With the Outing Club

ABROBDIGNAGIAN sort of person sitting on top of a hilltop near Hanover on any crisp fall Saturday afternoon could sweep his eye over the New Hampshire forests from Hanover to the White Mountains and see dotting the countryside small parties of Dartmouth men swinging along leafstrewn trails. And as nightfall drew on, he might, if he kept watch, see wisps of smoke start up from cabins nestled here and there along those trails. If his ears and eyes were keen he could smell meals cooking and hear whoops for more water, more wood or more food. Here in the woods and on the trail is the real Outing Club without the tinsel of Carnival or the routine of weekly committee meetings.

When 125 men turned out for Cabin and Trail competition this fall the first thing to be done was to get them acquainted with these cabins and trails which Dartmouth men find so intriguing. Throughout the early weeks of school small groups departed each Saturday for points along the cabin chain. But this elementary training was soon superseded by a definite program of trips which took the men of the college, heelers as well as the more experienced upperclassmen, to new points of interest outside of what is considered "the regular D. 0. C. territory."

Parties of from ten to twenty men were organized to make trips to Mt. Cardigan, Mt. Chocorua, Mt. Mansfield, Camel's Hump, Franconia Notch, Mt. Cannon, Carter Dome, Mt. Washington, Mt. Pico and Deer Leap Caves. A new trip with new experiences was on the schedule for each week. Down into the underground passages of Deer Leap Caves for an hour and one-half of exploration of the crevasses was on the bill for those men who took the climb of Mt. Pico and the exploration of the surrounding country. In the extensive caves where flashlights and ropes were part of the necessary equipment the party found new thrills, different from any of those that they had ever experienced in climbing mountains or striking off across wooded country for a hike.

CLIMBING MT. WASHINGTON

On Nov. 1 the fall expedition to Mt. Washington found as severe climbing as any mountaineer would care to experience. They started the ascent about 5 o'clock in the evening along a snow-covered trail and for four and one-half hours battled snow, ranging from a mere nine inches at the base of the mountain to three feet above tree line where the trail was entirely obliterated. The stay for the night was made at Lake o' the Clouds huts, and after a snowy Saturday the group found themselves well rewarded when Sunday dawned clear and bright so that the view obtained by those ascending to the peak was one of the best possible.

The men who preferred to go on the trail rather than watch Dartmouth beat Harvard in a sea of mud found snow deep over all of the New Hampshire mountains including a near blizzard on Moosilauke.

Most of these trips to territory outside of the cabin chain require a rougher kind of program, for meals are cooked over a camp fire, and blankets or sleeping bags laid under the open sky are the beds for the tired hikers. Yet, in spite of the counter attractions of football and house parties, these groups regularly left for a week-end of real roughing it in parts unknown.

Recently students from other colleges have been making weekly visits to Dartmouth to take advantage of the outdoor life, and a definite program of entertaining men from visiting Outing Clubs has been inaugurated. The first official group of this kind came from the Amherst Outing Club which sent eleven of its members for an overnight stay at Moose cabin and then a drive to Moosilauke where an ascent of the mountain was made. Members of Cabin and Trail assumed the role of hosts and guides during the trip. Bates and Massachusetts Agricultural College were among the other schools which were solicited later on in the fall. In each case Mt. Moosilauke, always the stronghold of the Outing Club, was on the schedule for part of the week-end.

THANKSGIVING TRIPS

In return for these courtesies the Williams Outing Club, a guest at Hanover last year, and the Yale Outing Club, which made one of the Thanksgiving trips with the D. O. C., extended invitations to Dartmouth men. The Yale Club, a direct offspring of the Dartmouth Outing Club which aided in its founding two years ago, had as guests at a cabin feed a number of D. O. C. men who were at New Haven attending the Yale-Dartmouth game November 1. Williams invited a party from Dartmouth to participate with it in a trip to be run from Williamstown on November 22.

As this MAGAZINE goes to press the Outing Club is planning six official trips to be run during Thanksgiving vacation for those men who cannot go home during that time. The schedule includes Mt. Washington, Carter Dome, Franconia, Mt. Moosilauke, Black Mountain, and a down-the-chain hike. The Washington trip has for years proved one of the most popular of all of these. At Thanksgiving time Washington is already covered with plenty of snow, and its ascent offers a thrill to every man who makes the trip. With four days in which to explore Washington and the surrounding territory there is ample opportunity for the hikers to explore this so-called "roof of New England White Mountains." Carter Dome, near Mt. Washington, is a high, rounded semi-mountain near which is an A. M. C. hut, and from here the party taking this trip will have an opportunity to spend one day on Mt. Washington. It is planned to have the Yale group as part of the trip which will make its headquarters on Moosilauke and explore its varied slopes. At Black Mountain where another trip will be run the Outing Club has recently commissioned a new cabin. This cabin was formerly owned by the forestry service but was abandoned. Last year it was bought by the Outing Club, reconditioned and equipped to provide another unit to the growing equipment of the club. For those who are anxious to see more of the regular chain system of cabins a trip will be run starting at Great Bear at the foot of Mt. Moosilauke and visiting the cabins between that point and Hanover.

Each of the above parties will be furnished with a full turkey dinner with all of the trimmings through the Jonny Johnson Rum and Molasses fund which annually equips the Thanksgiving parties in this manner so that the spirit of Thanksgiving will not be lacking during the stay in the woods.

On Thanksgiving day the Outing Club will give a large feed to the men remaining in Hanover. A trip will be run to Moose Cabin Thanksgiving morning, and a turkey dinner will be served. In addition the members of the medical school of the College will have served a special Thanksgiving feast at Mel Adams' cabin. The "medics" will not be given the regular 4-day vacation allotted to the undergraduate school, but will attend the feed at Mel Adams' in a body.

Before college breaks up for Christmas holidays a logging bee will be run at Happy Hill cabin. At these logging bees, organized along the lines of a regular logging camp, the woodsheds of the various cabins are filled in two days' well-organized work. It is counted a. real privilege to be able to sign up with one of these affairs which are considered the best of all the official trips.

However, the most encouraging sign to those who are interested in seeing the progress of out-of-door activity at Dartmouth is the number of unofficial or semiofficial trips which the students organize on their own initiative. Throughout the fall cabin space has been at a premium on week-ends. And, after all, the best fun comes when you just get a few of your best pals and "hit'er out" for a comfortable and leisurely jaunt where no books or Sunday papers will mar your enjoyment of the week-end.

THE HIKERS READY TO MAKE THE DASH UP THE CONE OF WASHINGTON TO THE SUMMIT. TAKEN AT THE A. M. C. SHELTER AT THE LAKES OF THE CLOUDS

ANNUAL FALL WASHINGTON PARTY RESTING IN CAMDEN COTTAGE ON THE SUMMIT OF WASHINGTON