Outers of Other Days
WHILE, Fred Harris 'll was the first man to really organize the Dartmouth Outing Club on a permanent basis, with its annual winter carnivals, Dartmouth had always been a haven for those who loved the outdoors. Winter in these New Hampshire hills has always meant opportunity for long crosscountry hikes, with overnight stops in farmhouses or barns along the way. For decades the farmers in the surrounding towns and villages might be awakened at any hour of the night by strange sounds in their barns, and invariably, an investigation would disclose that a party of Dartmouth students had decided that they would stop there, when darkness impeded progress. They were usually welcomed by the old New Hampshire natives on whose property they were staying.
In the eighties a great interest was taken in outdoor trips by the students. They used to climb mountains in the snow and go on what they now call "hikes," but they never organized any permanent club. They didn't have to in those days; they went because they enjoyed it, not because everybody else was doing it and it was the thing to do. One grad, of the class of 1888, volunteers: "A party of us climbed Moosilauke early in May and spent the night up there, to our extreme discomfort. I also remember climbing Ascutney one Decoration Day but have quite forgotten the gang who went with me. I was some hiker in those days."
Once, in March 1888, four students climbed Mt. Cardigan with accompanying experiences which have lingered in their memories ever since. Because they had their picture taken, on the trip, they decided they should have a name for it and promptly labelled it "The Cardigan Club." But that's as far as the "club" idea ever went.
"Si" Simonds '88; "Pat" Pattee '88; "Sully" Sullivan '89; and "Chris" Anderson '89 were fond of roaming over the hills in and around Hanover and among themselves formed the "Cardigan Club" with a trip up Mt. Cardigan in March. 1888, as the Ultima Thule of a hard winter.
FIRST RECORDED HIKE They first went to the "June" where they secured a sleigh, then drove to the foot of the mountain and made the climb on snowshoes. "Si" was the only one in the group who had any knowledge of the use of snowshoes so that the exclamations accompanying the struggles and falls of the students can be easily imagined. "Chris" had taken along a small 22 rifle in case they should meet with an elephant, bear, or crocodile. When they arrived at the summit, the rifle was clogged with snow, a high wind, loaded with particles of ice was blowing, and "Chris" declared that any living thing that was fool enough to venture out on a day like that ought to be shot. No sooner had the words fallen from his lips than a minute specimen of the class known as snow-bird appeared within five feet of the party and "Chris" promptly proceeded to make good his threat. He shot the bird, to the surprise of everyone, himself included, but it is not known to this day what killed the bird, fright, a bullet, or an icicle which had formed over the end of the gun.
On the way down the mountain a race was proposed from the summit to a rock some three or four hundred feet away, and "Chris" was to have a handicap of twenty-five feet as he was to fire the starting gun. By actual measurement "Pat" advanced eleven feet, eight inches from the starting line before he was tangled up in his snowshoes; "Sully" overtook "Chris" whose first step had plunged him into a snowbank, and promptly fell over him, while "Si" went on to win the prize. Such a prize! The losers managed to collect seven cents between them and at the base of the mountain browbeat, cajoled and so worked upon the feelings of a storekeeper that they persuaded him to sell them three large sized cigars for their total capital of seven cents. "Si" tried to be a good sport and show his appreciation by smoking the three "weeds" before the party arrived in Hanover, and nearly succeeded in doing so but to this day the recollection of those three cigars brings a feeling akin to mal de mer.
Perhaps one difference between the trips of those days and the hikes of today is the change in attitude of the students. While the students of forty years ago did just as much roaming around as they are doing now they did not seem to learn half so much as the present day outing clubbers nor did they organize what they knew. The students were not so well posted in the different kinds of trees, animals, rocks, or flowers which they would seemingly pass unnoticed in their walks. They seemed to be intent only on their goal, and a keen sense of rivalry grew up among the participants in each excursion to be the first to reach it. Oftimes they would disband at the base of a mountain and follow different trails to the summit, the winner to receive some kind of reward, such as "Si" Simond's cigars. Individual initiative was encouraged to the utmost and there was little of the spirit of organization, which has so materially marked the present Dartmouth Outing Club.
