Along the Trails
THE equipment of the Dartmouth Outing Club has grown so rapidly in the past few years that undoubtedly few alumni are acquainted with the extent of its system of trails and cabins. There are now seventeen cabins and over 150 miles of well-marked trail extending from Hanover north into the White Mountains.
The most popular section of this system and the longest is the hike or ski run from Skyline Cabin to Hanover, a trip known as "down the chain" and covering between eighty and ninety miles. The time required varies according to the rate of speed the hiker uses. Most parties take from three to five days whether on skis or on foot; the record time was made in 1922 when an Outing Club hiker covered the entire chain in less than 24 hours.
In this article I am going to take the reader down the chain with me in a four day skiing trip from Skyline to Hanover with the hope that it will bring back to him many vivid memories of former experiences along the trail. To those more unfamiliar with the D. O. C. trails it may serve as a very partial explanation of why the Outing Club exists.
After a long but hilarious ride on a fast-moving B & M train, we pull into Littleton and hop off with our packs and skis. We eat supper in town and then strike out for the cabin three miles away. It is dark now and beginning to snow, making the mileage nearer six, but we puff along and after getting on the wrong track several times locate Skyline Cabin. Our very enthusiasm keeps us warm until a fire is roaring in the fireplace. After a hot cup of tea we flip for advantageous sleeping berths, divide the blankets, and soon are dead to the world.
A clear, cold sky the next morning permits a beautiful view of some of the snowy Presidential, including Mount Washington, and of the Franconia Range, for the cabin is situated well up on the side of a long hill looking out across the wide Ammonoosuc Valley. The ski-run down to Littleton is exhilarating as it is one continuous slide on fast snow. We continue on through town after breakfasting there and travel south along the Dartmouth College Highway. Soon we turn off this and strike off toward Franconia Village with the Franconia Range now looming up ahead. The going is easy and fast until three-mile hill appears leading up into Franconia Notch. Grimly repeating that whatever goes up is supposed to come down" we struggle up and up to finally burst into the Notch itself. Echo Lake, one of New Hampshire's prettiest, is on the left with Artist's Bluff at one end and Eagle Cliff at the other. Nestled beneath the latter lies Franconia Cabin looking out over the lake. Here lunch disappears rapidly, and our legs receive a well-earned rest.
One of the nation's scenic playgrounds is now ahead of us. We swing down the road to Profile Lake and there pause with awe to gaze up 2000 feet at that mass of rock which some power in this universe has seen fit to carve into a perfect human face. The "Old Man of the Mountain" with that kindly expression so finely described by Hawthorne years ago looks down upon us from his lofty judgment seat.
A passing sleigh suggests the opportunity for a side trip up Mt. Lafayette and down the Franconia Ridge Trail, and so persuading the driver to carry our skis further down the valley, we leave the road and ascend the Greenleaf Trail. Near the top of Lafayette lies the new Appalachian Mountain Club Hut, another memento of the work of that great hiking organization. The trail leads on to the summit from which a superb view awaits us. To the north are many of the Canadian peaks, to the west the distant Adirondacks, a faint blur on the horizon, to the south the wild region of the Waterville and Mad River Valleys and Moosilauke with the D. O. C. Summit Camp clearly visible against the wintry sky; but it is to the east that we rest our gaze, for there rise the lofty Presidentials and numerous other ranges in a vast wilderness looking as though puny man had never entered it.
FOLLOWING THE KNIFE-EDGE
From Lafayette the trail (A.M.C.) leads along the Franconia Ridge and for miles the hiker tramps along the narrow, "Knife-Edge" ridge trail with a 2000 foot drop on either side. The height perhaps is not comparable to our western ranges, but where does the scenic lover find such a panorama of these beautiful evergreened slopes? The mountain sides are one vast cloak of dark green. From Mt. Liberty the path descends into Franconia Notch via the famous Flume, a long narrow gorge similar to Ausable Chasm and doubly picturesque in winter. Coming out on to the state road again we strap on our skis and enjoy a long gentle glide down into North Woodstock, first passing by the Indian Head, another curious rocky formation. From North Woodstock it is a short distance to Agassiz basin cabin on Lost River and here we spend the night, with the low rumbling of the water lulling us to sleep.
Crossing Lost River when the water is high is always a matter of conjecture as to who is going to fall in for there is generally someone in the party who slips on one of the ice-covered rocks and spends the rest of the morning trying to dry out. We are now on the Breezy Point Trail around the base of Moosilauke. It is a long jaunt of between twelve and fifteen miles on an old logging trail and through dense woods. The latter half, however, offers a fairly good ski-run. Early in the afternoon we slide into the town of Glencliff and immediately turn up to Great Bear Cabin, the most popular approach to Moosilauke. Leaving our packs here we continue on up the mountain as far as the juncture with the Carriage Road. Now comes the most exciting part of the trip, the thrilling run down Moosilauke, down which the best skiers in Dartmouth race each year for the college championship. It is a matter of jump-turns and telemarks, of quick decisions, and hair-raising chances, and' of course for us numerous spills in the deep snow. We arrive back at Great Bear ready to eat everything in sight.
THE END OF THE TRAIL
After a breakfast of famous Moosilauke pancakes the next morning we head south following the Outing Club trail up into the Webster Slide pass and across little Wachipauka Pond on the ice. Now the trail turns toward Armington Pond cabin where we stop for lunch and a short rest. From here there are some fast runs intothe next valley along old dirt roads and woodland trails. A short, steep climb brings us onto the slopes of Mt. Cube which we must half circle before reaching Cube Cabin. This cabin is one of the most popular on the chain. It is large and well equipped and is used a great deal by many students who are not D.O.C. habituees.
The next day our trail leads on down across the valley and up the other side of Smart's Mountain, a wild and more or less isolated peak on which the smallest of the cabins is located. Here we stop for a late lunch and then take a fast and exciting ski-rundown into another valley. After winding along some more dirt roads we turn off to Holt's Ledge Cabin. From this little cabin the hiker has a fine view down into the broad expanse of the Connecticut Valley. We find it cosy and warm and ideal for a small party like ours.
After clambering over the saddle of Holt's Ledge the following morning we have some fast and tricky skiing, crossing several steep ridges and narrow valleys until the trail comes out on to the old logging road leading to Moose Cabin. Here we have lunch and an intensive snowball fight to dedicate the last leg of the trip. Before starting into Hanover we ascend Moose Mountain and make the ski-run down. There are all kinds of skiing but. none is more exhilarating than tearing down a winding, woodland trail always wondering just what is beyond the next curve.
The seven mile ski into town is uneventful and terminates in a wild dash down Balch Hill at the speed of an express train. For four days we have been in a skier's, paradise, and for four days the realization has been steadily dawning on us why Dartmouth's location is. unique among American colleges.
OFF FOR MOOSE The First Snowfall Turns the North Country Into a Skiers' Paradise
