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"Not sure why anyone would want to bushwack up there unless they are a masochist." Bushwhackers are masochists by definition. Some of my best friends are bushwhackers.

What rules, if any, does Baxter State Park have regarding *bushwhack* ascents of Katahdin? Are the rules in writing? Are they on the park website? Are there rules about parking outside the standard car parks? Would bushwhacking the mountain allow you to avoid daily limits imposed on trail...

What’s this about cheap headlamps? When I check REI they start at $30 or so and up. Are cheapies from Joes Sporting Goods or Walmart any good? Heavier? Less reliable?

Yeah, these signs caught my attention. Now if only folks would "bin" their garbage. Pics snapped on a mountain hike near Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China.

I read on another thread where someone always carries two lights. Now I'm thinking of doing the same for solo hiking. Please share *real-life* stories where a second light saved the day. Also, what folks recommend for the second light. I assume the first would be a headlamp. I used to hike...

The ping-pong chicken: And the installed Treasure Chest:

I returned to the secret summit cave this fall and installed a Treasure Chest. The cave is located in the alpine zone of a major New England peak. Clues on this thread narrow down the identity of the peak. Several here have already worked out the name correctly and discretely. The easiest and...

On my occasional return to the States, I've used rental cars to reach the trailhead. That's really expensive, so now I'm looking at public transportation. Self-driving cars would be perfect, but we might not get there in my lifetime. Without a car, how can I get from Boston to the general...

Central Wyoming was crowded where the band of totality crossed. We climbed a butte outside Riverton, one of our favorite walks, normally don't see anybody. But on the butte that day we saw a couple dozen others. Really cool because we could see the Wind River Mountains, 40 miles away, go dark...

I want to create a map with hiking trails for hikers. Sounds simple, but how? Ancient history. I once created maps by hand. I traced contours from topo maps and drew the trails by hand, really tedious, hard to update, etc. They were published in a New England hiking club newsletter years...

On another thread, someone made a winter ascent of Mount Mansfield via Sunset Ridge, experienced a white out above treeline, and made a decision to descend Laura Cowles Trail. How do these two trails compare? Is Laura Cowles more sheltered from wind? Is it easier to follow? I haven't climbed...

Mid-August 2016 flagging is almost continuous on Vose Spur, from Carrigain Notch Trail to summit. Personal reason to see registers removed, because for most of my bushwhacking career no trails, no herd paths, no registers. Much of this experience was prior to the year 1980. Present-day, I am...

Summit registers remain on a few peaks of the N.E. Hundred Highest. The conventional practice is to remove a register once a trail becomes established to the top. Here I make the case for removing all summit registers. For the NEHH peaks, "trail-less" is a misnomer. Current herd paths are...

peakbagger, to answer your question about the old and new lists... In my first decade of peak bagging (1960s-70s), I climbed several peaks no longer on the list today: Abraham Middle Peak (ME) Bigelow North Horn (ME) Hancock Northwest Peak (NH) Mahoosuc Arm (ME) Wildcat Ridge "E" Peak (NH)...

Fifty years! That's how long it took to climb all hundred New England highest. By way of explanation… I spent a decade peak bagging in the 1960s and 70s. Then, seeking higher and wilder mountains, I moved to the Rockies for new climbing experiences. College, marriage, children, career...

In celebration of half a century of hiking and NEHH peak bagging, allow me to offer a few memories. Here, two of the most colorful characters I have known in the mountains. John was a great companion on many an early climb. He had a quirky personality that others could find strange. Some...

Looking out from the bend in the L toward the entrance

Cave entrance

I've returned from the mountain and a visit to the summit cave. It is located only thirty feet from a major trail. The interior of the cave is L-shaped with a rocky, uneven floor. When the floor is filled in and covered with snow it makes for a reasonable camping spot, as I found out when a...

I'm looking for hiking partners to help me finish the NEHH list. Just four to go--Vose Spur, Elephant, North Peak Kennebago Divide, and Cupsuptic Snow. Climbed my first one, Osceola, in 1966. Fifty years ago! After moving to China I thought I might never finish, but now I'm back in the...