Today, the hikers all stick together, under the direction of their leader and are not allowed to leave the party. In other words, the boys are urged to employ as much organization and cooperative effort as possible. Today, if examined, it seems probable that the students would be found to be fairly well versed in a knowledge of the various animals and trees and plants which grow in the neighboring country.
Snowshoes had long been the chief kind of winter sports equipment known to the students. They were the only means of transportation once the party had left their sleigh. It was not until 1895 that skiis were introduced to Hanover. Ralph S. (Rass) Wilder as far as is known was the first student at Dartmouth to become proficient in the art of skiing. When "Rass" came to Dartmouth he brought skiing with him. And it has stayed ever since. I wonder what he would say if he returned to Hanover today and found that skiis were more abundant than cider jugs. He would depart many times, alone with his skiis and would travel miles before returning to Hanover. His trips would take him to Balch Hill, Happy Hill and other places of his own finding. Often he would remain away overnight, on week-ends. Besides being a good skier "Rass" was also a champion pole vaulter of his time and was the first man in any of the colleges to do eleven feet in the pole vault.
After Wilder received his B.S. in 1899 and left Hanover the next loyal enthusiast of the outdoor life was Dr. Leland Griggs '02, who immediately aroused the interest of his classmates in snowshoeing and skiing. While a student, he spent many week-ends in the surrounding hills and vales rambling over the snow-covered lands. Since then Dr. Griggs and also Dr. Ivingsford '98 have had many interesting sojourns into the neighboring mountains. Together they have watched the Outing Club grow from a nucleus of fifty students to the large college-wide organization that it now is at Dartmouth, and the formation of similar bodies at other colleges. They have helped the Club by furnishing aid at many times and the benefits of their experiences have always been available.
AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT
One incident in the lives of these two men still stands out clearly in their memory. It concerns a certain experiment, which they, assisted by Prof. George D. Lord '84, and Mr. Warren M. Persons (Wisconsin '89 and one time instructor in Economics at Dartmouth), made one night in the winter of 1908.There had been much discussion by these four gentlemen whether or not a rock could really reflect heat. Together they were determined to perform such an experiment and determine the outcome once and for all.
For weeks they waited for a cold night, which would give them the best physical conditions. Finally one night late in February 1908 (it was later discovered to be the coldest night of the winter) they decided that their time had come to act. They would journey to Moose Mountain, bringing with them a supply of food sufficient for two days. Blankets and all forms of bedclothing were omitted from their equipment purposely. The plan was to build a bed of boughs beneath some overhanging rock on the mountain, then light a fire a few feet away and see if the heat from the fire, after striking the rock would really be reflected down onto the men sleeping in the bed beneath.
Upon reaching a spot convenient for their experiment the men set to work gathering boughs, splitting wood, cooking food, and making preparations for an overnight stay. As it came time to retire, the quartet drew lots for two-hour watches. Everything went well for a while but soon the fire needed more wood, and it was decidedly inconvenient to go scurrying out into the snow for wood in the middle of the night. The guard's office soon turned out to be a fireman's job for it required an unceasing vigil to keep the fire going.
As to the results of the scientific part of the expedition. The results would have been satisfactory except for the fact that the "scientists" had failed to take into consideration that there were about five feet of snow on top of the rock and about one hundred and five just behind that. Soon the heat from the fire melted the nearby snow and the water poured incessantly down onto the sleeping forms below. Soon a miniature snowslide was down upon them which so thoroughly awakened everyone, that sleep for the remainder of the night was out of the question. At break of dawn the party gathered up their paraphenalia and headed back for Hanover, after spending the intervening hours in an extremely uncomfortable manner. On the way down the mountain, just a few yards outside of their improvised camp, they came upon the freshly made tracks of a bobcat which had evidently circled around them, curiously watching their actions, during the night. Dr. Kingsford, who had taken photographs of the event and recorded thermometer readings at various times, gives the lowest temperature of the night, in the camp by the fireside, as 21° below zero.
THE FIRST DARTMOUTH CARNIVAL
DR. KINGSFORD '9B AT THE CAMP ON MOOSE MOUNTAIN IN FEB. 1908 WITH THERMOMETER AT 21 BELOW ZERO
