The D.O.C. and Its Cabin Chain
THE Dartmouth Outing Club's name suggests its essence. A key factor in its outdoorsmanship lies in the D.O.C.'s chain of cabins strung over one hundred miles of Appalachian and Outing Club trails. The Cabin and Trail Division and the maintenance of this system are synonymous. An account of one implies the mechanics and purposes of the other.
Why don't you follow the summer trail crew down the entire cabin chain to Hanover? Agassiz, located on Lost River near North Woodstock, has always been favored because of its proximity to the White Mountains and the Franconia ski area. After building a woodshed here, you head west on Lost River Road with axe in hand and plenty of that good old standby, creosote, to Beaver Brook shelter at Kinsman Notch. This is where the D.O.C.'s responsibility for the Appalachian Trail begins.
As you hike up towards the Moosilauke Summit Cabin, Beaver Brook cascades by. Later, skirting Mt. Blue hints of what awaits at the top. Finally the world opens up at your feet, and mountain ranges stretch off seemingly forever. Serving mainly as an emergency shelter, the Summit Cabin also can be used for an overnight stay.
The Glencliff Trail descends to Great Bear Cabin, found at the foot of the mountain. Wachipauka Pond Shelter, located on Webster Slide, serves as a link between Great Bear and Armington. Armington Cabin, situated by the waters of Armington Pond, is a popular summer cabin which provides excellent swimming and canoeing. The ascent and summit of Mt. Cube are second only to the Moosilauke area for picturesque traveling. When you visit the shelter on Smarts Mountain, the fire tower gives a vantage point. You follow the trail blazes around Reservoir Pond, finding it difficult to locate Clough Cabin. Here is the "getaway-from-it-all" cabin; no other cabin is more secluded. Further around the pond is the favorite cabin in the chain, newly constructed Hinman. You can drive right to the door for the best swiming and canoeing in miles. The view of Smarts Mountain directly across the pond is unbelievable when the fall foliage is at its fullest.
Holt's Cabin, between trails on the Dartmouth Skiway, is the ultimate in convenience for a ski weekend. You can follow the Holt's Ledge cut-off, one of the more scenic routes along the trail, to Fred Harris Cabin. Its nearness to Hanover makes it popular for day trips by students. The Appalachian Trail travels down Hanover's West Wheelock St. and continues over into Vermont. There, Happy Hill Cabin allows you access to some of Vermont's best deer hunting.
For superb hunting and fishing in the North Country, the cabins in the College Grant: Alder Brook, Peaks and Merrill Brook are unbeatable. The latter two are in excellent shape; they were constructed during the last two summers. These cabins are waiting for you!
During the last two years, student crews have constructed three log cabins. Why log structures? Comparing the frame and log structures built in the past, the frame structures cost substantially more. Part of this difference was due, of course, to location. For the last three cabins built, the cost of materials was greatly reduced by using spruce logs cut on college property. Besides, a sense of accomplishment is felt in successfully putting to work the woodcraft lessons learned from Ross McKenney, and a sense of pride in being able to see something worthwhile and tangible resulting from one's own sweat.
All this is best represented perhaps in the construction of the new Hinman Cabin. The old log structure was built privately by John H. Hinman '08 in 1935. Since its presentation to the D.O.C. in 1936 it has probably been the most used of all our cabins. Over the years the cabin naturally deteriorated and it was considered that soon it would be unsafe. Plans made during the winter became a reality last spring when Mr. Hinman contributed generously toward replacing the cabin. Students themselves cut the spruce logs from the side of Mt. Cube last March. During the spring, trips were made to tear down the old cabin and a seemingly endless number of trips were made to Orford to peel the logs. Out of these activities grew a general spirit of cooperation and enthusiasm.
As soon as school closed, Eric Sailer 60 began work with his cabin crew. The cabin was built on eleven cement piers to allow air circulation and to prevent the rot which had contributed to the destruction of the old cabin. While the piers were being poured, the whole cabin area was illuminated by a flash of light and a tremendous explosion. Jack Prescott '61, the chairman of Cabin and Trail, was knocked off his feet. Not fifty feet away a lightning bolt had struck a hemlock.
The cabin was built on a plan of "cornerpost construction." Instead of notching the logs to overlap at the corners, the wall logs butt up against and are spiked into a vertical cornerpost. The gables and purlins were the ticklish part of the construction. The purlins were raised up to their final positions on ramps in a rather unique manner: a pulley system which made use of trees on the opposite side of the cabin. Pulling on the ropes rolled the purlin right up into position. Extreme caution had to be taken to prevent the purlins from rolling off the other side. The setting of the fifth purlin, or ridge pole, was the occasion of a celebration. Karl Zeisse '61, director of cabins for C & T, had made some home brew. The stuff was so powerful that one eruption traveled at least a story and a half. As the crew finished the roof by installing the skylight, a mason built the chimney. This was the only instance of professional help in the entire cabin construction. The last stages were routine: adding the porch, laying the finished floor, and adding the necessary accoutrements to the interior.
Construction on Merrill Brook Cabin in the College Grant began soon after Hinman was completed. This project was less complicated than Hinman Cabin. It was also of cornerpost construction, but it included neither fireplace nor loft. The conception of Merrill Brook developed out of the realization that there was no hunting-fishing lodge for the alumni in the Grant. Alder Brook and Peaks were generally filled during the more popular seasons. Henry J. McCarthy '31 provided funds for the labor, materials and equipment. This cabin is not in the D.O.C. cabin system, being primarily for alumni use. It is maintained by the College, and permission to occupy it is obtained through the College Forester's office.
The previous summer saw the replacement of Peaks Cabin at the junction of the Swift and Dead Diamond Rivers in the Grant. Two years ago obvious structural deficiences made it apparent that the cabin had become unusable. During the preceding February when plans were being solidified, the search for Doctors Ralph Miller and Robert Quinn, who had crashed in the Pemigewasset Wilderness, occurred. For a period of three weeks the D.O.C. fielded crews averaging forty men. To express their appreciation to the D.O.C. and to create a living memorial to those two men, the doctors of the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital financed the cabin, which was dedicated last May.
The history of the D.O.C.'s chain of cabins has been one of gradual evolution. In recent years there has been a steady decrease in the number of cabins in the chain. Two developments have brought this about: we have dropped some units from the chain, and rather than add new cabins we have sought to replace the old ones. This past year Cloudland reverted to its original owners because of lack of use and instances of vandalism. In 1957 Franconia was condemned by the state. During the same year Smarts Cabin was reclaimed by the state as a watchman's cabin. In 1956, Newton Cabin also was abandoned because of lack of use and vandalism. The last four cabins built by the D.O.C. have been replacements: Holt's Ledge, Moosilauke Summit, Peaks Camp, and Hinman.
There are several reasons for this pol- icy. With taxes, maintenance costs, and insurance rates increasing annually, evi- dence of the need for a cabin, based on cabin use, decides whether or not a cabin is to be maintained or replaced. Time is also a crucial factor. The gen- eral lack of time under the three-term system not only hampers trips to cabins at any distance from Hanover, but also poses a serious threat to maintaining our present cabins properly. Today we are in essence consolidating the chain. Agassiz, Great Bear and Armington need future replacement. Any new cabins added to the chain will probably have to be constructed on College property simply because they must be located near Hanover and because property cost, particularly that with water frontage, is prohibitively high.
A picture of the Outing Club's cabin system has been brought up to date for you. Part of its future will be determined by you. The North Country awaits your return.
