeking and finding safe ways to optimize on...