DARTMOUTH OUTING CLUB TO OP ERATE TIP-TOP HOUSE ON MOUNT MOOSILAUKE
Through the generosity of Edward K. Woodworth of Concord, N. H , Dartmouth 97, and Charles P. Woodworth of Boston, Dartmouth 07, the Tip-Top House on Mount Moosilauke and the surrounding top of the mountain has come into the possession of Dartmouth College, to be held for the use of the Outing Club.
The house will be operated during the summer of 1920 by the Outing Club. One or more members of the Club will be in charge of the House as caretakers from early in July until about Labor Day. It will not be operated as a hotel but as a camp along the same lines as the huts of the Appalachian Mountain Club. The building will be equipped to furnish sleeping accommodations for about SO persons and simple meals can be procured from the student caretakers. The road up the mountain from Breezy Point in Warren will be repaired sufficiently to allow for the transport of supplies, but it is not expected to maintain it for passenger transportation as it was operated for many years. It is also planned to rebuild the telephone line during the summer. Parties from summer camps will be welcomed but it will be advisable to make arrangements in advance.
Four routes for climbing the mountain are now available: on the south, the road from Breezy Point in Warren; on the west, the Glencliff Trail from Glencliff, on which the Great Bear Cabin of the Dartmouth Outing Club is located; on the north, the Benton Trail from Parker's Hotel; and on the east, the Beaver Falls Trail from Lost River, a trail which has been repaired by the Dartmouth Outing Club, but which it is expected will be hereafter taken care of by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the Society owning and preserving the Lost River reservation.
The Moosilauke tract includes the whole top of the mountain, a circular piece of ground with a radius in excess of half a mile, a total of nearly 800 acres. Most of this tract is above timberline, a rocky mountain top. On a clear day not only are the other mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont spread out in a vast panorama, but some of the mountains of Maine, New York and Canada are also visible. ,
Mount Moosilauke is about 4800 feet in altitude, is in plain view from Hanover and about 40 miles distant. It is the only White Mountain summit, with the exception of Mount Washington, upon which more than a temporary shelter now exists. The original hotel was built in 1860 and opened on July 4 of that year with a grand celebration in which more than 1000 people are said to have taken part. The carriage road, was built in 1870 and shortly after its completion the natural increase in the number of visitors necessitated the enlargement of the house by the addition of a wooden ell.
The Tip-Top House at present consists of a two-story and attic main building, 60 x 30, the lower part being of thick masonry construction with a frame structure above. Attached to this main structure is an addition of equal height, 26 x 30. The whole building is anchored to the rocks by heavy iron rods. The lower floor is used for general purposes, living room, kitchen, dining room, etc., while the upper floors have 14 rooms which will be fitted up as bunk rooms.
