Category Archives: Hiking

Posts about hiking in New England and beyond.

The Maniacal Traveler plays with maps: my local history posts, via Google Maps

This summer I am playing with mapping tools, which I eventually plan to teach my students at York County Community College to use in telling stories digitally.  Displayed here are my local history posts via Google Maps, many of which blend … Continue reading

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Back on the trail to Mount Belknap with Windows to the Wild

On a hot spring day in early May, I met up again with the crew from New Hampshire Public Television’s Windows to the Wild: host Willem Lange and producers Steve Giordani and Phil Vaughn. The resulting show, titled “Hiking with … Continue reading

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24 hours/four seasons: a spring hike on New Hampshire’s Mount Lafayette

On that 95-degree Thursday afternoon in May, we headed north from Kittery, seeking cooler air and adventure. But at 4 p.m., when we pulled into the Franconia Notch parking lot for the Old Bridle Path trailhead, the car thermometer read … Continue reading

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Jurassic time-traveling in NH: A hike to Mount Shaw

Up in the White Mountains,  winter hangs on long past its official ending date, especially this year, when most of the snow fell in March and April. Even as I write this post in mid-May, iced-covered trails and unstable snow … Continue reading

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Mountain Day on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington

On August 11, 2016, Japan’s inaugural Mountain Day holiday, I was climbing Mount Fuji with my son and thousands of other hikers. We didn’t know it was Mountain Day, but later, when I learned about the holiday, aimed at getting … Continue reading

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Mount Roberts: The rich legacy of a bankrupt millionaire

Mount Roberts, a small peak with big views, is “such stuff as dreams are made on”:  one man’s dream, for building castles in the air. Although he can’t claim credit for creating  the mountain itself, shoe magnate Thomas Gustave Plant paved … Continue reading

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The Little Lodges that Could: Exploring Maine’s North Woods with AMC

I stepped outside the Library to watch the sunrise glow on snow-covered Long Pond. Not a soul or a sound deep in the North Woods of Maine. Instead of the buzz of the snowmobiles that flock to these parts come … Continue reading

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Return visit to Orris Falls with Windows to the Wild

Early in January, 2017, I enjoyed a chilly morning to Orris Falls Conservation Area with Windows to the Wild host Willem Lange and producers Steve Giordani and Phil Vaughn. The resulting show, titled “The Maniacal Traveler” is scheduled for broadcast … Continue reading

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Celebrating the new year in hut heaven: Champagne toasts at Maine Huts & Trails

At Poplar Hut, nestled on a hill in Maine’s Carrabassett Valley, the staff sets out the champagne glasses at 9:30 p.m.  By 10 p.m., most guests will be fast asleep in their bunks, worn out by an afternoon of snowshoeing, … Continue reading

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Searching for the lost village of Punkintown

In the 1920s, unmarried sisters Mary and Almira Payne reportedly were the last residents of Eliot’s Punkintown, a small community of 10 or so families who once lived near the outlet of York Pond. One town history relates Mary had no legs … Continue reading

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