Book of the Week #7

Peaks & Paths: A Century of the Randolph Mountain Club by Judith Maddock Hudson (NH: Randolph Mountain Club, 2010)

"New Hampshire's Crescent and northern Presidential ranges, the site of spectacular mountain scenery, boast an intricate network of hiking paths centered on the small town of Randolph. This trail system, which began in the 1850s and expanded in the 1880s and 1890s, was largely destroyed by intensive logging in the early 1900s. The Randolph Mountain Club was founded in 1910 to "put the paths in order" and, over the last hundred years, the RMC has become the principal custodian of these trails.
Today the Club maintains over 100 miles of paths, including a section of the Apalachian Trail, as well as four high-altitude camps on the slopes of Mt. Adams. At this, the century mark, Peaks & Paths lays out the history of the Club as it has responded to changing times and conditions, and celebrates the enduring spirit that has led to its emergence today as a major year-round steward for preserving the integrity of paths and camps on the Crescent Range, the slopes of Mts. Madison, Adams, Jefferson, and outliers Starr King and Owl's Head."(RMC website)

Besides the history of the Randolph Mountain Club, the book also contains biographical sketches of early pathmakers, lots of interesting pictures, quotes from journals and other writings contemporary to the stories they recount, and  listings of former RMC board members, camp caretakers, and trail crews.