The Dartmouth Outing Club, the organization known for its wild adventures in the New England outdoors, had a successful trip to Mt. Moosilauke this past weekend as it hosted its annual DOC Fall Weekend event.
The purpose of the event, planned by DOC President Joseph Hanlon '05, was to gather together the sub-clubs of the DOC, including the Mountaineering Club and the Ledyard Canoe Club, for a fun-filled weekend while allowing students to appreciate the wilderness.
During the weekend, 150 Dartmouth students made it to the lodge for dinner. Many took part in trail work, kayaking and hiking. Early Saturday morning the participating students, each carrying a light pack filled with equipment and food, left for the grand mountain where they were greeted by the beautiful autumn forests.
The hiking trips included a 35 mile hike up and down each of the trails on Mt. Moosilauke, which was completed in 14 hours, and the 50 mile hike from Hanover to Moosilauke.
As might be expected with such a strenuous hike -- much of which was conducted in the dead of night -- there were occasional mishaps.
"At 4:30 a.m., at mile 39, we crossed the lodging road which led to an old trail going in the wrong direction," participant Eric Trautmann '06 said, adding that his group followed the trail for an hour before realizing its mistake. His group later helped make up the time by running nearly seven miles downhill, Trautmann said.
Participants in all trips hiked virtually nonstop. Their paths were lighted by the sun by day, and head lamps and flashlights by night. Students who did trail work also demonstrated handwork and perseverance as they hiked and worked long hours on parts of 30 miles of trails that will be enjoyed by future hikers in the winter.
Through the strenuous 50-miler, trippees and their leaders stopped at support stations where they encountered volunteers who fed the hikers and entertained them with songs.
The weekend concluded at Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, where all of the participants congregated after enduring an entire day in the outdoors. At the Lodge they enjoyed a delicious chili and cornbread meal accompanied with a variety of cakes, and danced to the tunes of the Space Station Integration, a New England bluegrass funk band.
All of the students who participated said they enjoyed the experience. When asked about the most interesting aspect of the trip, Trautmann replied that it was "that the 50-mile hike was possible."
