"Up until 1941 the Club
hired local woodsmen for trail maintenance, often contracting
the job through John Boothman who then himself hired local labor.
Volunteer work parties were also a regular summer activity, mostly
to clear blowdowns and brush the paths."
"From the 1940s to the present,
excursions have generally been held twice weekly, on Tuesdays
and Thursdays. The latter have been variously titled "junior
walks," "children's climbs," or "short hikes,"
but were intended for a less athletic clientele than the more
strenuous Tuesday hikes."
"In 1947 the Board came
up with a different solution: a caretaker hired and supervised
by the RMC to run both Crag and Gray Knob, with expenses shared
by the Club and the town. The Forest Service still would not
allow the RMC to charge even a modest fee, so the Board asked
for donations from users."
"Crag Camp, the favorite
haunt of many Randolphians, had received ongoing repairs through
the years: a new floor, window repair, a front porch, several
new roofs. By the early 1990's the original structure had become
decrepit, and the Board voted to replace the existing structure."
"In today's world, a challenge
- whether the marathon, triathlon, or another extreme adventure
- has become an important part of the amateur athlete's repertoire.
Club members are hardly immune to this frenzy. Indeed, for well
over a century, Randolphians have been at the forefront in creating
mountain adventures that emphasize physical endurance or speed."
"Although the parlor game
of charades is often played in mime, Randolph’s rules seem
always to have allowed elaborate scripts as well as ever more
fanciful props and scenery..."
At its October meeting, the Board
voted to name the new trails Four Soldiers Path, in honor of
the four Revolutionary soldiers for whom the Pond of Safety is
named, and Underhill Path, in honor of Miriam Underhill.
"The 1892 completion of
the Boston & Maine railroad through Randolph Valley made
timber harvesting on the Presidentials a reality. First intimations
of this appear in 1895 when the AMC purchased, for $400, a strip
of land 600 feet wide around the waterfalls on Snyder Brook..."
"The Randolph Mountain Club,
nearing its 100th anniversary in 2010, has been a mostly volunteer
operation from the very beginning. Rather casually organized
at first, the Club has evolved in response to the needs of the
time. Let's take a look at several periods in the RMC's history,
beginning with the highly structured outfit of today."
"The first explorations
of the Northern Peaks had started earlier, around 1850, when
hardy walkers engaged mountain guides to take them up Madison,
Adams, and Jefferson. James Gordon of Gorham was the most sought-after
guide, and it was he who led the 26-year-old Reverend Thomas
Starr King's party in 1857..."
"Even then the winds drove
snow with such force through the cracks, around the doors &
windows that the entire room began to fill with snow - the gusts
became so violent that the whole cabin began to shake....Being
unable to sleep amidst the blowing snow & fearing a potential
collapse, I retreated into the back room..."
A Brief History
of Trails
A History of RMC Excursions
A History of the
RMC Camps: Part 2
Challenge
in the White Mountains
Charades
at the RMC Picnic
Logging
on the Northern Peaks, 1865-1912
Managing the Randolph
Mountain Club
Randolph's Early
Pathmakers, 1850-1905
Winter in the RMC Camps